Music + Live Performances
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Sector at a Glance
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Generated over £4.5bn (2019) for the UK economy in VAT alone.
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Over 30 million fans attend live performances annually.
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From intimate gigs in grassroots venues to a mass sing-along at an iconic stadium.
Sector Overview

Music + Live Performances

The UK’s Music and Live Performances industry boasts world-class venues, headline-grabbing tours and culture-defining acts. Our passionate, creative workforce of over 200,000 people builds and supports global superstars that are the pride of the nation. As an industry, we generated over £4.5bn for the UK economy in 2019 in VAT alone.

The impact of our economic contribution is not confined to a square mile in a capital city, but instead permeates the very fabric of every city, town, and village across the Four Nations. Grassroots music venues, major arenas, world-renowned comedians, touring artists, theatre companies and supply chain businesses make up the backbone of the economic benefits the sector generates, bringing wealth, direct investment, and culture to communities up and down the UK.

Unrivalled expertise means UK event professionals are perfectly placed to deliver safe, vibrant and memorable experiences. From classical concerts to electronica, acoustic sets to stadium anthems, touring comedy and theatrical shows, this industry creates, performs and delivers it all. A talent production line envied around the world means UK audiences can enjoy future global acts taking their first steps towards worldwide recognition in a club or bar near you. Over 30 million fans attend live performances annually, from intimate gigs in grassroots venues to a mass sing-along at an iconic stadium. They deliver communal socialising, allowing us to escape the day-to-day and lose ourselves in the music. The music and live performance ecosystem comprises large and small companies, corporate and independent spread across various functions. Everything starts with the artist, their manager and agent. Promoters will interact with venues and shows to arrange bookings. Production will build out those shows while ticket agencies sell them out. Professionalism and expertise is available in abundance: from designing light and soundscapes to ensuring crowd safety.

Latest Sector Research
Night Time Economy Report 2024
NTIA
In an era where the vibrancy and sustainability of the night Time economy (NTE) are more critical than ever, the NTIA’s latest Night-time Economy Report 2024 emerges as a beacon of insight and advocacy. This pivotal third iteration of the study is not just a compilation of data; it’s a comprehensive analysis designed to champion the significance of the NTE and its indispensable role within the UK’s broader economic framework.
The Industry Speaks’ Entourage Pro: Insights report 2023
Entourage Pro
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Here, There and Everywhere.
UK Music
Here, There and Everywhere is a new report written by trade body, UK Music. It sets out the numbers of foreign and domestic music tourists who attended festivals and concerts in the UK in 2022, plus how much visitors spent at live music events and how many jobs were sustained by the sector in the industry’s first full year post-Covid. It then explores the numbers for all twelve regions of the UK. Through case studies and regional commentary, the report examines the whole of the UK’s vital local music ecosystem. It concludes with an extensive toolkit for local councils that highlights how all towns, cities and regions can transform into music powerhouses.
Purple Guide
Designed to establish consistently safe standards for the running of outdoor events, from music concerts to country fairs, the Guide is an online publication, which enables it to be constantly revised and updated.
Outdoor Events + Festivals
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Research

The event industry’s reliance on data to help it plan for the future, increase its resilience, manage risk and justify investment decisions, is growing year on year.

The engagement and access that The Power of Events (UK) has across all 7 sectors of the industry, enables data gathering and in-depth research projects to be delivered confidently and consistently. This will be primarily facilitated through the new insight app to be launched on 28th Sep 2023.

By bringing the industry and university partners together, research projects will be designed to deliver real benefits to the industry in terms of trend analysis, insights and performance improvements.

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Drawn from across the seven core sectors the Power of Events (UK) supporters are committed to showcasing the UK Event Industry.
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