The British live music industry grew by 10% in 2018 to contribute £1.1b Gross Value Added to the U.K. economy, according to a report by trade body UK Music. Growth is in part attributed to a 23% rise in festival attendance, despite it being Glastonbury’s fallow year.
The recorded music sector contributed £568m GVA in 2018. Label revenues rose 3%, reflecting a third year of consecutive growth.
According to the report, money generated by the U.K’s live music sector last year rose by £109k. Festival attendance was down 4.9m people, which includes a 10% increase in overseas visitors to 888k from 810k in 2017. Festivals in Scotland, including TRNSMT and Sunday Sessions, particularly boosted the numbers with music tourists in the country rising by 38% (1.1m). Total concert attendance stayed the same at 24.9m.
Overall, the music industry contributed £5.2b GVA to the British economy last year. That's up from £4.5b in 2017 with one caveat—the report has been produced with revised methodology this year, and includes retail for the first time, which makes some direct comparisons to previous data unreliable.
