Income

UK record labels invested £495m supporting artists’ careers and development in 2021 through A&R, marketing and promotion – more than double their investment in 2016.

Figures published by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the representative voice for independent and major record labels across the UK shows labels’ investment last year included a record £358m spend on A&R and another £137m. The investment represents 39.2% of total UK label revenue.

The A&R spend, which includes artist advances, creating new recordings, video costs and tour support, was 107% more in 2021 than the amount invested in 2016 of £173.3m. 

Over the same five-year period to 2021, UK labels’ total revenue income increased by 42.9%, driven largely by a 51.3% surge in streaming revenue. 

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize, said: “The UK has been one of the world’s music superpowers since the advent of pop culture, thanks to the combination of our many incredible artists drawn from all regions and nations, and the passion, financial backing and expertise of our record labels. 

"During a time when music has returned to growth after years of decline, labels have continued to prioritise investment in artists. 

"It is fuelling success for a new generation of UK artists who are embracing the opportunities of this truly connected world, underpinning our leading position on the global music stage.”

The Arts Marketing Association (AMA) has launched a series of job templates to help tackle the “growing gulf” between expectations of arts marketing roles and offered pay rates.

It warned that during the pandemic “a huge amount” of marketing talent left the arts, culture and heritage sector, due to a crisis caused by consistently poor pay being offered to skilled workers.

The association reported that recruiters are struggling to fill roles, warning that marketing “ultimately can be the difference between success and failure in reaching audiences and ensuring a sustainable future for organisations”. 

A recent Centre for Cultural Value study revealed that the performing arts workforce is 15% smaller in 2022 than it was in 2021, meaning that staff are working longer hours to accomplish the same level of output. Many advertised vacancies are for two roles that have been merged into one without reducing expectations accordingly, AMA said.

“We’re seeing demoralised and burnt-out arts marketers who have left and will continue to leave our sector,” said CEO of AMA, Cath Hume.

“Long-term this will negatively impact the success of the sector and its organisations. Our members are being asked to take on more and more within their roles, but with no corresponding increase in resource or budgets.”

Many advertised roles have become “catch-all” positions with “wildly unrealistic” expectations, the association said, in part due a widespread misunderstanding of what marketing roles involve, particularly at senior levels.

The new templates aim to combat this by including appropriate job descriptions for various roles that can be used for recruitment. 

As well as creating fairer conditions for existing arts marketers by ensuring that skills and expectations are aligned with the pay and working hours available, they aim to make the sector more accessible and inclusive to those currently under-represented in the workforce.
 

Electronic artist Four Tet, whose real name is Kieran Hebden, has reached a settlement with his former label Domino Records after signing over the royalties paid when his music is downloaded or streamed.

Hedben was offered a 13.5% royalty rate for streams and downloads, the same rate applied to sales of music, rather than the 50% rate applied to licensing music. 

His deal with the record company was signed before the advent of digital downloads and music streaming services.

The musician argued that digital downloads and streaming of his music should be paid at the higher rate applied to licensing deals for movies and television, in which the record company doesn’t incur the costs associated with producing physical cassettes, vinyl or CDs.

Hebden’s legal challenge was decided out of court but could set a legal precedent for contract disputes in the music business.

In a statement on Twitter, he said that Domino Records “have recognised my original claim, that I should be paid a 50% royalty on streaming and downloads, and that they should be treated as a license rather than the same as a CD or vinyl sale”.

“Hopefully I’ve opened up a constructive dialogue and maybe prompted others to push for a fairer deal on historical contracts, written at a time when the music industry operated entirely differently,” he added.

He shared images of the settlement showing that he is due to receive £56,921.08 in respect of historical income backdated to July 2017, in addition to 5% annual interest.

Academy Music Group (AMG) venues are taking a 25% cut from merchandise sales at live events, according to an investigation by The Guardian.

An undisclosed amount then goes to Universal Music Group (UMG), owners of the world’s three largest record labels, even if the artist in question is not signed to UMG.

In March, post-punk band Dry Cleaning hosted a pop-up merch store away from their gig at London’s O2 Forum, owned by AMG, to retain their profits.

“We probably sold the same number of units, but as we were able to retain 25% it worked out better for us financially,” Band Manager Helena Watmuff said.

Over 380 venues nationwide are included in the Featured Artists Coalition's (FAC) 100% Venues directory, a public database of venues that charge zero commission on artists' merchandise sales.

FAC CEO David Martin said these venues are making selling merchandise at gigs worthwile for artists: “[This creates] a fairer and more sustainable touring circuit, particularly for grassroots and emerging talent.”

The UK's recorded music industry was worth £1.3bn last year, keeping its title as the world's third-largest music market, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) reports.

Trailing the US and Japan, it experienced 13.2% growth in revenues in 2021 - slower than the global average of 18.5%.

Recorded music revenues grew in every region, with the Middle East and North Africa and Latin America outpacing the rest of the world (35% and 31% growth respectively).

Streaming was unsurprisingly behind most of the increase, contributing 65% of recorded music revenues.

Cultural organisations in Northern Ireland will receive a share of £1.3m of unclaimed money through the Dormant Accounts Fund.

Among the recipients are volunteer-led Hearth Historic Buildings Trust and Terra Nova Productions, the country's only professional intercultural theatre production company.

Belfast Tool Library received £99,843 to recruit volunteers and generate more income through workshops and memberships.

“This will allow us to become more financially sustainable and secure our future,” Chair Neal Campbell said.

Since its inception, the fund has delivered £8m to 89 organisations across the arts, sports, charities and community-based organisations.

“Dormant Accounts money continues to make a significant difference in building resilience in non-for-profit organisations addressing social and economic need in our local communities.” said Paul Sweeney, National Lottery Community Fund NI Chair.