UK Music Earned £5.8bn in 2019 but needs support post-COVID

The music industry contributed £5.8bn to the UK economy in 2019 but needs help to restore its growth after the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, industry leaders warned.

Publishing its Music By Numbers 2020 report, UK Music, the leading industry body, argues that the sector needs support to restore its 'world-beating growth'. Live music venues and festivals have been unable to operate and performers severely restricted from paying performances because of social distancing and other restrictions to control the pandemic.

The 2019 figures show that this disruption has paused the industry's strong run. Data for the 12 months up to December 31 2019 show that:

• Employment in the UK music industry hit an all-time high of 197,168 in 2019 - an increase of 3 per cent from 190,935 in 2018.
• The total export revenue of the music industry was £2.9 billion in 2019 - up 9 per cent from £2.7 billion in 2018.
• UK music tourism alone contributed £4.7 billion in terms of spending to the UK economy in 2019 - up 6 per cent from £4.5 billion in 2018.

Despite the buoyant 2019 figures, UK Music says the industry now faces a 'marathon' effort to recover.

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin said:

“We were firmly on track to be one of the great British success stories of the coming decade.

"Music By Numbers 2020 shows just how successful our industry was before the catastrophic blow of Covid-19 knocked it down, and how important it is that we get it back on its feet. “When the time comes to recover from this pandemic, our world-leading music industry can be a key part of our country’s post-Covid economic and cultural revival – but we need the right support to get us there.”

Read the Music by Numbers report.