Figures released today by the BPI show that UK record labels spent £494.8 million on A&R, marketing and promotion to support artists’ development and careers, over double what labels spent in 2016. The BPI tweeted earlier today, “Label investment through A&R is driving success for new UK artists A&R and marketing spend represented 39% of label revenues last year Labels A&R spending grew nearly 2 and-a-half times faster than their revenue over the past 5 years A&R spend was 106.6% more in 2021 than 2016”. The labels invested a record amount in A&R last year, spending £358.1 million and another £136.7 million on marketing and promotion, which covers publicity, radio and playlist promotion, internet marketing, advertising, and marketing. The investment accounts for 39.2% of all UK label sales.
Label investment through A&R is driving success for new UK artists
A&R and marketing spend represented 39% of label revenues last year
Labels A&R spending grew nearly 2 and-a-half times faster than their revenue over the past 5 years
A&R spend was 106.6% more in 2021 than 2016 pic.twitter.com/NO7mGHMBo8
— BPI (@bpi_music) August 11, 2022
106.6% more money was spent on A&R in 2021 than it was in 2016 (£173.3 million), which includes artist advances, the cost of new recordings, video production, and tour support. UK labels’ total revenue income climbed by 42.9% over the same five-year period to 2021, mostly due to a 51.3% increase in streaming revenue. This indicates that labels’ A&R investment accounted for 28.4% of their overall revenues and that labels’ A&R spending increased at a rate that was roughly 2.5 times faster than their revenue growth.
The BPI states that “The almost half a billion pound annual investment record labels make in A&R and artist marketing is crucial in enabling them to discover, sign, develop and break new artists, create new music, fund and provide artistic and creative support and direction, organise tour support and provide other supporting services such as marketing, promotion and PR.”
They go on to say that the investment has been crucial “in developing the international careers of British talent such as Arlo Parks, Dua Lipa, George Ezra, Glass Animals, Griff, Joel Corry, Joy Crookes, Lewis Capaldi, Mabel, PinkPantheress, Rag’n’Bone Man, Sam Fender, Tom Grennan and Wolf Alice, to name just a few”. Making the UK number two in the world in music export after the US.
According to a BPI review of data from Luminate, over 120 UK musicians with debut albums released after 2015 earned more than 100 million global audio streams last year. They go on to state that “This represents nearly one-third of all the artists from the UK who attained this level of streaming success in 2021”. Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize, summed it all up in a statement released on the BPI website:
“The UK has been one of the world’s music superpowers since the advent of pop culture, thanks to the combination of our many incredible artists drawn from all regions and nations, and the passion, financial backing and expertise of our record labels. During a time when music has returned to growth after years of decline, labels have continued to prioritise investment in artists. Spending on A&R reached a record £358 million last year and is significantly outpacing revenue increases. It is fuelling success for a new generation of UK artists who are embracing the opportunities of this truly connected world, underpinning our leading position on the global music stage.”
