Cultural and economic contribution of live music in the UK

Approximate read time: 15 minutes

The House of Lords is scheduled to consider the following question for short debate on 2 July 2026:

Lord Brennan of Canton (Labour) to ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of live music to the UK’s culture and economy.

1. Cultural and economic contribution of live music

The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee has described the UK’s music industry as “a cultural and economic powerhouse”.^[1] In its 2019 report on ‘Live music’ it also observed:

Live music makes a significant contribution to the UK’s economy and cultural life, attracting tourists from around the world, employing thousands in delivering live events, supporting hospitality and infrastructure supply chains and, perhaps most importantly, inspiring and entertaining music lovers around the country.^[2]

1.1 Cultural and social contribution

On the cultural impact of music in particular, the committee said it was “important to acknowledge the social and cultural value that live music offers”.^[3] It added that “as an inherently social activity, live music offers unique benefits, especially for young people for whom venues can be safe and accessible environments that still offer the buzz of discovering something new”. It also argued that because of this, live music could offer “a social alternative in the digital age”.

UK Music, which describes itself as the collective voice of the UK’s music industry, has also commented on the importance of music in British society, describing it as a “social force that brings people together, to dance, sing, cheer and share good times”.^[4] The BPI (British Recorded Music Industry Ltd, formerly the British Phonographic Industry Ltd), which represents UK record companies and label businesses, has also found strong public support for British music in surveys.^[5]

Studies have found it difficult to disentangle the cultural and economic value of music.^[6] However, some studies have aimed to collate qualitative data on the specific cultural and societal value of music. For example, the Live Music Exchange, a research and knowledge exchange network run through the universities of Newcastle, Edinburgh and Turku in Finland, found live music can enhance social bonding, be mood-enhancing, provide health and wellbeing benefits, offer a unique experience, form a fundamental part of people’s identity, inspire, and engage multiple senses.^[7] Other research has highlighted broader social benefits linked to music, including around societal bonding, public engagement and identity, and cultural benefits including musical creativity, cultural vibrancy, and talent development.^[8]

1.2 Economic contribution

There is more data available on the economic value of music. UK Music has reported that in 2024 the music industry as a whole contributed £8bn in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy, an increase of 5% from £7.6bn in 2023.^[9] It also said export revenues had reached £4.8bn in 2024, again a 5% increase from £4.6bn in 2023. In addition, it reported that the music industry employed 220,000 people in 2024, up 2% from 216,000 in 2023.

However, UK Music noted that the growth seen in 2024 had slowed from the double-digit increases the sector had experienced since 2021.^[10] It cited a softer release schedule by major UK recording artists and fewer major artists touring during 2024 as factors behind the slowdown in growth. UK Music also said the reduction in growth was not unexpected and was consistent with global market trends.

The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee has observed that live music in particular was a “significant contributor” to the success of the music industry as a whole.^[11]

Consumer spending on live music

The live music sector’s umbrella body, Live Music Industry Venues and Entertainment (LIVE), has reported that total consumer spend driven by live music was £6.68bn in 2024, a 9.5% increase on the previous year and 28.2% higher than in 2022.^[12] It said the sector’s recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic had been “remarkable”, with consumer spending reaching £2bn more in 2024 than in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. LIVE also highlighted that the investment bank Goldman Sachs had forecast further substantial growth in 2025, driven by millennials and gen Z fans.

Examining the reasons behind the sector’s growth, LIVE explained that this had been partly driven by inflation, which was running at “historically high levels” in 2022 and 2023.^[13] However, it said the increase of 9.5% was nearly four times above the UK’s inflation rate of 2.5% in the 12 months to December, as measured by the consumer price index. LIVE argued this meant that the majority of recent growth was “organic and achieved by an exceptionally strong line-up of live music in 2024”.

LIVE also noted the biggest year-on-year difference in the market was the split between concerts and festivals.^[14] It reported that concerts attracted 75.3% of live music spending in 2024. It said this was partly due to a slowing of growth in music festivals, but was also attributable to higher ticket prices, which rose due to increases in the cost of labour, energy and other festival inputs. However, it said the biggest factor behind the success of concerts was a “stellar line-up” of major artists, led by Taylor Swift. It said stadia and arenas were the biggest beneficiaries of this, with conditions more challenging for grassroots venues due to lower headroom for ticket price increases and higher costs having a more immediate impact on operators.

UK Music has also noted this issue, observing there were challenges in balancing pricing tickets competitively against increased costs.^[15] It said this was “a challenge for everyone” in the sector, but particularly difficult for smaller festivals. Nevertheless, UK Music argued the UK had continued to “lead the world in attracting artists and audiences”, with LIVE reporting that festival revenue had surpassed pre-pandemic levels and there was optimism regarding the expected pace of growth in 2025 and 2026.^[16]

On spend by place, LIVE reported that London was the capital of the live music scene in the UK. It said the Greater London region attracted 28.9% of all expenditure in 2024 and took an even greater share (33.3%) of concert income.^[17] Overall, London generated more live music income than the next four cities (Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff) put together. However, its share was down slightly year on year, while Manchester’s had increased. The top five cities, as shown in the table below, accounted for 46.2% of all live music spend in 2024, with the remaining spend shared by a number of smaller cities and towns, with more rural areas benefiting from the festival sector. LIVE argued these figures showed the wide reach of the sector and demonstrated how it contributed to the economic and cultural life of every region of the UK.

Table 1. Share of live music by city in 2024: Top five

(Live Music Industry Venues and Entertainment, ‘LIVE annual report and economic highlights 2024’, September 2025, p 7)

Employment

LIVE gave a higher estimate for employment than UK Music, saying the live music sector had employed more than 234,000 people in 2024, a 2.2% increase year on year and 11.7% more than in 2019.^[18] It also reported that around four in five (78.8%) jobs in live music were casual, with permanent staff making up the remainder. It said the growth in the number of casual staff continued a post-Covid shift which meant casual numbers were higher than in 2019, while the number of permanent staff employed was lower.

LIVE argued the costs of employing staff would be a challenge for live music businesses in 2025, citing then planned increases in the national minimum and living wages and national insurance contributions.^[19] A survey of businesses showed that many had reduced staff count (65%), or cut hours (63%), with others having cut spending on employee benefits and training (29%).

Table 2. Live music employment 2019 to 2024 by employment type

(Live Music Industry Venues and Entertainment, ‘LIVE annual report and economic highlights 2024’, September 2025, p 9)

2. Challenges faced by the live music sector

2.1 Problems at the grassroots level

While stadia and arenas have seen recent success, many grassroots venues have been struggling.

The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee examined the issues facing ‘Grassroots music venues’ in a 2024 report.^[20] The committee said grassroots venues were “integral to the pipeline of creative and professional talent” and were also key fixtures of our communities”.^[21] However, it argued venues were facing a crisis of soaring costs and closures, with many stopping live music and others closing entirely at a rate of two per week. It also reported that artists and people who relied on grassroots venues for business were facing a “cost-of-touring crisis and finding opportunities squeezed”. Promoters were also found to be less able to put on shows or make them financially viable.

UK Music has also reported that “many venues and independent festivals have closed over the past few years”.^[22] It said one the biggest challenges faced by artists was that the income from touring had not kept pace with costs. It also highlighted downward pressure on consumer spending due to cost-of-living pressures as an issue. In addition, UK Music said rising costs had impacted the wider sector, including touring artists, recording studios, venues and small record labels within the independent music community.^[23]

The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee made a number of recommendations in its 2024 report on how to support grassroots venues, including that a comprehensive government review was needed to fully examine the long-term challenges to the live music ecosystem.^[24]

2.2 UK’s relationship with the EU

Stakeholders have argued those working in the music industry have faced challenges due to the UK’s relationship with the EU. In recent years, UK Music surveyed music creators on their experiences of touring the EU following Brexit.^[25] Reporting the findings of its third survey in late 2025, UK Music said the picture was “still bad” and was “getting worse”. Of those surveyed, it found 32% were affected by Brexit, up 4% from 28% in 2023. Of those affected, 95% experienced a decrease in earnings, up 8% from 87% the previous year. It argued most of the biggest factors affecting artists had shown no improvement, or had even worsened, in the three years the survey had run. In addition, UK Music said impacts were felt most amongst lower earners and those in the earliest stages of their career. UK Music said data had shown a “stark decline” in small and medium-sized live performances reported since Brexit.

In addition, UK Music said data produced by PRS for Music, a British music copyright collective, had shown a 27% decline in live performance claims for EU festivals and events with a capacity of under 5,000 between 2019 and 2023 (2019 was the last year in which UK musicians had freedom of movement before the pandemic).^[26] UK Music highlighted that this reduction in performances had affected songwriters who would have received fewer royalties.

Similar issues were also found to apply to other forms of work within the live music sector.^[27] For example, UK-based musicians and DJs have experienced fewer bookings for cruise ship, hotel and resort work.

2.3 Development of new artists

UK Music has argued the “biggest single factor” behind the music industry’s success is the sector’s ability to “develop new UK artists, songwriters, musicians and producers who generate revenue”, both domestically and internationally, and deliver export revenue back to the UK, boosting GVA.^[28] However, it has also said it is “taking longer for new artists to break through in a connected global marketplace”. UK Music reported that since 2020, there has been a shift in the market, with fewer debut albums by UK artists making it into the year-end top 1,000 albums, as artists are taking longer to achieve breakthrough success.^[29] It said this issue meant that sustained investment and support would be required to “ensure new talent flourishes”.^[30]

2.4 Artificial intelligence

In addition, UK Music highlighted the potential threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to the music industry.^[31] It argued that AI was a “major issue” for the music sector, “particularly where rights are being infringed by AI companies undertaking unlicensed learning”. The industry body called on the government to take action on AI, including rejecting any exemption that undermined the basic principle for how music is used and compensated for and introducing legal obligations on AI developers to disclose copyright works used in training.^[32]

3. Government policies to support live music

In November 2025, the government was asked what steps it was taking to ensure a safe and sustainable future for live music venues.^[33] Responding, Ian Murray, minister for creative industries, media and arts, set out several policies which are outlined below.

3.1 Music growth package

In his response, Mr Murray highlighted the government’s ‘Creative industries sector plan’, published in June 2025. He said the plan had announced a music growth package of up to £30mn over three years from 2026, which he said more than doubled previous funding.^[34] A government press release stated the package would create new touring, performance, mentoring and export opportunities for emerging talent, while also delivering “a significant uplift in funding for the grassroots sector to support small venues and help them to platform more high-potential artists”.^[35] In June 2026 Mr Murray said the government would publish a “music plan” to accompany the package.^[36]

3.2 Arts Council funding

Mr Murray said the government was also providing £2.5mn of funding for Arts Council England’s supporting grassroots music fund for 2025/26.^[37] He said the funding would enable grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals to apply for grants of up to £40,000 to “develop new revenue streams, make repairs and improvements, and enhance the live music experience for fans”.

3.3 Ticket levy

In addition, Mr Murray said the government was working with the live music industry to “drive progress on an industry-led levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows”.^[38] This followed a call in recent years for a voluntary levy on the gross value of tickets sold at stadia and arena to support the grassroots sector.^[39]

These calls led to the creation in January 2025 of a voluntary £1 per ticket levy on arena and stadium shows with a capacity of over 5,000, which is collected by the LIVE Trust.^[40] In April 2025, the LIVE Trust said it had received its first £500,000 in contributions, which it said demonstrated “a real appetite from performers and their teams to support the wider live ecosystem”. In May 2026 it was reported the amount received had reached £6mn.^[41]

Mr Murray said the government welcomed commitments by artists and the wider industry to implement the ticket levy, and steps taken by industry to set up a charitable trust to distribute funds from the levy.^[42] However, commentators have recently criticised the government for charging VAT on the levy, saying it had cost £1.2mn of the £6mn raised.^[43]

3.4 Business rates

Focusing on business rates, Mr Murray said the government was creating “a fairer system, co-designed with stakeholders from the creative sectors”.^[44] He said that to support such industries, the government was introducing permanently lower business rate multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) premises with rateable values under £500,000, starting in 2026/27. He explained that as a bridge to the permanent change, the government had extended the 40% RHL business rates relief for 2025/26.

4. Read more

• House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, ‘Competition and market functioning in the UK live music industry’, 24 May 2026, HC 128 of session 2026–27
• House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, ‘Grassroots music venues’, 11 May 2024, HC 527 of session 2023–24; and ‘Grassroots music venues: Government response’, 14 November 2024, HC 380 of session 2024–26
• House of Lords Library, ‘Creative industries: Growth, jobs and productivity’, 30 January 2025
• House of Commons Library, ‘Creative industries’, 24 January 2025

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