Music has been in peoples lives for thousands of years, and for some has now become a part of a nature to them. We play music whilst driving the car, socialising or simply as background noise. But just how much is that costing the UK?
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) reported that the total number of sales streams and music within the UK came to 182.8 million albums, this is an increase of 10% in 2023. Out of this number, a massive 88% of them came from streaming albums.
But what exactly does that cost? Data from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) shows that Brits spent £2.22 billion on music streaming subscriptions, downloads, and physical purchases such as CD’s. This figure is described by the ERA as being the highest since 2001.
Whilst this graph shows that there were some dips in purchases since 2021, overall figures state that money spent on music is at an all time high.
A more surprising revelation was how much Brits are spending on both streamed music, and live music, surpassing £2 billion on each. In 2022, Brits spent around £4.1 billion on both live and streamed music; this figure increases each year.
To put that into perspective, £4 billion would buy the entire population of the UK 570 cheeseburgers each.
We spoke to some members of the public to understand why they spend money to on music. K. Davies said that ‘since 2020, I have attended 4 concerts. With the cost-of-living crisis, I usually have to pray that the artist I’m wanting to see gives fans advance notice before ticket sales because when they ‘drop’ of nowhere, it’s nearly always impossible to budget for in time’.
J. Baker commented that they attended 5 festivals within the last 3 years, spending roughly £200 per festival, however they are unable to ‘budget for them and haven’t been able to afford concerts or festivals more recently due to the cost-of-living crisis.’.
For many, music is a release, the dopamine rush you feel at a concert is unlike any other, ‘music is a safe space to return to when the world feels like rubbish so I don’t mind spending hundreds of pounds for a show I may only get to experience once. Because once I’ve lived that live experience, any time I listen to the song again, I will re-live that moment and those emotions.’ – K. Belcher.
The PRS for music reported that in 2022, attendance in arenas had dropped 5% in the last decade, whilst attendance at stadiums and festivals increased by 26%. People believe that ticket prices for concerts are not cost-effective anymore, however, a festival has much more to offer than just the live music and can therefore be justified, many research studies have shown that listening and enjoying music has proven to lower stress as well as blood pressure and heart rate.
The UK has been in a ‘cost of living crisis’ for some time now, yet that does not seem to stop people from purchasing music. How can anyone afford to spare money for luxuries such as music? From a recreational wallet, which is simply a person’s disposable income that is available to them once necessities are dealt with. Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that despite inflation and the rising costs of things, people are still budgeting and spending their ‘recreational wallet’ on pleasures such as music.
Music journalist and lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, Will Chalk, shared his views with us. He believes that music may have become ever-increasingly popular due to increased accessibility, ‘streaming services make the acquisition of music easier (and cheaper) than at any point in history.’. when asked why he still sees people attending live concerts and festivals despite the cost-of-living crisis, it is ‘because music (and art more generally) is, in my opinion, an essential part of human society. I don't know what stage a cost-of-living crisis would have to reach before it wiped out music altogether - but my hope would be that it would need to be pretty severe. Music provides a sense of community and belonging, it's a way for people to connect with each other. These are, arguably, more necessary in times of hardship.’.
When understanding just how much music can mean to a person, it should come as no surprise that people are willing to spend hundreds of pounds on it. Music offers something that not many other things can compare to and for thousands of people across the UK, it is something that is worth spending their recreational money on.