U.K. BIZ ON BUMPY ROAD TO RECOVERY 

The music industry’s contribution to the British economy rose 26% to £4b in 2021. With the sector still in recovery, the stat is down 31% from pre-COVID levels of £5.8b in 2019.

According to a report from UK Music, employment in the U.K. music industry rose to 145k jobs in 2021, up 14% from 128k in 2020 but still down 26% compared to 2019's pre-COVID record of 197k.

Exports increased to £2.5b last year—a boost of 10% over 2020 but still down 15% from 2019's £2.9b.

While music studios were allowed to remain open with limitations during the pandemic shutdown, government-mandated restrictions meant that live venues spent a significant amount of 2021 closed or operating at limited capacity—a major factor in last year’s lower revenues.

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin said the report showed the urgent need for support from new Prime Minister Liz Truss and for the government to reduce the tax burden on the music industry, incentivize investment and help support exports.

“It is vital that the government works with us to protect and nurture the music industry from the economic turbulence we face so we can pull through and create the jobs and investment to make it even stronger than it was before the pandemic,” he said.