Enterprise Information Labels & Publishers Prime Tales
By Chris Cooke | Printed on Thursday 22 September 2022
Cross sector commerce group UK Music has revealed its annual report on the financial impression of the British music trade. As anticipated, the stats present that whereas the music sector began to get well in 2021 after the COVID-caused droop in 2020, it was solely a partial restoration, with the reside sector particularly nonetheless affected by the pandemic all through final 12 months.
So whereas the so known as gross worth added for the UK music trade was up 26% year-on-year in 2021, rising from £3.1 billion to £4 billion, that’s nonetheless 31% down on the pre-pandemic GVA of £5.8 billion in 2019. Equally, whereas the variety of folks working in music in 2021 was up 14% on 2020, reaching 145,000, that’s nonetheless down 26% on the pre-COVID workforce of 197,000.
An analogous sample is seen within the worth of UK music exports. These rose in 2021 to £2.5 billion – up 10% on the £2.3 billion determine in 2020 – however nonetheless down 15% on the £2.9 billion seen in 2019.
In fact, it’s no secret that it was the reside aspect of the trade that suffered probably the most from the COVID-19 pandemic. The recorded music sector continued to develop all through on the again of the continuing streaming growth, and whereas songwriters and publishers have been hit by their songs not being carried out in the course of the lockdowns, rising digital revenues lowered the detrimental impression on the music publishing aspect to an extent.
However on the reside aspect, whereas 2021 wasn’t as dangerous as 2020, the pandemic nonetheless had a significant impression on the sector. Numerous lockdowns all year long meant venues have been closed and festivals cancelled for a lot of months, and even as soon as restrictions began to raise across the UK in the course of the summer time, issues couldn’t get correctly again to regular.
First, worldwide journey restrictions nonetheless utilized, making it more durable for British artists to tour overseas and for worldwide acts to play within the UK. And exhibits have been recurrently cancelled as a result of artists and/or crew members had examined constructive for COVID.
Plus many shoppers weren’t able to return to gigs and occasions, and by the tip of the 12 months, because the omicron variant spiked, the UK authorities was principally telling folks to remain at dwelling despite the fact that technically venues may open and exhibits may go forward.
A lot of these challenges have slowly gone away this 12 months, so that you’d anticipate the financial impression figures for 2022 to indicate additional progress on 2021. Although, in fact, new challenges have popped up alongside the best way.
A two 12 months backlog of exhibits resulted in an excellent saturated market over the summer time, whereas not all shoppers are essentially attending exhibits and occasions at 2019 ranges but, partly due to ongoing COVID considerations, and partly due to the price of dwelling disaster.
In the meantime, venues and promoters are dealing with surging working prices and sometimes struggling to search out sufficient crew to run the exhibits, whereas artists touring in Europe are having to sort out numerous new post-Brexit forms.
So, from a UK Music perspective, whereas the 2021 figures are extra constructive than the stats for 2020 – and the financial impression of the sector this 12 months will definitely be stronger nonetheless – the music group nonetheless wants extra help from the federal government. And it’s UK Music’s job to ask for help, in fact.
Says UK Music boss Jamie Njoku-Goodwin: “The UK music trade is working exhausting to get well after the catastrophic impression of COVID-19, however there may be nonetheless some solution to go to revive the roles and progress misplaced in the course of the pandemic. Our sector nonetheless faces a severe menace from the financial storm that might blow our fragile restoration off target with out pressing authorities help”.
“It’s very important that authorities acts to guard and help a sector that creates jobs, contributes to the financial system and issues to hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout our nation”, he goes on.
With a brand new Prime Minister in place and an emergency finances assertion due from the federal government on Friday, Njoku-Goodwin has loads of ideas concerning what help the sector may and may now obtain.
“The brand new Prime Minister has mentioned she needs to chop taxes to stimulate progress”, he notes. “If she is severe about this, then she ought to use the emergency finances to cut back the tax burden on the music trade, as an example, by extending the massively profitable artistic trade tax reliefs to the music trade”.
“This could incentivise funding and increase exports of British music, that are in danger as a result of growing worldwide competitors and points following the UK’s exit from the European Union”, he goes on.
In latest months, in fact, a high precedence for the UK music group by way of authorities help was some form of scheme to mitigate the impression of surging power prices. Such a scheme has been introduced since Liz Truss grew to become PM, with a cap being launched on power costs for enterprise prospects for the primary time, extra particulars of which have been revealed earlier this week.
“We welcome the federal government’s announcement to fight the impression of hovering power payments, which can give music companies some urgently wanted help”, Njoku-Goodwin states.
However, like reps for the night-time and reside sectors, whereas that scheme is welcome, the UK Music boss stresses that it is just presently in place for six months, and that it solely tackles one of many monetary challenges venues, golf equipment, studios and different music companies face.
With that in thoughts, he provides: “We want readability about what occurs after that help is withdrawn after six months. And we nonetheless must see extra help to safe our sector’s long-term restoration, together with a big lower in VAT from its present fee of 20% – one thing the federal government did within the pandemic to help the music sector”.
Along with all that, Njoku-Goodwin additionally has a copyright request so as to add to UK Music’s well mannered and punchy want listing – or massive bucket of calls for when you choose. And that pertains to the latest assertion from the UK authorities concerning copyright reform in relation to the event of synthetic intelligence.
“Additionally it is important that authorities recognises the significance of copyright to the artistic sector and takes steps to guard mental property rights”, he continues. “Proposals by the earlier authorities to permit AI corporations a copyright exception for textual content and knowledge mining are an existential menace to our sector and have to be stopped. These plans represent a inexperienced gentle to music laundering and the entire trade is united in urging the federal government to scrap them”.
Concluding, Njoku-Goodwin reminds Truss and her new staff that pre-pandemic the UK had a number one music trade in world phrases, and that the UK authorities spent fairly some huge cash supporting music companies in the course of the pandemic, which was good. However, he reckons, additional help is now important for the UK music sector to return to its former glory and to make sure return on the federal government’s mid-pandemic investments.
“We now have a music trade within the UK that’s the envy of the world and a expertise pipeline that continues to supply world stars and a military of extremely expert professionals”, he says. “It’s critical that the federal government works with us to guard and nurture the music trade from the financial turbulence we face so we will pull via and create the roles and funding to make it even stronger than it was earlier than the pandemic”.
You possibly can obtain UK Music’s new report – known as ‘This Is Music 2022’ – proper about right here.
