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British music exports are in the spotlight.
While UK acts including Charli XCX, Myles Smith, Lola Young and Central Cee are making a global impact, new figures from the BPI show the rate of revenue growth slowing for British music overseas in 2024.
There has long been an appetite in some quarters for greater government support for one of its globally successful industries, in line with territories such as South Korea.
Now the UK music industry has signed a joint open letter calling for the UK government to set out an ambition for a £10 million per year multi-year settlement for music export and exchange in the upcoming Spending Review.
The open letter (available here) has already received more than 350 signatures from artists, music creators and industry professionals across the industry, including Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis, Beggars Group’s Martin Mills, Music Week Awards Strat winner Ian McAndrew, BMG’s Alistair Norbury, Jamz Supernova, Nova Twins (pictured), Anna Meredith and Katherine Priddy, as well as key trade associations, funders and policymakers.
Nova Twins were among the 58 acts to receive funding from the government’s Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) earlier this year.
The open letter has been led by PRS Foundation in partnership with music export stakeholders across the UK, including trade associations, membership bodies and other music export and exchange specialists.
“Despite our global reputation, UK acts are struggling to break through on the global stage,” states the letter. “Access to funding is a major obstacle, especially for emerging and mid-tier artists, exacerbated by Brexit-related barriers, soaring touring costs, intensifying global competition and relatively low government investment. The impact is clear – the UK’s share of the global market has more than halved in the past decade, and last year, for the first time in 20 years, no UK artists featured in the IFPI Global Chart Top 10.”
Government funding programmes
South Korea’s music exports surged fifty-fold in 14 years, fuelled by consistently high government investment.
Music Australia was established in 2023, with a $70 million (£33.6m) commitment from their government. Meanwhile, Canada was named the No.3 music exporter globally (based on a new measurement method by Luminate) following consistent government investment including a commitment of $32 million (£17.2m) for 2024-2026 to support and match-fund export programmes.
The increased government support would go into existing export initiatives as well as plugging export pipeline gaps and tackling complex barriers facing music creators, industry professionals and UK businesses.
This would be “critical to stimulate the long-term growth of the UK music industry,” the letter states,
Now is the time to protect and future-proof one of the UK’s greatest assets
Joe Frankland
Initiatives managed by PRS Foundation, the BPI, British Council, UK Arts Councils and other like-minded funders and export specialists have a “proven track record of delivering significant return on investment and we can demonstrate that support boosts the UK economically, culturally and socially”, the letter continues.
The International Showcase Fund (ISF) generated £6.7 million for the UK economy between 2019-2024, achieving a £27 return for every £1 invested by the Department for Business and Trade.
Over the last 11 years, government investment in the BPI’s Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) resulted in an estimated £73.5 million in financial return. Acts including Sam Fender, Little Simz, Ezra Collective, Self Esteem, Glass Animals, Dave, Wolf Alice, Bicep and Beabadoobee have accessed support.
The letter calls for such initiatives to be put on a multi-year funding footing.
Joe Frankland, CEO, PRS Foundation, said: “Now is the time to protect and future-proof one of the UK’s greatest assets. Whilst we are encouraged by the government commitments and the work of colleagues at DBT and DCMS, we must embrace opportunities to be more ambitious and strategic. In partnership with other export stakeholders, we stand ready to run with solutions we know will tackle barriers and seize opportunities to stimulate growth.
“The economic argument speaks for itself, with impressive ROI from existing government support. The scaling up will not only bring those financial benefits but more widely will enable the huge amounts of talent across the nations and regions of the country to have that opportunity to reach their potential and showcase to the world the strength and diversity of music we have in the UK.”
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