According to UK Music’s This is Music Report for 2023, the country earned £4bn from
exporting its bands to other nations in 2022. This inevitably included multi-million-selling
acts like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Queen, and Cliff Richard, the top four most valuable
artists in British history.
The music industry injected £6.7bn into the wider UK economy, which, while a paltry sum
compared to something like insurance (almost £60bn), is still a healthy contribution from a
dynamic industry. So, then, why is there so much confusion in the press about the music
industry’s future?
Unprecedented
Back in November of last year, there was potential for doom in “grassroots” music, largely
because hosting venues seemed to be in rapid decline. The data for this slump on the amateur scene seems to have come from the Music Venues Trust (MVT), which recorded 125
closures in eight months of 2023.
It’s no secret that venues have been struggling to stay open, but a mixture of statistics from
MVT reveals that the scale of disappearances is unprecedented. A reported 193,230 gigs were
abandoned because of a lack of spaces last year, a tally that coincided with the loss of around
4,000 jobs, all of which can be attributed to increased costs.
There are two stories here, namely, the huge amount of money that music pumps into the
economy and, almost paradoxically, a decline in musicians playing live. These two things aren’t mutually exclusive, though, as the music industry’s contribution to the economy has
been fluctuating for some time.
Live Media
The good news is that things are looking up. Interest in live content is at an all-time high,
largely due to its spread online through video-sharing sites. The Restream.io website notes
that the internet’s video enthusiasts watched 7.6bn hours of live material in 2023.
Surprisingly, of the 92% of web users who regularly consume video media, just 27% of them
engage with live material.
Live content arguably offers more opportunities for ‘human’ interactions, as more people stay
at home (the use of streaming services increased by 12% in 2020). For instance, on Twitch,
viewers and hosts can play simple games with each other. This coincides with a general
decline in brick and mortar establishments like arcades.
While niche, this trend has parallels with casino gaming too. Live casino games in the
UK include live dealers which allows players to see every card being dealt in real-time, as
well as interact and engage with the croupier.
The flexibility of the live medium also allows for themed sets, costumes, and new ways of
playing, like Snakes & Ladders in a game show style.
Recovery
Ignoring what’s happening at the grassroots level for the moment, it could be argued that the
industry is operating at an all-time high. Back in 2019, music contributed £5.8bn to the UK’s
coffers. This means that the most recent figures represent one bookend of a recovery that’s
taken 3-4 years.
PwC estimates that revenue from live performances will also begin to pick up towards 2027,
by 7.4% per year. In the more immediate term, in-person gigs earned an extra £0.9bn
between 2019 and 2023 – not a huge figure, but one that seems to cement the idea of the
music industry’s recovery.
Of course, it’s not easy to conflate this rosy future with the decline in venues unless we
consider that the more established performers in the music industry are not affected at all.
West Yorkshire lad Ed Sheeran is unlikely to see his earnings dip following the demise of a
pub in his hometown of Halifax, for instance.
A Fair Cut
So, once again, we have the same problem – and it’s perhaps easier to just accept that the
music industry is a place of mixed fortunes. The Musician’s Union seems to agree, noting
that 91% of young (under 30 years old) musicians interviewed were concerned about their
futures on the stage. A good 34% were thinking about a career change.
There may be a cure but it seems to involve a pair of difficult positions. Firstly, government
money is always welcome in struggling industries, even though it’s almost invariably a
temporary solution. Secondly, streaming platforms could finally be forced to give musicians a
fair cut.
This brings us right back around to how struggles in the music industry are the exclusive
domain of amateur artists, as payouts are unequal between artists for their songs. For
instance, Spotify pays £0.00318 per stream, which means that a song pays £1 per each 314
plays. A physical album is much closer to £1 per included song.
Overall, the UK music industry is a tiered thing, both in terms of earnings and any potential
future. Unfortunately, grassroots is taking the brunt of the damage – and, just like in sports,
the rot always creeps upwards.
