UK music tourism generates £3.1 billion annually

UK Music has released a report showing that music tourism numbers increased by 34% between 2011 and 2014, with 9.5 million eager human beings travelling to UK music events in 2014 alone. Over half a million came from overseas, the rest travelling more than "three times the average commuting distance" of an event's local region in order to get to the event.

Other statistics presented in the UK Music report are that £3.1 billion was generated by music tourism last year, while those 546,000 music tourists coming from abroad spent an average of £751 each while in the UK. The music industry group also reckons that 38,238 full time jobs were sustained by music tourism last year.

Total attendance at UK music events topped 21 million in 2014 – a 23% increase in three years.

Private copying exception faces challenge from UK Music industry

Perhaps unsurprisingly, cross-industry trade body UK Music, working with the Musicians' Union and British Academy Of Songwriters, Composers And Authors, is set to fight the private copy exemption added to British copyright law earlier this year through the courts saying "The MU, BASCA and UK Music welcome the purpose of the new measures, namely to enable consumers to make a copy of their legally acquired music. However, this is a bad piece of legislation as it incorrectly implements the law by failing to include fair compensation for musicians, composers and rightsholders" expaining "The private copying exception will damage the musician and composer community. It contravenes Article 5 (2) (b) of the [European] Copyright Directive which includes a requirement that where a member state provides for such a copyright exception - as the UK now has - it must also provide fair compensation for rights holders". Nowt about compendation for consumers though - who are left with redundant formats when technology changes.

UK Music worth £3.5 billion annually

The UK music industry contributed £3.5 billion to the UK economy in 2012, according to new figures from cross-sector trade body UK Music. The £3.5 billion in 'added value' constitutes the profits made and wages paid by the music industry. According to The Times, that figure includes £1.6 billion related to musicians, composers and songwriters, £662 million from live music, £634 million from recorded music sales and £402 million from music publishing. UK Music also calculated that the music business accounts for £1.4 billion in exports and employs 100,000 full-time employees.

UK Music Skills Academy launched

UK Music has launched the UK Music Skills Academy, a new strand of the National Skills Academy: Creative & Cultural Skills. The new body aims to "build an infrastructure enabling the music industry to engage directly with skills and training providers", with a view to better informing those educating the next generation of music business professionals as to what skills are required. The new venture will also operate a UK Music Apprenticeship scheme and stage an annual Skills Festival.

Live Music Bill moves closer to being law

The UK music industry is celebrating after the Live Music Bill passed its third reading and report stage in the House Of Commons. The Bill, introduced by Lib Dem Peer Tim Clement-Jones and promoted in the Commons by Bath MP Don Foster, should now proceed to Royal Assent. As a result, small venues wanting to host live music events will no longer need a local authority entertainment licence – cutting bureaucracy and expense, and making it easier for pubs and clubs to host live performances. Jo Dipple, acting chief executive of UK Music, the UK commercial music industry’s umbrella body, said: “This is a great day for music. The Live Music Bill will make a real and positive difference to lives of musicians. There is no doubt that the current Licensing Act has created needless layers of bureaucracy - making it complicated and expensive for pubs and other small venues to host live gigs. The entire industry would like to thank Lord Clement-Jones and Don Foster MP who have made this change possible.”

John Smith, Musicians Union General Secretary, added: “We are delighted that the Live Music Bill has finally made it through Parliament. It is a real achievement for a Private Member’s Bill to get through and the MU would like to thank Lord Clement-Jones, Don Foster and all of the other MPs who helped to pass this Bill. “Over the past few years our members have been telling us that the number of gigs available to young musicians who are still perfecting their craft has gone down. This is primarily due to a reduction in the number of smaller venues which traditionally offered this level of gig, and is directly linked to the Licensing Act. The exemption that the Live Music Bill introduces will be hugely beneficial to these small venues.”

www.ukmusic.org

Sharkey leaves UK Music

Feargal Sharkey, boss of UK Music, has said that he is leaving cross sector campaign group with immediate effect. Former Undertone and record label executive Sharkey has been instrumental in building the group into a representative body that included the live sector and in catching the attention of government.

UK Music highlights the value of events to the UK’s economy

A new report from UK Music and Bournemouth University shows just how much music tourism generates for the wider UK economy. Destination: Music – the contribution that live music makes to the tourism economy highlights the fact that live music in the UK attracts at least 7.7 million attendances by music tourists and that they spent £1.4 billion during the course of their trips - contributing £864 million to the national economy and sustaining the equivalent of 19,700 full time jobs. The data shows that domestic tourists make up 95% of all music tourists, while overseas tourists make up 5% - but overseas tourists contribute 18% of total spending and overseas music tourists spend a quarter more in the UK than the average overseas tourist.

The research analysed the data of more than 2.5 million ticket transactions at larger events (5000+) to calculate the proportion of people who attend live music events whom were classified as a music tourist. This data was then cross-referenced against the substantial body of work already conducted on live music and tourism.

The full report can be downloaded here:
http://www.ukmusic.org/research/tourism-research

UK live sector joins up with UK Music

The UK's live music sector has finally joined UK Music, the umbrella organisation representing the collective interests of the UK’s commercial music industry - from artists, musicians, songwriters and composers, to major and independent record labels, music managers up, music producers, music publishers, music licensing companies and, now, the live music sector - now ensuring that, for the first time, the UK’s entire commercial music industry will be represented by one umbrella body. The move follows the establishment of the UK Live Music Group, a coming together of the live industry’s main trade associations and representative bodies whose members are The Agents Association, The AFO (the Association of Festival Organisers, representing many jazz and folk festivals), the Association of Independent Festivals (whose members include Bestival and Creamfields), The Concert Promoters Association, The International Live Music Conference, the NAA (National Arenas Association), the PSA (Production Services Association ) and we:Live, the independent venue and promoter association. The group will meet every six weeks and have nominated Paul Latham of Live Nation Entertainment to be their representative on the UK Music board.

Feargal Sharkey, chief executive of UK Music said: “This is a fantastic development for UK Music. The coming together of the UK Live Music Group is hugely significant in itself - establishing a unique and powerful voice for the sector. Having their input at board level will be a huge asset for this organization and we hit the ground running next week, with the publication of some groundbreaking research on music tourism.” According to PRS for Music research, revenues from live music in the UK rose by 9.4% in 2009 to £1.5bn. The total value of the UK music industry in 2009 was estimated at £3.9bn

http://www.ukmusic.org/