Music industry unites to call on the UK Government to bolster investment in music export and exchange

30 May 2025 - Press release

 

• UK music industry calls for £10 million per year for music export and exchange in the upcoming Spending Review to stimulate long-term growth of the UK music industry
  
  
• Open letter has received over 350 signatures from across the industry and can be read here
  
• The increased support would go into existing export initiatives as well as plug pipeline gaps and tackle increased barriers

 

Today (Thursday 29th May 2025) the UK music industry has signed a joint open letter calling for 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 is available to read and sign online here

The open letter has already received more than 350 signatures from artists, music creators and industry professionals across the industry (see Notes to Editors), including Emily Eavis, Martin Mills, Nova Twins, Anna Meredith and key trade associations, funders and policymakers.

Despite UK music’s reputation worldwide, UK acts are struggling to break through on the global stage. 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 resulting impact has seen UK’s share of the global market more than halving 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.

Strong government investment in other countries dwarfs the scale and variety of grants available in the UK. 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. And Canada is now the world’s third biggest exporter of music (after the U.S. and the UK) 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 will be critical to stimulate the long-term growth of the UK music industry.

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 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. And over the last eleven years, government investment in the BPI’s Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) resulted in an estimated £73.5 million in financial return. The likes of Sam Fender, Little Simz, Ezra Collective, Self Esteem, Glass Animals, Dave, Wolf Alice, Bicep and Beabadoobeehave accessed support. However, these and other initiatives require ongoing and increased support and should be put on a multi-year funding footing.

This 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.

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.”