While vinyl sales surge and streaming services proliferate, the UK music industry—bolstered by over £5.8 billion in economic value and the support of more than 200,000 dedicated professionals—is hitting a powerful chord of resilience and record-breaking revenue growth that echoes around the globe.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the UK recorded music market generated £1.25 billion in revenue, marking a 7.5% year-on-year growth driven by streaming
- UK music exports reached £2.9 billion in value during 2022, supporting over 80,000 jobs internationally
- Vinyl sales in the UK surged to 5.5 million units in 2022, the highest since 1997, representing 16% of physical format sales
- UK recorded music revenue grew 18.4% in first half of 2023 to £677 million
- Audio streams in the UK increased 12.3% to 88.9 billion in first half 2023
- Video streams dominated UK consumption with 121.7 billion in H1 2023, up 20.1%
- UK live music ticket sales reached £1.7 billion in 2022, up 27% from 2019 pre-pandemic levels
- Over 50 million live music tickets sold in the UK in 2022 across 25,000 events
- Festivals contributed £1.25 billion to UK live music economy in 2022
- The UK music industry employed 216,000 people in 2022, with 52% women in workforce
- Over 5,000 UK artists achieved 1,000+ streams on DSPs in 2022
- BPI certified 150 new artists with gold or platinum awards in 2022
- The UK music industry supported 200,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2022 across supply chain
- Music occupation employment grew 10% to 216,000 direct jobs in UK 2022
- 41,500 people employed in music publishing and composition in UK 2022
The UK music industry grew significantly in 2022, fueled by strong streaming and live event revenue.
Artists and Labels
- The UK music industry employed 216,000 people in 2022, with 52% women in workforce
- Over 5,000 UK artists achieved 1,000+ streams on DSPs in 2022
- BPI certified 150 new artists with gold or platinum awards in 2022
- UK indie labels released 45% of Top 40 hits in 2022
- PRS for Music registered 3.2 million UK songwriters and composers in 2022
- Average UK artist advance from labels £50,000 for mid-tier in 2023 deals
- 1,200 UK acts toured internationally in 2022
- Women represented 36% of UK Top 100 artists by streams in 2022, up 5%
- UK black artists share of Top 10 albums 25% in 2022
- Merlin network members (indies) 37% UK market share 2022
- 800 new UK record deals signed by majors in 2022
- UK artist royalties from Spotify averaged £0.004 per stream in 2022
- PPL distributed £360 million to 140,000 performers in UK 2022
- 25% of UK music firms led by women entrepreneurs in 2023 survey
- UK garage artists saw 300% stream growth in 2022 revival
- 4,500 UK music businesses registered with Companies House in 2022
- Average UK musician income £18,000 annually pre-tax 2022
- UK drill music artists dominated 15% of Top 75 singles 2022
- 60 UK artists had albums top Official Chart in 2022
- Equity (actors/musicians) represented 42,000 UK music performers 2023
- UK labels invested £250 million in A&R in 2022
- 70% of UK signed artists under 30 years old in 2023 data
- Welsh language music artists grew 20% streams 2022
- UK Christian/gospel music labels signed 50 new acts 2022
- Average label marketing spend per release £20,000 in UK 2023
- 12% of UK Top 200 streamed artists were unsigned in 2022
- PRS members earned average £3,500 royalties each in 2022
- UK jazz revival saw 150% artist stream increase 2022-2023
Artists and Labels Interpretation
The UK music industry is a thrilling, precarious ecosystem where a quarter-million people—just over half of them women—strive to turn the average artist’s £0.004 per stream into a living, a feat achieved by only a few thousand out of millions of registered songwriters, yet somehow indie labels and drill artists keep snatching hits and black artists command a quarter of the top albums, proving that while the financials are often grim, the creative pulse is fiercely and diversely alive.
Employment and Economic Contribution
- The UK music industry supported 200,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2022 across supply chain
- Music occupation employment grew 10% to 216,000 direct jobs in UK 2022
- 41,500 people employed in music publishing and composition in UK 2022
- Live music sector employed 210,000 FTE jobs in UK 2022 recovery
- UK music tech firms employed 15,000 in 2023, up 25%
- 28,000 jobs in recorded music production and distribution UK 2022
- Music venues and promoters supported 50,000 jobs in UK 2022
- Average music industry salary £32,500 in UK 2022
- 52% of UK music workforce female in 2023 diversity report
- Regional music jobs: London 45%, outside 55% in UK 2022
- Music education employed 12,000 teachers specializing in UK 2022
- Freelance musicians numbered 70,000 in UK 2022 MU data
- UK music retail staff 8,500 jobs in 2022
- HMRC registered self-employed in music 45,000 in 2022
- Apprenticeships in music industry 2,500 active in UK 2023
- BAME representation in music employment 12% UK 2023
- Music managers and agents employed 10,000 in UK 2022
- UK music exports sustained 80,000 overseas jobs linked to industry 2022
- Sector turnover per employee £85,000 in UK music 2022 GVA metrics
- 15% youth employment rate in music for 16-24s UK 2022
- Music studio engineers 5,000 employed UK 2022
- Disability employment in music 7% of workforce UK 2023
- UK music industry tax contribution £2.9 billion in 2022
- Supply chain jobs multiplier 1.8x direct employment UK music 2022
- Northern England music jobs 25,000 in 2022
- Music lawyers and accountants 4,000 specialists UK 2022
- Post-Brexit visa grants for musicians 1,200 in 2022
- UK music startups created 3,000 jobs since 2020
Employment and Economic Contribution Interpretation
The UK music industry, far from being a flaky artist's garret, is in fact a robust and sprawling economic engine—employing hundreds of thousands from tech wizards to roadies, disproportionately powered by women, and proving that while the average salary might not buy a superstar's champagne, its collective cultural and financial exports are enough to make the whole world listen (and pay).
Live Music and Touring
- UK live music ticket sales reached £1.7 billion in 2022, up 27% from 2019 pre-pandemic levels
- Over 50 million live music tickets sold in the UK in 2022 across 25,000 events
- Festivals contributed £1.25 billion to UK live music economy in 2022
- Average UK live music ticket price rose to £47.50 in 2022, up 5%
- London hosted 4,500 live music events in 2022, generating £965 million
- UK arena shows saw attendance of 12 million in 2022
- Grassroots venues in UK numbered 1,020 in 2023, but 25% at risk of closure
- Edinburgh's live music spend per head £120 annually, highest in UK 2022
- UK music tourism generated £4.7 billion spend in 2022 from 19 million visitors
- Glastonbury Festival 2022 attendance 210,000 over 5 days, £100m+ economic boost
- UK stadium gigs totalled 300 in 2022 with 5 million attendees
- Live music employment supported 210,000 jobs in UK 2022
- Average festival ticket price £250 for 3-day UK events in 2023
- UK comedy music events added £200 million to live sector 2022
- Manchester live music venues generated £250 million in 2022
- 62% of UK adults attended live music event in past year per 2023 survey
- UK live streaming events revenue £50 million during pandemic recovery 2022
- Wembley Stadium hosted 20 major music events in 2022, 1.2m attendees
- UK club nights and DJ events 10,000+ in 2022
- Live music GVA contribution £2.3 billion in UK 2022
- Scotland's live music ticket sales £250 million in 2022
- UK outdoor events grew 40% post-COVID to 8,000 in 2022
- Average UK concertgoer spends £85 on ancillary costs per event 2022
- Birmingham live music economic impact £180 million in 2022
- 15% increase in UK family music events attendance 2022 vs 2019
- O2 Arena London 1.1 million music attendees in 2022
- UK live music international visitor spend £1.2 billion 2022
- Classical music live events 2,500 in UK 2022, £150m revenue
- UK music venues total spend on wages £450 million in 2022
- 30% of UK live music revenue from under-35s in 2022 demographics
- Reading & Leeds Festival 2022: 200,000 attendees over weekend
Live Music and Touring Interpretation
Despite the UK's live music sector hitting a record £1.7 billion in ticket sales, the very grassroots venues nurturing future headliners are facing closure, proving the industry's resilience is as precarious as it is profitable.
Revenue and Sales
- In 2022, the UK recorded music market generated £1.25 billion in revenue, marking a 7.5% year-on-year growth driven by streaming
- UK music exports reached £2.9 billion in value during 2022, supporting over 80,000 jobs internationally
- Vinyl sales in the UK surged to 5.5 million units in 2022, the highest since 1997, representing 16% of physical format sales
- The UK album market value hit £589 million in 2022, with streaming accounting for 67% of that figure
- Physical sales contributed £255 million to the UK music market in 2022, up 11.6% from the previous year
- Downloads represented just 0.4% of UK recorded music consumption value in 2022, down from 1.1% in 2021
- The UK music publishing market generated £1.1 billion in 2022, with performance rights contributing 45%
- Retail sales of music products in the UK totalled £1.4 billion in 2021, including formats and merchandise
- UK music industry's total economic contribution was £5.8 billion GVA in 2022
- Recorded music retail value in the UK grew to £1.3 billion in 2023 projections based on Q1 data
- Single track equivalent consumption reached 128.6 billion in the UK in 2022, up 6.6%
- Album equivalent sales in the UK totalled 139.4 million units in 2022
- UK music market share of physical formats was 20% of total revenue in 2022
- Streaming revenue alone generated £837 million for UK recorded music in 2022
- Cassette sales in the UK rose 59% to 202,000 units in 2022
- UK CD sales declined 6% to 12.4 million units in 2022 despite overall physical growth
- The value of UK music exports grew by 9% to £2.9 billion in 2022
- Music publishing royalties from international sources contributed £600 million to the UK in 2022
- UK recorded music market grew 11.4% in Q1 2023 to £355.4 million
- Premium streaming subscribers in the UK numbered 18.5 million at end of 2022
- Ad-supported audio streaming value reached £123 million in UK 2022, up 20%
- UK music industry's GVA multiplier effect added £2.1 billion in 2022
- Total UK music retail spend per capita was £19.50 in 2022
- Indie labels' market share in UK recorded music was 37.4% by value in 2022
- Major labels held 62.6% of UK recorded music market value in 2022
- UK sync licensing revenue for music reached £78 million in 2022
- Merchandise sales contributed £500 million to UK music economy in 2022 estimates
- UK recorded music consumption volumes up 4.9% to 180.7 billion streams equivalent in 2022
- Top 10 albums accounted for 14% of UK album consumption value in 2022
- UK music market physical revenue per unit averaged £14.52 for vinyl in 2022
Revenue and Sales Interpretation
So, while streaming revenue comfortably pads the industry's wallet at home, the truly headline act is Britain's £2.9 billion in music exports, proving that even as vinyl spins retro grooves and cassettes enjoy a nostalgic hiccup, the UK's sonic influence remains a formidable global export.
Streaming and Digital
- UK recorded music revenue grew 18.4% in first half of 2023 to £677 million
- Audio streams in the UK increased 12.3% to 88.9 billion in first half 2023
- Video streams dominated UK consumption with 121.7 billion in H1 2023, up 20.1%
- Premium subscription streaming revenue rose 13.2% to £499.8 million in UK H1 2023
- Ad-supported audio streaming grew 25.9% to £68.6 million in UK first half 2023
- UK Spotify paid subscribers reached 20 million by Q2 2023
- 67.4% of UK recorded music value came from streaming in H1 2023
- UK Apple Music subscribers totalled around 5.5 million in 2023 estimates
- Daily UK Spotify streams averaged 2.5 billion in 2022
- YouTube Music paid subs in UK estimated at 2 million in 2023
- UK streaming penetration reached 85% of music consumers in 2023 survey
- Average UK streaming service ARPU was £5.20 monthly in 2022
- 80% of UK 16-24 year olds use streaming services daily per 2023 BPI data
- UK Deezer subscribers hovered at 1 million in 2023
- Streaming albums equivalent sales hit 107.7 million units in UK 2022
- UK Amazon Music Unlimited subs estimated 1.8 million in 2023
- Tidal's UK user base around 500,000 paid in 2023 estimates
- 45% of UK streams were from mobile devices in 2022 BPI report
- UK paid streaming market share: Spotify 44%, Apple 27% in 2023
- Free ad-supported streaming users in UK total 25 million monthly in 2023
- UK streaming singles consumption 123.4 billion track equivalents in 2022
- Hip-hop/R&B genre led UK streaming with 22% share in 2022
- Pop genre streaming share 19% in UK 2022
- UK average streams per user per week 15.2 hours in 2023 survey
- 70% of UK music consumption now streaming only, no ownership, 2023 data
- UK SoundCloud monthly active users 10 million in 2023
- Audiobook streaming integration boosted music apps by 10% usage in UK 2023
Streaming and Digital Interpretation
The data paints a picture of a nation happily drowning in an endless stream of music, where convenience has firmly dethroned ownership and our collective eardrums have never been so busy, yet so cheaply rented.
Sources & References
- Reference 1BPIbpi.co.ukVisit source
- Reference 2UKMUSICukmusic.orgVisit source
- Reference 3MUSICWEEKmusicweek.comVisit source
- Reference 4OFFICIALCHARTSofficialcharts.comVisit source
- Reference 5STATISTAstatista.comVisit source
- Reference 6PRSFORMUSICprsformusic.comVisit source
- Reference 7MUSICBUSINESSWORLDWIDEmusicbusinessworldwide.comVisit source
- Reference 8MIDIARESEARCHmidiaresearch.comVisit source
- Reference 9MERLINNETWORKmerlinnetwork.orgVisit source
- Reference 10PPLUKppluk.comVisit source
- Reference 11MUSICIANSUNIONmusiciansunion.org.ukVisit source
- Reference 12EQUITYequity.org.ukVisit source
- Reference 13GOVgov.ukVisit source