As the music business scraps it out with every other industry for Covid-19 relief, a key part of its argument has been the economic value created by the industry. An aspect that’s at least well-rehearsed, since it is also deployed whenever the music industry is lobbying for changes to copyright legislation. The latest report commissioned by the IFPI will support both aims.
Published this morning, ‘The Economic Impact of Music in Europe’ is a collaboration with research firm Oxford Economics. The report claims that across the 27 EU member states plus the UK, the music sector supports two million jobs; contributes €81.9bn gross value added (GVA) annually to the 28 countries’ GDP; and has an export value of €9.7bn on top of that.
(“To put these into perspective, music’s economic contribution to the EU 28 was larger than the GDP of nine EU countries, and its music exports were even greater than those of its world-famous GI protected wines,” as IFPI boss Frances Moore put it in the foreword.)
The report breaks down some useful numbers, from the number of record companies in each member state, to splitting out the direct, indirect and induced (the latter being how the industry’s employees spend their wages) impact of the music sector. There’s also a fun section where the authors try to reverse-engineer YouTube’s music revenues in Europe, while admitting that the actual data is “very hard to obtain”.
In any case, the report has plenty of other numbers fit for brandishing when the music industry is seeking support in Europe in the next year or two, be that for Covid-19 relief; ongoing legislation involving safe harbours and internet companies; or other policy aims. You can read the full report here.
Music Ally’s next Learn Live webinar will help you understand what’s required for artists to thrive in new international markets!