Ticket sales for gigs hit the right note for music industry

LIVE performance has driven growth in the UK music industry, while Scotland "punches above its weight" in terms of music event tickets sales, according to a new report.

The UK music industry grew five per cent in 2009 and contributed 3.6 billion to the economy. Will Page, economist for music industry body PRS for Music, said the growth beat downward trends in both the US and Europe.

Sales of recorded music on CDs or via digital downloads remained flat, but this compares well to the US where sales have fallen sharply.

Flat CD sales also counter trends for UK sales of DVDs and computer games which have seen double digit declines during the recession.

But music industry growth was largely from live performance ticket sales which grew by 9.4 per cent last year.

Page said Scotland "punches above its weight" in terms of revenues from live music and has grown 37 per cent since 2006 thanks to music festivals and the Edinburgh Fringe.

"The outperformance of Scotland's live music sector could be plausibly carried across its impressive performance in tourism, with events like Rockness, T in The Park and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival selling music while promoting tourism," said Page.

"Music has and always will be one of the UK's best tourist attractions."

Page credits the continued existence of UK high street retailers such as HMV for the healthy sales of CDs. In the US, the predominance of discount department stores such as Target and Wal-Mart have left high streets without music retailers. "There us very little supply on the US high street" said Page.