Over 190 thousand jobs are sustained by the music industry in a variety of sectors, with more than 30 thousand employed in the live music sector as promotors, festival organizers, and ticketing agents. The vast majority of people working in the music industry are employed as musicians, composers, and producers. Close to 50 thousand jobs in the UK are sustained by music tourism.
The number of overseas tourists travelling to the UK for live music has been increasing in recent years, along with the number of domestic tourists travelling to live music events within the UK. London is the region benefitting most from the extra spending coming from music tourism, but there were high tourist attendance numbers at live music events in all regions in the UK in 2018.
Around 30 million people went to see live music performances in the UK in 2018. Many of these music fans will have been to see concerts at the biggest indoor music venues in the UK, like the Manchester Arena and the O2 Arena in London. Others will have been to the country’s largest music festivals. Despite increasing ticket prices at festivals like Glastonbury, festivals are selling out as fast as ever.
