UK Music industry booms

Ellie Goulding at Glastonbury -
 both major UK success stories

The British music industry contributed £3.8bn to the UK economy in 2013, according to a new report from UK Music. With the sector seeing a 9% growth over the year before, the cross industry group called for a stronger national copyright framework. The increase in overall music receipts can be traced to individual revenues by musicians, singers, composers, songwriters and lyricists, which rose more than 6% to £1.7bn, and live music sales, which rose almost 20% to £789m according to Measuring Music report. There were also increases in publishing and studio revenues, and a massive boom in UK music exports - up 57% to £2.2bn. On negative note, revenues from recorded music fell by £16m last year, to £618m.  More than 110,000 people hold full-time jobs in the UK music industry, 67,000 of whom are professional musicians.  UK Music boss Jo Dipple told reporters: "We all know how amazing British music is. Now we can put a figure to its value. Last year its contribution to our economy grew by 9%. This is a big deal. The music industry creates real jobs and real opportunities for young people". She added: "'Measuring Music' provides us with the data to accurately show government and policy makers how important an industry we are to the UK economy. The young bearded kids in the pub, making a racket on a Friday night, might just turn out to generate more revenue for [the Treasury] than a car manufacturer. But they need support to get there".