06.01.2026: As part of UK Music’s This Is Music report into the financial health of the sector, we discussed how economic value is created around four commercial assets: composition, recording, live performance and brand & image. These assets involve all sectors of the industry, and are the foundations on which GVA, exports and employment are built. You can read more on the report here.

Musical Composition

Songwriters and composers create the building blocks of songs and compositions on which the music industry is built. Supported by music publishing companies, and Collective Management Organisations (CMOs), composition revenues continued to grow in 2024, albeit at a slower rate. Music publisher revenues were £1.7 billion in 2024, up 5% from £1.6 billion in 2023.

Music publishing revenues include direct licensing from areas such as sync, print, and grand rights (e.g. musicals) while digital rights revenues are either derived directly through agreements with Digital Service Providers (DSPs) or through a society hub (e.g. MCPS & PRS for Music via ICE Services). Areas of business such as broadcast, mechanical, and public performance licensing are administered by either MCPS and/or PRS for Music (dependent upon the rights required by the licensee) before being paid to publishers or direct to songwriter and composer members of each society.

Part of the music publishers’ revenue, reported above, was derived from PRS for Music, which paid out a record £1.02 billion in royalties to songwriters, composers, and music publishers, up 8.1% on £943.6 million in 2023, and breaking the billion-pound barrier for the first time in terms of payments to members. MCPS also delivered over £200m to its members in its centenary celebration Year.

Music publishing is quietly successful and offers a solid pillar of revenue to the UK music industry and broader economy. Musical composition is a flexible and expansive copyright which includes not only songs, but film scores, background, production music, and lyrics. Artificial intelligence poses a threat to the music industry as a whole, but that threat is especially pronounced, even existential, for many forms of musical composition such as production music.

Recorded Music

Recorded music comprises artists, musicians, producers, mixers, engineers, studios, labels, distributors, alongside PPL, which licenses the public performance and broadcast of recordings in the UK and collects for similar uses internationally. Recorded music revenues reached £1.49 billion in 2024, up 4.8% from £1.43 billion in 2023. This includes physical sales, downloads, streaming, sync income, and public performance income to rights holders.

Streaming revenues grew 5.7% to £1.02 billion in 2024 from £962 million in 2023, and physical revenues from the sales of CD, vinyl, and cassette grew 1.3% to £246.5 million in 2024, from £243.4 million in 2023.7 PPL paid out £284.6 million to UK recording rightsholders, up 5% from £271.9 million in 2023. Streaming revenues continue to grow, although as one of the first markets to adopt streaming from around 2008, the UK is one of the more mature streaming markets and other international markets are catching up.

Purchased music remains important, proportionately so for independents, who account for 32.2% of CD sales, 37.6% of vinyl sales, and 38.9% of digital albums, compared to 29.0% for Album Equivalent Sales (including streaming). Independents market share across all formats, including streaming, has increased over the past five years, but independents have consistently performed better on purchased formats, including download sales, compared to streaming.

Some commentators have speculated that streaming algorithms may favour US repertoire, which has the benefit of a huge home market, which helps US repertoire achieve scale relative to smaller English-speaking markets such as the UK. The influence of algorithms is a hotly debated topic, and while the evidence is circumstantial (the algorithms themselves are confidential), concerns exist within the industry, particularly among some independents who lack the resources to compete for the same attention on streaming platforms.

Following a strong year for UK talent in 2023, the share of sales by UK artists based on the top 10,000 albums dipped from 35.7% share in 2023 to 33.6% in 2024. This was due partly to a softer release schedule and developing artists taking longer to reach their full potential. This latter point is explored in more detail in the Artist Development Cycle section of this report.

Live Performance

The live music sector experienced continued growth in 2024, albeit more slowly than in 2023. That growth was powered by concerts, particularly stadium and arena tours. Taylor Swift was the standout tour of 2024, but The Swift Effect was only one factor, as tours by Take That (pictured), Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, and others all contributed during 2024. Growth in the festival sector continued but was more muted.

There is also the challenge of balancing pricing tickets competitively against increased costs which is a challenge for everyone in the sector, particularly smaller festivals. Nevertheless, UK festivals continue to lead the world in attracting artists and audiences. While 2023 saw major tours by Harry Styles, Elton John, and Arctic Monkeys, there were fewer major tours by UK artists during 2024, the biggest being Take That. This is due to touring cycles and 2025 has seen not only the Oasis reunion, but also major tours by Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and Catfish and The Bottlemen, the latter stepping up to stadiums for the first time. In most cases, the UK dates are part of an international tour, and this will boost export revenues for music creators in 2025. It will also mean more work for musicians who play with the headliners, support acts, and road crews.

Promoters and venue operators invest heavily at every level in the live industry, including grassroots, and they do this on very thin margins. Challenges remain at the grassroots level especially, where many venues and independent festivals have closed over the past few years. While the plight of small venues and independent festivals is well documented, the impact is especially severe for grassroots artists who find it increasingly difficult to tour.

The biggest problems artists face is that income from touring is not keeping pace with the cost of touring, alongside a downward pressure on consumer spending at this level resulting from an ongoing cost of living crisis.

Brand & Image

Brand and image revenues are smaller than other assets, but can be the cherry on the cake, financially, for creators and businesses. However, these revenues can also be highly variable. For example, non-traditional recorded income (which includes audio-visual projects, such as film and TV productions, and deals with hardware manufacturers) almost doubled in 2022, declined by 20% in 2023, but rebounded in 2024, growing 17%.

The dip in 2023 coincided with the SAG-AFTRA strike, which affected film and TV production in the USA. Similarly, sync licensing, which saw a dip in 2023, rebounded in 2024 with both the recorded and publishing sectors showing double-digit growth. Music merchandise companies reported a solid year in 2024, with figures roughly tracking the music industry as a whole.

Performance between companies varies considerably, and that is largely dependent on who is touring. UK merchandise companies work with both UK and international talent alike, so although there were fewer major tours by UK artists in 2024, demand remained strong. Merchandise companies continue to innovate across direct-to-consumer, licensed merchandise, and retail. This helps boost revenues for new and established touring artists, those artists who are no longer actively touring, and even the estates of deceased artists.

Creative product development, planning, and close collaboration between artists, managers and merchandise companies are the keys to success. Brexit remains a major challenge for many in the music merchandise sector.

You can read out This Is Music report in full here.

Take That photo by Corbyn John Media