Live Music Industry Predicted to Take Four Years to Return to Pre-Covid Earnings

Financial and professional services firm PwC recently published a report looking at the live music industry in the UK, with the report predicting it could take up until 2025 to return to similar levels of revenue seen before the pandemic.

The report titled ‘Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2021-2025’ says that the industry is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 17% for the next four years.

It goes on to estimate that the live music industry should hope to reach £1.46bn by 2025; this would be considered a recovery, given that during 2020 the live music industry generated a dismal £225 million. Before the pandemic, the industry’s estimated value was £1.58bn.

This year the industry is expected to grow to £846m. That figure is largely down to the reopening of clubs and lockdown restrictions easing, allowing businesses in this sector to start generating revenue again – while the UK market expects to overtake Germany as the largest entertainment and media market in Western Europe by 2025.

Mark Maitland, Head of Entertainment and Media, when discussing the report, said:

“UK consumers’ rapid migration to digital behaviours in the pandemic has now become embedded in their day-to-day lives, helping to sustain overall growth across Entertainment and Media for the coming five years. As companies race to meet consumers’ evolving needs with new products, services and experiences, the E&M industry will become more pervasive, more immersive and more diverse.

“Some sectors have found interesting ways to navigate the effects of the pandemic – notable examples include B2B events moving to online/virtual and now increasingly hybrid formats. However, sectors such as live music have struggled to go virtual, as it’s so difficult to replicate the in-person experience online. So there’s pent-up demand in those sectors ready to be released as lockdown ends.”

This was PwC’s 22nd annual edition of the Global Entertainment & Media Outlook report. The report includes forecast data and commentary for 14 definitive industry segments in 53 territories.

Will people’s appetite for events and freedom outstrip these forecasts, or are we set for a challenging four years ahead; only time will tell.