Live overtakes recorded

PRS Chief Economist confirms the value of live scene has surpassed recorded music

16 March 2009 - The Performing Rights Society has confirmed the live industry has exceeded the value of recorded music.

"The changing of the guard has already taken place for the first time in the history of the British music industry," said Will Page from PRS.

Figures state the recorded industry generated £896m during 2008.

This compares with the estimated worth of the live scene, increasingly vital for new and established bands, which amounted to an estimated £904m.

Will Page is the Chief Economist for PRS and helped orchestrate Radiohead's Honesty Box Pay-What-You-Like scheme for their seventh album In Rainbows.

Speaking to BBC 6 Music, he said: "We've been doing some maths back at the office.

"We now have a situation where live has officially taken over recorded."
PRS Chief Economist

"We have all the data on live music at the PRS because we license all the live performances that go around the country, so we're actually able to put a number on how much live music is worth."

As for their final calculations of the value of two stems of an industry constantly in flux, Page explained: "By scaling up, factoring in VAT, adding the booking fee, we came to a number of 904m.

"So then it came to looking at how much the recorded music industry is worth and in 2008 the recorded music industry came in at 896m."

Confirming: "We now have a situation where live has officially taken over recorded."

Hear more from that interview in the Music Week show by downloading the free podcast.

Read more on Radiohead's new material.


Georgie Rogers