The UK is the third largest territory in the world for sales of recorded music of which it accounts for 10.4% of the global market in 2004 and is a big player in the national economy. It contributes nearly £5bn annually of which £1.3bn comes from export earnings and it employs a total of 102,210 people, with live performance accounting for the largest proportion (50,780). Overall employment in the UK Music Industry increased by 8% between 2006 and 2008. The UK has the third largest industry in the world second to the USA as a source of repertoire and was the last territory to see declining record sales. 88% of the Music workforce is in England and a quarter of all people working in Music do so in London. 6% work in Scotland, 4% in Wales and 2% in Northern Ireland

The Digital Music Market in the UK is developing at a serious pace with new business models improving digital revenues. The BPI website shows that 10% of the population bought some form of digital music in 2008, up from 5% in 2007, 10 million digital albums were sold in 2008, a 65% increase on 2007 and 110 million single tracks were downloaded in 2008, a 42% increase on 2007. Digital tracks now account for 95% of the market, up from 90% in 2007.

Music Industry is now moving away from conventional physical sales in stores such as HMV and moving to the Spotify’s who have just added a ‘Buy Now’ option to coinside with their streaming service and  of course I-tunes.

In this category (bands) i’m going to give bands an idea of reading material and a ‘tips and hints’ and ‘do’s and don’ts’ about various things to do with the industry and answer questions such as: Getting signed to a label, is that the right thing to do? What should i look for in a  manager? What are the legal agreements and Contracts to enter into? Whats the right deal for you? What are the best routes to market? Marketing strategies and ideas?

Stayed tuned for updates and snippets of information. These posts will be titled with the question!

First time i’ve ever created a blog or even written in one so i’m pretty new to this! No idea what im going to be talking about in my blog. Probably about things surrounding the Music Business and the current issues and debates that are being brought up. I’ll also try and give some definitions of things as well as roles and relationships of people and companies in the Music Business that i have been taught and researched. I have to admit that I myself am new to the Music Business but i will try and get as much as i can right with correct explainations and facts. I’ll also pull in here any stories that i’ve read online with links that my interest anyone reading this.

Rob