24.09.2026: UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl highlighted the challenges facing the music sector and how the Government’s devolution plans could present major opportunities for the industry as part of his keynote speech at the OUTPUT Belfast conference. 

Tom opened the event on Thursday September 24 with a keynote speech outlining the key opportunities and obstacles facing the UK’s £8 billion music industry at the Belfast event, which featured a raft of panel sessions, workshops and networking opportunities.

His speech addressed the urgent need to tear down barriers to EU touring, as well as how the Government’s devolution plans could help unlock the cultural and economic potential of communities right across the UK.

You can read Tom’s speech in full below.

“Hello, my name is Tom Kiehl, and I am Chief Executive of UK Music.

“Thank you to Mark Gordon, Matty Irvine, and the rest of the OUTPUT team for inviting me to make this opening keynote speech.

“It is fantastic to be here in Belfast, a UNESCO City of Music, surrounded by the people who are involved in music and make this world-leading industry worth £8bn to the UK economy.

“For those of you who don’t know who we are, we are the collective voice of the UK’s music industry. UK Music represents all sectors of our industry – bringing 10 members together to collaborate, campaign, and champion music.

“Our former Chair Tom Watson left UK Music at the end of May, and at his recent leaving event made an passionate speech about the interconnectedness of our membership. I will attempt to recreate it now as it truly defines what we stand for.

“At the heart of the music industry sit the songwriters of the Ivors Academy, because nothing happens until somebody writes the song and songwriters do it best.

“But a song needs a voice, so the songwriters need the featured artists of the Featured Artist Coalition, who sprinkle the world with stardust.

“The featured artists need the musicians of the Musicians’ Union, who play behind them and beside them, night after night.

“The musicians need the managers of the Music Managers Forum, who hold the whole circus together and get everybody to the right venue on the right night.

“The managers need the producers of the Music Producers Guild, who make it all sound the way it sounded in the writer’s head.

“The producers need the publishers of the Music Publishers Association, who do the deals.

“The publishers need the labels of the BPI and the Association of Independent Music, who back the whole enterprise with their own money.

“And every last one of them, songwriter and artist, musician and manager, producer, publisher and label, needs PRS and PPL to make sure that everyone in the chain gets paid.

“That is why the whole ecosystem matters.

“And it is why we are pushing for action across a whole range of areas across the UK.

“Music contributes around £8 billion to the UK economy, supports around 220,000 jobs and generates £4.8 billion in exports.

“Music drives jobs, investment and tourism across our nations and regions, with music tourism generating a record £11.2 billion last year.

“In Northern Ireland alone, there was a 5% increase to 585,000 music tourists last year, generating spend of £267 million.

“This money goes into hotels, restaurants, pubs, taxis, public transport, shops and a whole range of other local businesses in Belfast and across the UK.

“With more details on the Government’s devolution plans for England expected later this year, the window to shape those plans is small. We need to make sure music is a key part of that conversation – recognising its role not just as culture, but as an engine for economic growth and thriving communities.

“Further afield, we need action on music exports, and all the barriers to touring in Europe that have emerged since Brexit – making it so much harder for new and emerging acts to build their audiences.

“New research released by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport just a few weeks ago shows that the UK touring sector has lost an estimated £208 million and 2,490 jobs between 2022 and 2024 due to post-Brexit red tape.

“It’s not just music creators, artists and businesses here that are suffering. Reduced EU touring is estimated to have lost EU host countries £1.04 billion and 17,010 jobs.

“When the next EU-UK summit takes place, these vital issues must be on the agenda.

“Live music must remain accessible to those who make careers – the millions of fans who love what our industry does.
We must also not take our foot off the gas on the issues associated with the impact of artificial intelligence on the music industry. While the government announced earlier in the year that they were rowing back against damaging proposals to weaken copyright there are still many unresolved issues. It is vital that the music industry comes together to tackle these challenges before it is too late.

“The Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who we all know is a big music fan, must move quicker to fulfill Labour’s manifesto promise to introduce stronger protections for consumers who are being ripped off by ticket touts. We’ve waited too long for this – and the Government needs to deliver on this commitment now.

“Lengthy delays to introducing legislation have meant that ticket touting continues to cost fans over £145 million per year.

“We also need to tackle the pressures facing grassroots venues, studios and music businesses, which are the foundations on which the wider industry is built.

“In Northern Ireland, there are some truly top-class recording studios. From Start Together Studios, which Rocky O’Reily first set up in 2007 to Stoney Roads Studios, which offers a unique residential experience for artists.

“In England, recording studios were left out of the Government’s announcement of a cut in business rates for many hospitality and leisure businesses, despite being a vital part of the vital music industry ecosystem. That failure puts further pressure on studios already dealing with rising costs.

“Here in Northern Ireland, business rates are devolved, giving the Executive the opportunity to do things differently.

“We should look at how recording studios are treated within the rates system, and consider targeted relief to protect these vital spaces for the artists and businesses that depend on them.

“These are all national issues with a local impact.

“As part of our work at UK Music, we have launched separate manifestos in Scotland and Wales ahead of the Welsh Senedd and Scottish Parliament elections in May 2026.

“These were calls to action for politicians and prospective parliamentary candidates to support and protect the vitality and success of the Welsh and Scottish music sectors.

“Over the last few months our team has been speaking to a lot of you in this room about the music industry in Northern Ireland – its great successes, and where there is room for improvement. We plan to publish what Northern Ireland wants to see to help the music industry grow here in our Northern Ireland Music Manifesto early next year.

“We are hearing you want better pathways into the industry, stronger music education, support for venues and music spaces, better connections to international markets, and a more joined-up approach from political leaders and policy makers.

“Education is a really good example. We need to think about music education as a pathway. It cannot simply be about whether a young person gets the opportunity to learn an instrument at school. What happens next? What happens at Level 3? What happens in further and higher education? And what happens when somebody wants to turn that interest or talent into a career?

“We need stronger links between education and the industry – through mentoring, apprenticeships and work experience – and better connections with music businesses. And those pathways need to be available to everyone, because talent is everywhere but opportunity isn’t.

“That means thinking about young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, disabled and neurodivergent learners, and people living outside major cities like Belfast. If you have the talent, where you come from should not determine whether you get the chance to develop it.

“We also need to think about the wider infrastructure that makes all of this possible. Take transport. If you cannot get to a music lesson, rehearsal, college course or gig, that opportunity is not available to you. If the last bus home leaves before the encore, that affects whether people can attend gigs. And if musicians, venue staff and audiences cannot travel safely and affordably, it limits the potential growth of the night-time economy.

“We have seen across the UK how difficult the operating environment has become for venues, with rising costs, business rates, licensing and planning pressures all making it harder to keep these spaces open.

“And when a venue closes, we don’t just lose a building. We lose a place where artists develop, audiences discover new music, and jobs are created.

“So, we need to protect the infrastructure underneath the industry – venues, studios, rehearsal spaces and community music spaces – and we need local authorities to understand the economic and cultural contribution that music makes. That is something we have been pushing through our Local Music Action Charter.

“If you want a strong local music industry, you need local government to understand how that ecosystem works and what it needs to thrive.

“There is also a huge opportunity around exports. Artists and music businesses need networks, investment, skills and access to markets, and we need to make sure Northern Ireland is properly connected into the UK’s wider music export strategy.

“And then there is touring. The barriers facing musicians across Europe are well documented – additional bureaucracy, costs, and uncertainty.

“For Northern Ireland, the relationship with the Republic of Ireland and the wider European market makes this particularly important.

“We need to make it easier for musicians to move, perform and build audiences.

“We need to let the music move.

“Music sits within an interesting ministerial portfolio. The Department for Communities is balancing arts and culture alongside huge pressures such as social housing, and we understand those competing demands.

“But investment in music is also an investment in communities and the economy. That is why we want to see a Music Champion appointed, helping join up government and keep music on the agenda, alongside exploring a Basic Income for the Arts pilot to give professional artists and creative workers greater financial stability. This has the potential to deliver millions of Euros in social and economic benefits.

“This all comes back to the ecosystem I spoke about earlier.

“All of these things connect.

“That is why we need a joined-up approach to music policy in Northern Ireland. Our Manifesto for Music: Northern Ireland will set out what we think some of those practical steps should be, and we want to work with the people in this room to get it right.

“The UK Music team are running a workshop today at 14:50 at the Metropolitan Arts Centre which will directly feed into our policy recommendations to the Northern Ireland Executive ahead of the elections next year. Please do join us.

“So, I will finish where I started.

“Every part of this industry relies on another, and when those parts work together, the result is something much bigger than any one of them could achieve on their own.

“That is what makes the UK music industry so powerful, and it is what makes Northern Ireland’s music industry so exciting.

“So let’s make sure we give it the support it needs.

“Let’s strengthen the pathways into music, protect the spaces where music happens, make it easier for people to participate, get Northern Irish music onto more stages around the world, and make sure that the next generation has every opportunity to build a career here.

“Thank you.”