16 MusicWeek 24.01.14
BUSINESSANALYSISDCMS figures EDITORIAL
DCMS figures don’t fully show it, but music’s no dummy
By its nature, the UK music industry has kept some extremely
odd company down the years. But as far as official Government statistics go, it now finds itself rubbing shoulders with the likes of conjurors, impresarios, clowns and ventriloquists. This bizarre state of affairs has come about in a newly-
published DCMS report, which spells out the huge contribution the creative industries are making to UK PLC – more than £70bn last year. However, rather than the music industry being treated as a
separate entity, it has rather awkwardly been bracketed alongside all types of performing and visual artists. Worse still, large parts of what really is the music biz have not been included in the “music” figures because of out-dated industrial codes that classify what sector a business falls in.
“At long last, with the UK Music report, the industry has an invaluable tool that sets out to those in power its full economic contribution”
On the face of it, this might not seem too big a deal, but what
it has resulted in is the industry being both mis- and under- represented in the corridors of power. That could potentially have serious consequences when it comes to the shaping of new government legislation. Simply, if MPs, civil servants and others do not have an accurate picture of what makes up this business then the task of winning their support becomes a lot harder. Thankfully, the DCMS readily admits in the report its failings
in being able to capture the business accurately and as one specific sector. More importantly, it also now has at its disposal The Economic Contribution of the Core UK Music Industry, a far- more-accurate study of the industry by UK Music, and this has been acknowledged by the Government department as having done a much better job of capturing all things music. At long last, with the UK Music report, the industry has an
invaluable tool that clearly sets out to those in power the full economic contribution it makes – £3.5bn to GDP last year, £1.4bn of exports and being responsible for more than 100,000 jobs. Notably, what has been included errs on the conservative side,
as underlined by the report itself being billed as covering the “core” industry. The likes of Spotify and HMV, for example, have not been included and only what can unquestionably be deemed the music industry has. It means the compilers cannot be accused of trying to inflate what are still very impressive numbers. Already the report is able to deliver genuine benefits, but where
the research will become even more useful is in the years to come as UK Music has a plan to repeat the exercise annually. This will allow for year-on-year comparisons and the identification of which parts of the business are on the rise and which ones are decreasing. Potentially, legislation to further help the growing parts can then be created, making the industry even stronger. While it seems incredible that only now has such a detailed
report been produced, for the music industry it ultimately could prove to be a real game-changer.
Paul Williams, Head of Business Analysis Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by emailing
paul.williams@intentmedia.co.uk
Why new Government data about the ‘creative industries’ might be promising - but doesn’t tell us too much about the music business
GOVERNMENT n BY PAUL WILLIAMS
T
he DCMS has admitted “substantial limitations” on its data covering the music industry in a new report suggesting the UK’s
creative industries last year contributed £71.4bn to the economy. The study published last week covered a wide
range of activity, ranging from advertising, crafts and museums to the film, TV and fashion industries, but notably the music business was only represented in a mismatch sector called “music, performing and visual arts”. This meant figures for the industry were lumped in with a number of entirely unrelated professions, including actors, circuses, conjurers, impresarios and ventriloquists. The DCMS itself clearly spells out in its report
that the international economic classifications it uses to measure activity in the economy “do not allow the
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
n DCMS report says creative industries contributed £71.4bn to UK economy in 2012 n Music delivered £4.6bn as part of sector with visual and performing arts n UK Music’s own figures show music industry alone was worth £3.5bn to economy last year n Industry drove £1.4bn of exports and employed more than 100,000 people n UK Music stats show musicians, singers and songwriters were industry’s main economic contributors
contribution of music to be satisfactorily identified in a separate category”. Additionally, significant parts of the industry, including contributions made by music festivals and music promoters, are not included within the figures for music. It is exactly this kind of inaccurate representation
of the industry within government circles that prompted UK Music last year to undertake its own
GROSS ADDED VALUE (GVA) OF THE UK CREATIVE INDUSTRIES GVA (£M)
Advertising and marketing Architecture
Design: product, graphic and fashion design Film, TV, video, radio and photography IT, software and computer services Publishing
Music, performing and visual arts Total
source: Creative Industries Economic Estimates (DCMS)
2010 6,840 2,638 2,049 7,973
26,991 9,580 3,434
59,825
2011 8,099 3,223 2,504 9,979
27,939 9,228 4,039
65,277
2012 10,229 3,491 2,491 9,752
30,904 9,706 4,574
71,395
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HIDING MUSIC’S PROSPERITY
ONE DIRECTION: British group are one of UK music's biggest exports – but the DCMS figures only cover part of music’s economic contribution
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