Huge concerts in 2023 have driven UK live music industry to make its biggest impact on the UK economy yet.

Spending on the UK live music sector hit a record £6.1bn in 2023, topping £6bn for the first time ever. This boom in spending on live music and associated businesses is largely thanks to mega concerts performed by the likes of Elton John and Taylor Swift.

It was revealed by Live, the organisation representing the UK’s live music industry, that the sector’s contribution to the UK economy exceeded £6bn in 2023. A link has been drawn between an eagerness to make up for lost time thanks to pandemic lockdowns and a rush to buy tickets. The Covid lockdowns may be starting to feel like a distant memory or confusing bad dream, but their impact remains evident. Music fans who were forced to forgo their favourite festivals or wait to see their best-loved artists are reemerging in force.

Compared to 2022, the spending figure on live music is up 17%. Interestingly, this figure also tops pre-pandemic 2019 by a notable 35%. The £6.1bn spent in 2023 equates to the economic impact of over 55,000 concerts, festivals and events.

Highlighting just how vital the live music sector is for the UK economy, the £6.1bn is not only made up of ticket sales but also spending at nearby businesses. Think bars, restaurants, shops, businesses that would have benefitted from an influx of people during the periods that popular concerts were held. However, concert revenues make up almost 75% of 2023’s live music spending, with these revenues climbing 19% compared to the previous year. Performances by artists such as Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Coldplay contribute significantly to this figure.

The vice-president of venue programming at AEG Europe (which owns the O2 Arena in London and other major venues), Emma Bownes, stated that 2023 was its busiest year in terms of ticket sales and shows. Bownes also noted the consensus among music fans that the lack of live music during the pandemic needs to be counterbalanced. “There is an appetite for shared experiences in general, people haven’t been able to go to gigs to see their favourite acts, they’ve missed that, and now they are coming out in their droves.”

The biggest spenders on live music REVEALED

There have been some huge live music announcements and events recently, including Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, as well as the revelation of an Oasis reunion tour. Jon Collins, the chief executive of Live, said the excitement around these events, “serves as a reminder of the economic benefits live events can deliver to local economies across the UK”.

Figures from Live demonstrate that major UK cities are at the centre of 2023’s live music spending boom. London’s contribution to the £6.1bn dominates, accounting for nearly 31% of spending. Manchester came in second with a 7.4% contribution, followed by Glasgow at 5.5%. The rest of the top 10 contributing cities include Birmingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool.

Not only has the UK live music sector contributed to greater spending at associated and nearby businesses, it has supported around 230,000 jobs for people in 2023. This represents an increase of 9.4% from 2019, when most of us only ever said the word “corona” at a bar before luxuriating in a sunny beer garden.

Whilst these spending figures might appear positive and as if live music is healing, the industry’s struggles are far from over. Last year was a crushing period for independent grass roots venues, with Live recording a sobering 125 closures across the UK. Additionally, the organisation reported the cancellation of 36 festivals due to “soaring costs” and “financial risk”.

There has been a call for the renewal of the cut to the 20% VAT on gig tickets, which was reduced to 5% temporarily in July 2020 but has gradually made its way back to 20%. This is a move that has been described as being “hugely damaging for the music industry and [could] leave music fans facing a cost-of-gigging crisis”.

Although mammoth tours from high profile artists have contributed to greater spending on the UK live music sector, there is a dire need to support grass roots venues and independent festivals. Without these, there is no space to foster new talent, or prepare the acts of the future for the bigger headline festival slots or nationwide arena tours. The live music industry is an eco system that requires careful nurturing. There can be no great success if only major artists, events and venues prevail whilst independent venues and grassroots culture centres are unable to endure.