£4bn UK music industry calls for Brexit protection
Music contributed £4.1bn to the UK economy last year, a new report has found.
Calling for the industry to be protected after the UK’s Brexit vote, research by UK Music also revealed that exports generated £2.2bn in revenue in 2015.
The report estimated that export revenue in live music grew by an estimated 35 per cent, with more than 767,000 overseas music tourists generating £1.1bn.
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Artists such as Adele, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith helped grow sales exports, meanwhile, by 8.9 per cent.
New culture secretary Karen Bradley said the government was keen to “maintain and build on” the success of the industry.
“Of all the albums sold across the globe last year an incredible one in six was by a British artist,” she said, writing in the report.
“The extraordinary success of artists like Coldplay and Adele added billions to our economy. We want to maintain and build on that success.
“The government is working closely with industry bodies, such as UK Music, to make it easier for these artists to do business and is investing in music education to nurture the next wave of successful British artists, who we want to see perform across the whole world.”
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UK Music said its study found the industry has outperformed the wider economy over the last four years.
“Distribution changes, trends may come and go, but all the while our music outperforms both in the UK and all over the globe,” said UK Music chief executive Jo Dipple.
“The UK needs to solidify its new post-Brexit place in the world and music will undoubtedly be part of the glue that does this.
“Our export profile is astounding which is partly why music, like sport, gives the world an understanding of our small country. UK Music’s goal is to work with government to convince them to give us policies as good as the music we produce.”