Music’s Importance To Economy

Last year the British music industry’s economic contribution to the country grew 9 percent to £3.8 billion ($6.2 billion), according to trade body UK Music.

UK Music chief exec Jo Dipple said the industry’s contribution – known as Gross Value Added – showed “how important an industry we are to the UK economy.”

The report says the industry supports 111,000 full-time jobs, with one in eight albums sold worldwide coming from British artists.

“The young, bearded kids in the pub, making a racket on a Friday night, might just turn out to generate more revenue for Her Majesty’s Treasury than a car manufacturer. But they need support to get there,” Dipple explained, urging the government to do more to protect copyright and educate more young people to pay for music.

She called for Google and other web giants to give priority to licensed, online music services in search results and urged better access to bank financing for small music businesses.