PRS For Music adds up the industry

UK Music success abroad helps drive growth, as recorded sales flatten and the live boom cools

PRS for Music’s annual ‘Adding Up The UK Music Industry’ report has revealed that UK music industry revenues totalled £3.9bn in 2009.

The success of British music abroad complemented slower domestic growth in live music.  Overall growth of 4.7% (2008 = £3.6bn) was a positive achievement for the industry, also underpinned by the levelling-off of a five year sustained decline in recorded sales.

The report by PRS for Music’s economists Will Page & Chris Carey analyses the diverse mix of revenues, rights and relationships that make up the industry in 2009 including consumer spending on CDs, downloads and live music, business-to-business revenues from licensing music use and other sources. 

Highlights of the Adding Up The UK Music Industry 2009 report include:

• The UK music industry was worth £3.9bn in 2009, up 4.7% on 2008.   Combined business-to-consumer revenues (live industry and recorded music sales) grew 4.8% to £2.9bn making up 75% of the total industry
• Retail spend on recorded music including CDs, downloads, music DVDs and streaming stabilised, helped by growth in licensed digital music services  and ending a five year overall downward trend
• International licensing revenue from music use overseas is becoming increasingly important with demand from the US, France, Germany, Japan and Holland as well as growth in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe 
• Live music revenues have increased 9.4% to £1.5bn including direct ticket sales, secondary ticketing and ‘on the night’ spend, but have slowed from 2008’s outstanding growth of 13% 
• Business-to-business revenues including royalty collections from organisations and businesses using music, direct licensing of music services and advertising and sponsorship totalled £967m up 4.4% on 2008 
• Recorded music revenues in the UK are shown to be larger than the US when expressed per head of population  

Will Page, Chief Economist PRS for Music said: 

“Overall 2009 has bucked downward trends at home and abroad. Strong growth in international licensing revenues, a robust live music industry and signs of stabilisation in the recorded sector have helped produce these impressive results. Underpinning this is a drive by the industry to develop new sources of revenue from the online market.

The question for 2010 is will it last? With signs that the live industry may already be cooling, the challenge for all of the UK music industry players is to continue to work together to build upon what has been a unexpected and much welcome UK-media success story of 2009.”

Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive PRS for Music added:

“The ‘Adding Up The UK Music Industry’ report is becoming a key resource for understanding the business.   The more we understand the complexities of the industry and how revenues and rights are split, the better placed we all are to secure and grow this vital component of UK PLC.

In a changing economic climate it is heartening that the music industry as a whole is continuing to adapt and evolve to compete on a world stage.”