Music Supports Two Million Jobs, Contributes $97 Billion Annually to European Economy, Study Finds
The music sector supports two million jobs and contributes €81.9 billion ($97 billion) gross value added annually to the GDPs of the 27 European Union member countries and the U.K., a new study has found.
The study, titled “The Economic Impact of Music in Europe,” was commissioned by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and conducted by Oxford Economics. It also found that the music sector exported €9.7 billion ($11.5 billion) worth of goods and services to countries outside the EU and the U.K., of which record companies, music publishers, and audio streaming services generated almost half.
The study used data from 2018.
The music sector also played a vital role in generating tax revenues, the study found, supporting €31 billion ($36.7 billion) in tax receipts in the EU and U.K. in 2018. This was equivalent to 19.4% of the entire EU budget in the same year.
“Music is an essential part of Europe, its identity and culture. In so many ways music’s value is incalculable, it thrills us and heals us. Even beyond that, as Oxford Economics’ first-of-its-kind report demonstrates, music makes a vital economic contribution to the European Union and U.K. – supporting jobs, boosting gross domestic product and tax payments, and driving exports,” said Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI.
“At the heart of this contribution are the EU’s 7,400 record companies. In addition to employing nearly 45,000 people across the EU, they invest significantly in other parts of the music sector and make a major contribution to Europe’s exports.”
“For music’s essential contribution to Europe to be sustainable for the long term, fair value must be returned to those who create and invest in music,” Moore added. “To enable this, the sector needs a fair legal and policy environment in Europe, and we continue to work with policymakers to achieve this.”
“By investigating how the music sector interacts with the rest of the economy, our study maps how it stimulates economic activity, supports jobs and generates tax revenues throughout the whole of Europe,” said Pete Collings, director of economic impact consulting at Oxford Economics. “In doing so, we highlight how the music sector—an ecosystem of large and small firms undertaking a wide variety of activities—directly accounts for a sizeable contribution to the European economy, comparable to the entire economies of several member states.”
“However, the sector’s economic footprint extends far beyond its own activities. The purchases it makes from firms throughout Europe support lengthy pan-European supply chains. These multiplier effects reach every part of the European economy, further sustaining employment, delivering tax revenues, and generating GDP throughout the continent,” Collings added.
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