The value of UK music exports has reached a record £775 million (over USD 1 billion) in 2023 and thus ranks second with the US, reported the Financial Times (FT) newspaper, citing the organization of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Overseas sales of recorded British music - from streaming to physical formats such as CDs and vinyl records - rose by 7.6% last year, according to the Royal Music Industry Trade Association. However, this is more than half the figure for 2022, when music exports increased by 20%.
The total share of global use of works by British musicians was estimated at 17% in 2015, when Adele and Ed Sheeran were still rising stars, the publication recalls. Both artists are still among the most popular almost a decade later, along with other famous artists such as Harry Styles. However, in 2023 a new wave of British musicians surpassed 1 billion streams, including Central Cee, Glass Animals, PinkPantheress and Raye.
As the BPI notes, competition in the world of music is intensifying and the British now have to compete not only with such heavyweights as the USA and Canada, but also with Latin American countries and South Korea, whose artists are achieving success on the international scene thanks in part to substantial government support.
As previously reported, one of the founding members of the rock band The Beatles, Paul McCartney, became the first British musician whose fortune is 1 billion pounds sterling (1.3 billion USD). Sir Paul and his wife Nancy have climbed to 165th place in the list of the UK's richest people, which is published annually by The Sunday Times. In one year, McCartney was able to increase his fortune by 50 million pounds (65 million USD) thanks to the Got Back tour, during which he played 35 concerts, royalties, and the success of the 1968 album cover of the song Blackbird performed by American singer Beyoncé.