The UK’s reside music business has recovered from the pandemic droop – after which some.
Newly-released information present client spend on reside music occasions jumped 9.5% YoY in 2024, to GBP £6.68 billion (USD $7.23 billion on the common trade fee for 2024).
The information comes from business group Stay music Trade Venues and Leisure (LIVE), a federation of 15 reside music business associations representing 3,000 companies, 35,000 artists and a couple of,000 backstage employees.
Notably, reside music revenues have been round £2 billion larger in 2024 than they have been in 2019, the final full 12 months earlier than the Covid-19 pandemic shut down most reside music occasions throughout the UK.
The report famous that UK reside music progress doubled that of the worldwide recorded music business, citing information from Goldman Sachs’ Music within the Air report displaying that recorded music revenues rose by 4.8% worldwide in 2024.
It additionally quoted Goldman Sachs’ assertion that “there’s a strong demand and provide outlook for the reside music business… it has confirmed to be extra recession-resilient than different types of leisure.”
There was one thing of a shift in what types of occasions UK music followers spent their cash on in 2024, with followers more and more selecting concert events over festivals.
Whereas live performance income jumped 12.2% YoY, to £5.0 billion ($5.4 billion), competition income elevated by solely 1.9% YoY, to £1.7 billion ($1.8 billion) a progress fee that was under the UK’s 2.5% inflation fee for the 12 months.
“That is partly because of a slowing of progress in music festivals, a few of which have struggled to maintain themselves by means of the prolonged interval of excessive inflation,” the LIVE report famous.
“It’s additionally attributable to larger ticket costs, which have needed to rise after spikes within the prices of labor, vitality and different essential competition inputs.”
However, competition income is now above 2019 ranges, LIVE famous.
The shift additionally needed to do with the truth that 2024 was an enormous 12 months for touring, with the likes of Taylor Swift, Charlie XCX and Dua Lipa drawing a report 23.5 million music vacationers to occasions throughout the UK, LIVE stated.
Mainstream pop acts accounted for 32.1% of client spend on the high 2,000 concert events throughout the nation final 12 months, a 4.7 share level improve, the report stated.
Not surprisingly, Better London continued to have far and away the biggest share of reside music income, accounting for 28.9% of the whole, adopted by Manchester (8.1%), Glasgow (5.7%) and Birmingham (3.5%). One change among the many high cities was that Cardiff edged out Edinburgh for fifth spot, at 2.4%.
The report famous a rise in employment in reside music, which supported 234,000 folks in 2024, a 2.2% YoY improve. The information confirmed that just about 4 in 5 (78.8%) of these jobs have been informal or freelance.
Nevertheless, LIVE flagged the continuing downside confronted by small and grassroots music venues, which have been shutting down at a fast tempo lately.
“Whereas UK reside music continued the post-lockdown pattern of robust efficiency for the most important names on the greatest venues… strain constructed throughout our grassroots as venues closed, excursions have been cancelled or reduce and festivals known as time,” LIVE CEO Jon Collins stated.
“Strain constructed throughout our grassroots as venues closed, excursions have been cancelled or reduce and festivals known as time.”
Jon Collins, LIVE
LIVE is asking on the UK authorities to implement “much-needed” music competition tax aid, and stated its LIVE Belief program will quickly be able to roll out help to small venues.
LIVE Belief builds on on the Music Venue Belief initiative, which is a voluntary program below which £1 of income from ticket gross sales to area and stadium exhibits with capability over 5,000 is used to help small venues.
“With trustees now appointed and commitments already secured from quite a few high-profile artists performing stadia and area exhibits all through 2025 and 2026, the LIVE Belief is assured it might quickly start providing monetary help the place it’s wanted,” LIVE stated.
“Increasingly folks have loved going to gigs over the previous 12 months. There’s extra exhibits, extra selection and extremely one reside gig each 137 seconds.”
Steve Lamacq, LIVE
Regardless of the issues at grassroots venues, “it’s a actually thrilling time for reside music,” LIVE Chair Steve Lamacq stated.
“Increasingly folks have loved going to gigs over the previous 12 months. There’s extra exhibits, extra selection and extremely one reside gig each 137 seconds. It’s testimony to the truth that reside music brings folks collectively and offers experiences and recollections that can stick with us for years to come back.
“With the launch of the LIVE Belief, we hope to make it possible for these essential small venues can survive and flourish in order that they will proceed to nurture the acts that’ll be filling venues and headlining festivals in years to come back.”Music Enterprise Worldwide
