49 UK Music Industry Statistics For 2024 (Growth + Trends)
Looking for the latest UK music industry statistics? We’ve got you covered.
In this post, we’ll be sharing 49+ of the latest stats, facts, and figures about the UK music sector.
First, we’ll look at the size of the UK’s music industry and find out where the country stands in the global music market.
After that, we’ll reveal the different demographics that make up British musicians and how much they earn, discover the most popular ways Brits like to consume music, learn about the UK’s most successful songs, artists, and albums; and explore lots of other eye-opening statistics.
But first, here are our top picks…
UK music industry statistics – top picks
- The UK’s music industry provides £6.7 billion annually in GVA (UK Music)
- The UK is the third largest music market in the world, with a market share of 12% (UK Music4)
- Music exports from the UK generate £4 billion annually (UK Music)
- Over 210k people are employed in the British music industry… (UK Music)
- …and 70% of those working in the UK music industry are self-employed (UK Music)
- Digital music accounts for 77.5% of music listening in the UK (Statista2)
- Streaming accounts for 86.1% of the UK recorded music market (BPI)
- Over 159 billion audio tracks are streamed in the UK yearly (BPI)
- 89% of the population of the UK listen to radio (RadioToday)
UK music industry revenue statistics
The statistics below shed light on the general size of the UK’s music industry.
1. The UK music industry contributes £6.7B to the economy annually
That’s the GVA (Gross Value Added) by the music industry in 2022, according to the latest data available. And it shows just how important music is to the country’s economy.
Source: UK Music
2. The UK’s share of the global music market is 12%
The UK has long been at the forefront of the global music market. And despite stiff competition from emerging markets across Latin America and South Korea, the country continues to hold a 12% share of the total global music market (as of 2023). However, it’s nonetheless down from its peak of 17% in 2015.
Source: UK Music4
3. The UK is the third top music market globally
According to IFPI’s State of Industry 2024 report, the UK is the third largest music market globally. It ranks just behind the USA (number one) and Japan (number two), but above other important markets like Germany, China, France, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, and Australia.
Source: IFPI
4. Recorded music revenues in the UK grew by 8.1% last year
That’s a fairly healthy growth rate, and close to the average growth rate of Europe generally (8.9%). It’s also faster than the average growth rate in the USA & Canada (7.4%).
However, it’s significantly below fast-growing emerging markets like Latin America (19.4%), Sub-Saharan Africa (24.7%), and Asia (14.9%).
Source: IFPI
5. UK music exports bring in £4B annually
UK music exports generated £4 billion in 2022 alone. By exports, we’re talking about revenues generated by things like the overseas sales and streams of music recorded by British artists and labels, performances of UK copyrighted compositions outside of the country, spending by overseas tourists who travel to the UK to attend live shows, etc.
Interestingly, the UK is one of only three net exporters of music globally, and the second largest exporter of recorded music after the US.
Source: UK Music
6. UK CD sales fell by 23.7%
Globally, the market for physical music is in decline—and the UK is no exception. Sales of CDs dropped by 23.7% in 2022, and the physical music market as a whole fell by 10.5%. However…
Source: UK Music
7. UK vinyl sales increased by 3.1%
Vinyl is perhaps the only form of physical music that’s not currently in decline in the country. There has been a resurgence in demand for vinyl amongst active and invested music fans, and sales were up by 3.1% in 2022.
Source: UK Music
8. UK streaming revenues grew by 6.3%
Physical music revenues may be on the decline in the UK, but streaming revenues are very much on the rise. In 2022, they rose by 6.3%. To be more specific, subscription streaming revenues went up by 4.8%, ad-supported streaming revenues went up by 22.3%, and video streaming went up by 11.2%.
Source: UK Music
9. PPL reported annual revenues of £272.6 million in 2022
PPL is the UK’s music licensing company. If you play recorded music in public in the UK, you’ll usually need a license from PPL. In 2022, they reported revenues of £272.60—an all-time high and up by 7.8% year-over-year. That includes income from radio/TV broadcasts and public performances.
Source: UK Music
10. Income from sync royalties increased by 38.9%
UK music industry revenues derived from sync royalties reached £42.8 million in 2022, which is up by 38.9% year-over-year. Sync income comes from placing music in ads, TV shows, movies, and games.
Source: UK Music
UK music industry employment statistics
Next, let’s look at some UK music industry statistics that tell us more about how many people are employed in the sector, and how much they earn.
11. The UK music industry employs 210,000 people
That’s according to the latest data we could find. 210,000 people might seem like a lot, but it’s only 0.003% of the national population.
Source: UK Music
12. There are around 46,500 professional musicians in the UK
This is according to the latest industry estimations we could find, from the third quarter of 2023.
Source: Statista
13. The BBC is the largest music employer in the UK
The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) employs more musicians than any other employer in the UK. They employ over 400 contract musicians and have hundreds of freelance musicians on their books. They’re also the UK’s largest commissioner of new classical music.
Source: UK Music4
14. 70% of those working in the music industry in the UK are self-employed
To put that into perspective, only 15% of the UK’s entire working population is self-employed, per the ONS (Office of National Statistics). While self-employment affords musicians more flexibility over their working arrangements, it also offers less financial security and fewer protections from labor laws.
Source: UK Music
15. Nearly half of all professional UK musicians earn <£14k per year from their music
This is despite the fact that 70% of British musicians are educated to a degree level or above, and 50% have a music degree.
Source: The Guardian
16. Only 3% of professional UK musicians earn over £70k
Worryingly, only the top 3% of musicians in the UK earn over £70k a year. This highlights what many in the industry already know: It’s tough to be successful.
Source: The Guardian
17. The average professional musician in the UK juggles three to four jobs
It looks like most British musicians would struggle to make ends meet from their music alone, as the average professional musician has between 3 and 4 jobs.
Source: The Guardian
18. British musicians who earn <£25k get 25% of their earnings from overseas
Musicians who earn less than £25k annually get 75% of their earnings from the UK, 12% from the EU, and 13% from the rest of the world. However…
Source: UK Music
19. British musicians who earn >£200k get 69% of their earnings from overseas
Interestingly, the top earners get the majority of their income from exporting their music overseas. Those earning over £200k a year get 30% from the EU, 30% from the rest of the world, and 40% from the UK.
Source: UK Music
20. 30% of British music creators said their earnings had been affected by Brexit
Of those, 82% said that their earnings decreased following the UK’s exit from the EU. Touring artists like DJs and musicians were amongst the worst hit.
Source: UK Music
UK music industry demographics
The statistics below reveal the different demographics of British musicians and other professionals working in the UK music industry.
21. 21% of those working in the UK music industry identify as Black, Asian, Mixed, or Ethnically Diverse
That’s according to a recent survey of around 6,000 music industry professionals. It’s up from 17.8% in 2018, but down slightly from its peak of 22.3% in 2020.
Source: UK Music2
22. 52.9% of those working in the UK music industry identified as women
That’s up from 49.6% in 2020. A further 1.2% of surveyed industry professionals identified as non-binary, which is up from 0.4% in 2020. And 44.9% identified as men, which is down from 48.8% in 2020.
Source: UK Music2
23. 14.9% of those working in the UK music industry report having a disability
Of these, 90.8% said their disability wasn’t visible.
Source: UK Music2
24. 25% of professional UK musicians are aged 25 to 34
This is the largest age bracket, per the Musicians Census of almost 6,000 music industry professionals in the UK. A further 24% of musicians are 35 to 44 years old, 20% are 45 to 54, 16% are 55 to 64, 8% are 17 to 24, and 5% are 65 to 74.
Source: Musicians’ Census
UK live music statistics
Next, let’s look at some statistics relating to the UK’s live music scene.
25. 37 million people bought tickets to live music shows in the UK
While the number of people buying tickets for gigs and concerts in the UK dropped during the pandemic, it’s now bouncing back. 37 million people bought tickets in 2022, which is the latest figure we could find.
Source: UK Music
26. 14.4 million music tourists attended live music events in the UK
That’s in 2022. Of those, 1.1 million were foreign music tourists, and 13.3 million were domestic tourists.
Source: UK Music3
27. The EU was the UK’s largest live music market
In 2019, Europe was the UK’s largest market for live music. It’s 4x the size of the US; the UK’s second-largest market.
Source: UK Music4
28. Public music performances in the UK generate over £228 million annually
In 2022, UK public music performances generated £228.9 million in revenue. That’s an increase of 66.4% compared to the year before. The reason for this huge increase is due to the fact that the number of live events dropped dramatically due to the pandemic, and are now bouncing back as shops, bars, and restaurants have opened back up.
Source: UK Music
Digital music consumption in the UK
Digital music refers to music consumed over digital mediums, like music streams and downloads. Here are some stats related to digital music consumption in the UK
29. The UK is the biggest digital music market in Europe
The UK accounts for more music downloads and streams than any other country in Europe.
Source: Statista2
30. Digital now makes up 77.5% of the UK music sector
A decade ago, digital accounted for only around 26% of total music consumption. Now, it accounts for over three-quarters of music consumption.
Source: Statista2
31. Digital music spending reached £1.7B in 2022
That’s the total amount consumers spent on music downloads and streams in 2022. In comparison, total spending on physical music was just £280.4 million.
Digital music spending surpassed physical music spending for the first time back in 2015, and the gap widened from there.
Source: Statista7
Streaming consumption in the UK
Here are some statistics about music streaming in the UK
32. There are 159.3 billion audio streams in the UK annually
That’s the number of audio streams that there were in the country in 2022. It works out at over 3 billion streams per week, and that’s not even counting music video streams.
Source: BPI
33. The UK music streaming market has more than doubled in size over the past 5 years
The UK’s streaming growth has been dramatic. In 2017, there were 68.1 billion annual audio streams in the UK. By 2020, that had risen to 139.3 billion. And now, it stands at over 159.3 billion.
Source: BPI
34. Streaming accounts for 86.1% of the total UK recorded music market
Again, that’s up significantly over the past 5 years. Streaming accounted for just 50.4% of the recorded music market in 2017.
Source: BPI
35. 1,800+ UK artists have surpassed 10 million global music streams
And the top 15 more established UK artists have amassed more than 2 billion global streams each. Ed Sheeran has the most streams of any UK domestic artists.
Source: BPI
Radio consumption in the UK
Are Brits still listening to radio? Here are some statistics that will help to answer that question.
36. 89% of the UK population listens to the radio
That’s around 49.5 million adults, for the record.
Source: RadioToday
37. Over a billion hours of radio are consumed in the UK every quarter
In the last 3 months of 2021, Brits listened to over a billion hours of radio. That’s a lot of listening time for advertisers to tap into.
Source: RadioToday
38. The average person in the UK listens to live radio for 20.3 hours a week
People tend to spend longer listening to radio than other music formats, with the average UK listener tuning in for over 20.3 hours each week.
Source: RadioToday
39. 64.4% of all UK radio listeners listen digitally
The other 35.6% listen via AM/FM. DAB is responsible for most digital listening, accounting for 42.5% of all listening time.
Source: RadioToday
40. The most well-known radio station in the UK is BBC Radio 1
96% of people have heard of BBC Radio 1, according to the latest data from YouGov. The top 5 most well-known radio stations are listed in the table below.
| Radio station | Familiarity (% of the UK population that have heard of it) |
| BBC Radio 1 | 96% |
| Heart FM | 96% |
| Capital FM | 93% |
| BBC Radio 2 | 93% |
| Classic FM | 91% |
Source: YouGov
41. The most popular radio station in the UK is Heart FM
60% of UK radio listeners feel positively about Heart FM, making it the country’s favorite radio station according to the latest YouGov poll. The top 5 most-liked radio stations are listed in the table below.
| Radio station | Popularity(% of the UK population that say they like it) |
| Heart FM | 60% |
| Capital FM | 59% |
| Heart Radio | 57% |
| Heart 80s | 50% |
| Classic FM | 47% |
Source: YouGov
Most popular songs, albums, and musicians in the UK
Finally, let’s take a look at some statistics about the top songs, albums, and musicians in the UK music industry.
42. The best-selling single in the UK last year was ‘Flowers’ by Miley Cyrus
1.7 million copies of the single were sold and streamed, and it reached number one in the UK end-of-year singles charts.
Source: Wikipedia, OfficialCharts1
43. The best-selling UK single of last decade was ‘Shape of You’ by Ed Sheeran
It sold and streamed around 3.2 million copies in the year it was released, 2017
Source: Wikipedia
44. The best-selling UK single of all time is ‘Candle in the Wind 1997’ by Elton John
It sold 4.77 million copies, making it the number one all-time best seller in the UK.
Source: Wikipedia
45. The top UK album of last year was ‘The Highlights’ by Weeknd
It reached number one on the Official Charts top 100 biggest artist albums of the year chart and spent 3 weeks at number one. Midnights by Taylor Swift came second, and 1989 by Taylor Swift came third.
Source: OfficialCharts2
46. Queen is the most popular artist of all time in the UK
According to a survey from 2023, 83% of people in the UK have a positive opinion of Queen, making it the UK’s favorite band. Freddy Mercury ranked second (80%), Abba third (76%), and The Beatles fourth (75%).
Source: Statista3
47. Ed Sheeran is the most famous music artist of all time in the UK
99% of surveyed Brits in 2023 had heard of Ed Sheeran, making him the number one most well-known artist.
Source: Statista4
48. Sir Paul McCartney is the richest musician in the UK
With an estimated worth of £865 million, former Beatles frontman Paul McCartney is the UK’s richest musician.
Source: Statista6
49. Harry Styles is the richest young musician in the UK
According to data from Statista, Harry Styles tops the rich list of young musicians in the UK, with an estimated worth of over £100 million. In this case, ‘young’ refers to any musician under the age of 30.
Source: Statista5
Final thoughts
That concludes our roundup of the latest UK music industry statistics.
Hungry for more? Check out these general music industry statistics to learn more about music across the world. Or see this post for the latest Spotify statistics.
You might also want to check out our comparison of the best music streaming services of the year.
