Home / Industry insights
Industry insights: reports on music, nightlife and culture
In short: culture adds billions to the UK economy. Yet more than half of grassroots (small and independent) music venues made no profit in 2025.
Here's the research behind what's happening to venues, music and culture, in plain English. The figures are the reports' own. Follow the links for the full versions.
Music Venue Trust Annual Report 2025
Music Venue Trust, January 2026
- 801 grassroots music venues were open in 2025, down from 810 the year before.
- More than half (53.8%) made no profit over the year. On average, venues kept just 2.5% of their income as profit.
- Jobs in grassroots venues fell by almost a fifth, from 30,865 to 24,742.
- Venues put on more events: 174,552, up 7.7%. More of them now run as not-for-profits, CICs (community interest companies) or companies limited by guarantee (with no shareholders).
This Is Music 2025
UK Music, November 2025
- The UK music industry added £8 billion to the economy in 2024. That's up 5% on the year before.
- Music exports were worth £4.8 billion. 220,000 people worked in the industry.
- There were 157,800 music creators. Streaming now makes up more than 68% of recorded music income.
Black Music Means Business
UK Music
- The UK recorded music market made about £30 billion over 30 years, from 1994 to 2023.
- An estimated £24.5 billion of that, more than 80%, came from music rooted in Black music genres.
- British artists in those genres made around £11.94 billion. UK-born genres like dubstep, grime and lovers rock made about £1.24 billion.
The South Asian Soundcheck
Lila Music, with a foreword by Ammo Talwar MBE of Punch Records
- It's the first big study of South Asian experiences in UK music. It surveyed 349 creators and professionals.
- 69% have seen representation improve in the past two years. Yet 68% still feel poorly represented or invisible.
- 71% say the industry is slow to accept South Asian artists who work outside traditional categories. Only 14% aim mainly at South Asian audiences.
Culture as Growth Infrastructure
Creative UK, 2025
- The UK's cultural sector adds around £38.2 billion a year. That's similar to agriculture, energy supply or telecoms. But it's still treated as optional spending.
- The paper cites studies on people who often take part in culture. They are up to 50% less likely to develop clinical depression. That's worth an estimated £929 per person per year.
- It asks the Treasury (the government's money department) to use the government's Culture and Heritage Capital framework when it judges public investment.
Nightlife research 2025
Night Time Industries Association
- 61% of people surveyed said they were going out less often than a year before.
- 68% of young people said the economy had cut how much they go out. 53% were spending less on nights out.
- 69% said better late-night transport would keep them out later.
- A separate 2025 report puts electronic music's value to the UK economy at £2.4 billion.
Why this matters in Bristol
Bristol's grassroots scene lives inside these numbers. Profits are thin, costs are rising and people go out late less often. And a huge amount of culture comes from Black, South Asian and working-class communities. If you know a report we should add, tell us.