The music industry contributed £4.1 billion to the UK economy in 2014, says UK Music, the organisation representing the UK’s commercial music industry. The music sector grew by 5 per cent, significantly outperforming the rest of the British economy, mainly due to a 17 per cent rise in exports of recorded music. £924m of the net contribution came from live music performances, with just under 26.7m visits made to live music events in 2014.
UK Music chief executive Jo Dipple cautioned that, while the results were extremely encouraging, the report also found that 35 per cent of musicians were not paying into a pension scheme, and 21 per cent had recently undertaken unpaid work in the hope of furthering their career. Secretary of State for Culture John Whittingdale said that this report, now in its third year, has been ‘extremely useful in describing the economic impact of commercial music,’ and will be used to 'ensure British music remains at the top of the charts.'
To read the full report, visit the UK Music website.