United Kingdom
LONDON — A number of vital grassroots music venues in the U.K. are set to come under shared ownership in the second phase of a new community-led project.
The Music Venue Properties, the Charitable Community Benefit Society (CBS) created by Music Venue Trust (MVT), seeks to protect grassroots venues by placing them into community ownership and outside of commercial leases with landlords.
Seven grassroots music venue will be included in the next phase of the project: Esquires, Bedford; The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent; The Joiners; Southampton, The Croft, Bristol; Peggy’s Skylight, Nottingham; The Lubber Fiend, Newcastle; The Pipeline, Brighton. The community share offer, which will open on May 15, 2025 and close on July 31, 2025.
The first phase of the Own Our Venues initiative ran in 2023, and raised £2.88m ($3.83m) to secure the ownership of a number of venues across the U.K., including The Bunkhouse in Swansea, Wales, and The Snug in Atherton, England.
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An accompanying press release says that the scheme offers a “cultural lease,” that far exceeds the traditional 18 month commercial lease that these venues must operate within. The statement adds, that these cultural leases “ensure fair, sustainable rent, annual contributions toward essential maintenance, and ongoing support in areas such as financial sustainability and operational best practice.”
Ricky Bates, venue operator of The Joiners, Southampton said of the next phase of the program, “We welcome Music Venue Properties’ ownership of our building as the only real solution to securing one of the most important live music venues in the UK. For almost 60 years, The Joiners has been a vital part of the UK touring circuit and a creative cornerstone of Southampton, but today its future is uncertain. Our lease expires this year, our landlord is retiring and, while the venue is rich in history, the building is over 200 years old and in need of care.
“In today’s economy, it simply isn’t viable for us as individuals to purchase the property but, with the support of the Own Our Venues campaign and the wider music community, we can secure The Joiners for the next 60 years and beyond. Be part of this historic moment—get involved and help protect grassroots music for generations to come.”
It’s the latest move by the U.K. music scene in the fightback against closures of independent venues and to support grassroots musicians. On Wednesday (May 14), the team behind The Leadmill in Sheffield, England said that their eviction appeal had been unsuccessful and that they have three months to vacate the premises. The building’s landlord, the Electric Group, runs a number of venues in the U.K. already, including London’s Electric Brixton, Bristol’s SWX and Newcastle’s NX. Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Pulp and Coldplay are among the legendary artists to play The Leadmill over the years.
LONDON — Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena has teamed up with Adidas and Abbey Road Studios for the launch of a new recording studio inside its premises.
The Adidas Originals Recording Studio is situated inside the U.K.’s largest music arena and has been designed as “a vibrant hub for emerging musical talent and young creative communities.” The studio has been engineered by Abbey Road’s technicians and sound engineers.
The studio in Manchester, England will be available to local musicians from August onwards. The initiative is launched in conjunction with a number of existing schemes, including Abbey Road’s Amplify and Equalise programmes, which hosts a number of panels, workshops and recording opportunities at the iconic London studios each year.
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Factory’s International’s Factory Sounds initiative, which provides financial support and mentorship to underrepresented groups in the Greater Manchester area, is also involved with the project. Courteeners frontman Liam Fray, who was born and raised in Middleton, Manchester, opened the studio with an acoustic live performance and praised the space and the opportunities it may provide: “To have something of this level up here that is a focal point in Manchester opens up the industry and takes it to a wider audience.”
Despite a rocky, delayed opening, the Co-op Live Arena has become a key venue on the U.K.’s touring circuit, with a number of huge acts set to perform there this summer, including Bruce Springsteen, Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler, the Creator, Massive Attack and more.
Sally Davies, managing director of Abbey Road Studios, said in a statement: “The launch of the adidas Originals Recording Studio is a world-first collaboration creating a new, Abbey Road-engineered recording space beyond the walls of our home in London.”
“We are enormously proud to partner with Adidas, Co-op Live and Factory International to create a new platform for talent in Manchester and the North-West, expanding our mission to enable and empower the global community of music makers and creators, and shape the future of music making.”
LONDON — A new Tube map showcasing the breadth of London’s artists and music venues has been published as part of a campaign championing the capital’s grassroots scene.
The map highlights record shops, nightclubs and historic locations across the city, as well as venues such as XOYO and Electrowerkz to institutions such as the Barbican. London-raised artists including Dua Lipa, Dave and recent Billboard U.K. cover star Loyle Carner also feature.
Each Underground line has been reimagined as a different aspect of the city’s music scene, with the Jubilee line displaying London-made albums, the Metropolitan line showing independent record labels, and the District line listing “25 artists to see in 2025.” The iconic map was designed by Harry Beck and first came into use in 1933.
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London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) joined forces with media leaders to devise the map as part of the London Creates campaign. Over the next month, it will be displayed at digital exhibition space Outernet London in Tottenham Court Road.
In a statement, Khan said: “London’s grassroots music scene is renowned around the world. From providing opportunities for talented aspiring artists to develop their trade, to giving Londoners a great night out, our venues are an essential part of our life at night and provide a huge boost to our economy.
“However, they have faced huge challenges in recent years, which is why we’re joining with partners across the capital to champion all parts of London’s grassroots music scene. This special edition Tube map is a great way to highlight what a huge impact the scene has on our capital, as we continue to do all we can to support venues and build a more prosperous London for everyone.”
Mark Davyd, founder and CEO of Music Venue Trust, added: “London is one of the world’s great music cities, constantly reinventing itself with new sounds, new genres, and incredible new artists. The network of grassroots music venues in London are an essential part of what makes the capital’s music thrive, delivering an extraordinary range of music, community and life changing experiences at affordable prices.”
According to City Hall, London is home to 179 grassroots music venues, which in the last year have welcomed more than 4.2m audience members, hosted performances by more than 328,000 artists, employed nearly 7,000 people and contributed £313m ($417m) to the economy.
The map was formally published in the Metro newspaper yesterday (May 13). Further information about the campaign can be found at the newspaper’s official website.
LONDON — The U.K.’s LIVE industry group (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment) has announced that contributions to its music fund has crossed the £500,000 ($668,007) milestone. The fund supports the grassroots music scene, and has been backed by stars such as Diana Ross, Pulp, Mumford & Sons and Hans Zimmer, all of whom have pledged to donate £1 ($1.30) from every ticket sale for upcoming arena shows.
LIVE campaigns and raises awareness for issues facing the U.K.’s live music scene, with a particular focus on the grassroots music scene and its workers. It represents 15 live music organizations, including the Music Venue Trust, the Music Managers Forum, Featured Artists Coalition among others.
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The LIVE Trust, established in January 2025, receives funding from a voluntary contribution of £1 per ticket from arena and stadium shows with a capacity of over 5000. A funding strategy is then implemented alongside a panel of industry experts, ensuring the funds reach venues, promoters, festivals and artists.
A proposed ticket levy has long been discussed in the U.K. to help stem the tide of grassroots music venues closures. The MVT reports that over 150 venues have closed across the U.K. since 2023, citing a number of financial challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
The current Labour government has supported the idea of the levy. Speaking in a parliamentary debate in January, Chris Bryant (creative industries minister) backed the idea of a levy in either format: “If the scheme does not happen voluntarily, will we make it statutory? Yes,” he said.
A number of big name acts have already committed portions from ticket sales in recent years, including Sam Fender, Katy Perry, Enter Shikari and more. Coldplay will donate 10% of the revenue from their upcoming Wembley Stadium residency to the Music Venue Trust, one of LIVE’s members. The group will play a record 10 nights at the venue in August and September.
Last week LIVE shared their Music Fans’ Voice report, which surveyed 8000 concert goers about the state of the live music industry, with 93% of respondents backing the £1 per ticket contribution.
Jon Collins, CEO of LIVE said, “This is a welcome milestone for The LIVE Trust and marks a very significant contribution to the grassroots live music sector. What this demonstrates is that there is a real appetite from performers and their teams to support the wider live ecosystem and we applaud and thank those that have already taken this initiative. Whilst this is an excellent start there is still much work to do if we are to convince government that a voluntary rather than statutory levy is both workable and sustainable.”
LONDON – Following the arrival of the U.K. government’s Spring Statement — an overview of the upcoming budgetary and spending plans — on Wednesday (Mar. 26), the U.K. creative industries are expressing concern over what the new budget could mean for artists, grassroots music venues and music education this year.
Since coming into power after winning an overwhelming majority with 412 elected MPs in last July’s General Election, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party and Lisa Nandy — the U.K.’s culture, media and sport secretary — have run their campaign on promises of economic growth and a greater respect for the British arts. Last summer, they pledged a new National Music Education Network in their manifesto that would deliver increased resources for parents, teachers, and children. The creative industries were also named as a growth-driving pillar in the U.K.’s modern industrial strategy, with an aim to grow the sector by £50 billion by 2030.In November, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the first Labour budget in 15 years, which raised some taxes — notably national insurance contributions for employers — that will allow the government to invest in the National Health Service (NHS), education and infrastructure. She also committed £6.7 billion ($8.6 billion) for education investment in 2025.
In the Spring Statement, however, which was delivered by Reeves from London this afternoon, a fresh set of cuts to government spending and public investment were outlined. She also told MPs that “the world has changed” since her first budget just under five months ago, and that those changes were to blame for the string of downgrades she put forward.
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When discussing departmental budgets, which dictate how much different parts of government can spend until 2030, Reeves said she aims to make the state “leaner and more agile.” Early reports suggested that day-to-day department spending was set to increase by an average of 1.3% per year above inflation; Reeves said it will rise by 1.2%. Furthermore, she confirmed that cuts will fall on departments outside of health, defense and education, whose departmental spending is not “protected,” she said.
“The Spring Statement makes it clear that most government departments, including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, face real-terms cuts,” Roberto Neri, CEO of The Ivors Academy, tells Billboard U.K. “This will put further pressure on already stretched budgets at the BBC and Arts Council England, two of the most significant commissioners of new music.”
Years of underfunding from previous governments, tough financial conditions for artists and grassroots venues and complex issues surrounding generative artificial intelligence (AI) are all significant challenges for the sector. A hearing at The Houses of Parliament in October 2023, for example, found that 1,000 music teachers have been lost in the past decade, while a 2025 report by Music Mark found that Labour had inherited a shortfall in its music education budget over the next five years.A briefing published by U.K. Music in Sept. 2024, meanwhile, suggested that the international appetite for British music remains strong — with overall exports growing by 15% to £4.6 billion ($5.9 billion) last year — but that the health of the country’s music ecosystem must be looked at more closely, Neri posits.“Since the pandemic, the U.K.’s music industry has grown almost twice as fast as the wider economy — and we’re fighting to ensure songwriters and composers see more of the benefits,” Neri says. “As the government prioritises economic growth, it should back our world-leading songwriters and composers, the source of all value in music, and invest in the infrastructure they depend on.”
The lack of new policy around music and culture in the Spring Statement is also of concern to Ben Selway, managing director at Access Creative College (ACC), the U.K.’s largest independent training provider across creative fields. Former pupils at Access Creative’s seven national campuses include Ed Sheeran (now a patron of the ACC), Rita Ora and Jorja Douglas of BRIT-nominated girl group FLO.The future of music education in the U.K., Selway says, depends on “how effectively we are able to reverse the negative trends we’ve seen over the past decades, from the closure of grassroots music venues to a reduction in funding in real terms, and mitigate the risks that threaten the music industry, such as AI and copyright.”Selway also highlights the recent statement made by the Ed Sheeran Foundation, whose namesake made headlines earlier this week with the release of an open letter — signed by other A-listers including Sir Elton John and Harry Styles — calling upon the government to ensure music education remains high on the agenda. “This creative industry brings so much to our culture, our communities, our economy, our personal wellbeing, but music education has fallen through the gaps. That’s why I’m asking the government, collectively, to correct the mistakes of its past and to protect and grow this for generations to come,” Sheeran wrote.
Sophie Brownlee, external affairs manager at the Music Venue Trust (an organisation that supports the grassroots music scene) told Billboard U.K. that “the chancellor, treasury and DCMS have all the facts and data they need to know how to reverse the decline in access to live music and culture in our communities.” She added: “For the chancellor to choose, once again, not to act on this opportunity will not generate growth or meet the Government’s wider ambitions for the creative industries. Instead, it will see more grassroots music venues close, many in already deprived communities, further jobs lost, and the continuation of undervaluing local culture in the U.K.”Though Reeves announced plans to invest more in AI technologies across the civil service and defense sectors, her statement didn’t broach the government’s 10-week consultation, which took place in late 2024, on whether copyrighted content, including music, can lawfully be used by developers to train generative AI models.In recent months, the AI question has become a highly debated talking point among the industry, proving controversial among creatives and copyright holders. The government’s resulting report said an “opt out” approach would give rights holders a greater ability to license the use of their content, but those plans are yet to be confirmed.Tom Kiehl of U.K. Music argues this is not a time to become complacent. “The chancellor has talked again about her strategy for economic growth and some of the potential benefits of AI,” he says. “However, there was nothing in her statement about the huge damage that would be caused to the music industry by government plans to give AI firms unfettered access to music under sweeping changes to copyright law. The proposals would be a disaster for the U.K.’s £7.6 billion music industry.
“We need an urgent rethink from the Government and the Chancellor over those plans,” Kiehl continued, “which would allow firms to train their AI models on British music without having to pay or seek permission from the people who created the work or own the rights.”
LONDON — The U.K. jazz scene is in something of a golden period right now. In 2023, scene leaders Ezra Collective became the first jazz act to scoop the coveted Mercury Prize, winning for their album Where I’m Meant To Be. Last autumn, the group headlined the 12,500-capacity Wembley Arena, the biggest-ever jazz headline gig in the U.K. And earlier this month, the group also landed a BRIT Award in the best group category, beating out Coldplay and The Cure, and closed the show with a joyous live performance.
In the last 12 months, there have also been superb LP releases from saxophonist Nubya Garcia and London-based harpist Nala Sinephro, while Emma-Jean Thackray’s “Wanna Die” — released on tastemaker Giles Peterson’s Brownswood label — currently sits on BBC Radio 6 Music’s A-list and London group Oreglo made Billboard U.K.’s artists to watch list in 2025. On the live front, U.K. jazz festivals such as We Out Here in Dorset, East Sussex’s Love Supreme and the London Jazz Festival are pulling bigger crowds.
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But there’s a problem, says new research from Women In Jazz, a community group that celebrates and supports female and non-binary jazz performers in the U.K. The newly released report, based on a survey of 10,000 respondents, says women in the scene are not experiencing the same opportunities as their male counterparts, face barriers within the industry and are shut out of key decision-making roles. Only 16.4% of those surveyed felt that women were “well represented” in the jazz scene, with 55.8% of them saying that they were “very poorly or poorly represented.” That chimes with recent research by The Musicians Union, which says that over half of women in music have faced gender discrimination and that female and non-binary musicians are paid less and have shorter careers.
“There’s a huge amount of work to be done in regards to fair pay, access to opportunities, visibility in the media and more,” Women in Jazz co-founder Lou Paley tells Billboard U.K. “The contributions of women in jazz have always been there, but historically they haven’t necessarily always been recognised, and that’s not just in the U.K., that’s worldwide.”
Women In Jazz was co-founded by Paley and Nina Fine in 2018 to address this issue by hosting live events, jams and workshop sessions to help provide resources for emerging female musicians in the jazz space. And while they say there has been a shift in attitudes in recent years, there is still work to be done. Now, the organization is set to release its first full-length album, a 12-track LP that will showcase some of its members, with a new song being spotlighted every month.
“It was a very organic next step in terms of the Women In Jazz journey,” says Paley. “We’ve done live events, we’ve done mentoring, so there needs to be something that encompasses all of our work and showcases artists at different stages of their journey.”
Rosa Brunello, an artist who features on the compilation, says that being a part of Women In Jazz helped her gain access to Abbey Road Studios for a recording session. With female producer numbers still stubbornly low, the hope is that the opportunity to record in such world-class studios will encourage progress not only for women performers but women producers and engineers as well. The aforementioned research by The Musicians Union indicates that women make up just 29% of DJs, 24% of producers, 15% of live sound engineers and 12% of studio/mastering engineers.
Plumm, another featured artist on the album whose song “The Epic” was released in February, says these backroom roles at record labels, festivals and more will help women be recognised and championed in the same ways their male counterparts are. “I believe that for great talent to succeed, all need to be noticed,” she says. “I think there have always been amazing female artists, and the reason they have emerged more in recent years is because there’s finally more attention towards women.”
Paley, who previously worked at London’s Roundhouse venue as part of its programming team, says that women also need to be in decision-making positions at live events and festivals. Recent research by A2D2 last year indicated that 63% of acts across 10 major UK festivals are male artists or all-male bands, compared to just 21% female solo artists or bands.
“There’s one thing booking artists on a festival lineup, but there has to be more than that. It has to be paired with a deeper understanding or interest in artist development,” Paley says. “Otherwise, it just becomes a kind of tokenistic tick box exercise, which actually can be unhelpful in terms of longevity and might put artists in a position that they’re not potentially ready for.”
The diversity of songs on the record — from Afro-Latin-infused beats to more traditional jazz standards — makes for an enthralling listen. The idea, Paley says, was to set no barriers or expectations for the selected artists, except to fulfill their creative desires — a rarity in today’s results-oriented music industry.
That creative direction was inspired by Paley’s own experiences. She began playing as a teenager in a jazz band, but in addition to being the only woman in the band, she was acutely aware that she was entering a male-dominated scene. She says that this still rings true now, with jam sessions and live performances overwhelmingly dominated by men, making it more difficult for female performers to be recognised equally for their contribution to a session.
“A lot of people felt that there was a lack of collaborative spaces where people can create and network,” Paley adds. An upcoming Women in Jazz jam night in April in Notting Hill, London, will be an early step in bringing artists closer together, while the group also recently held a networking breakfast at the city’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall.
Despite the problems that persist, progress is being made, Paley says. The growing Women in Jazz community is providing resources and support. And in 2024, UK Music reported that the number of female and non-binary musicians is on the rise. However, she adds, everyone in the music ecosystem has a responsibility to help right the gender imbalance that remains.
”Fans, media, radio, press, and platforms all have a role to play in shaping an artist’s career, and the way that artists are framed and covered can have a significant impact on their success,” Paley says. “Everyone in the industry has a responsibility to ensure that all artists are given a fair chance to succeed.”
The U.K. streaming market rose to record levels in 2024 as it crossed the £1 billion ($1.28 billion) revenue barrier for the first time, according to annual figures from labels trade body BPI published Wednesday (March 12).
Subscription, ad-supported and video-streaming revenue totaled £1.02 billion ($1.3 billion) to make up 68.1% of the country’s recorded music revenue, a rise of 5.7% compared to the previous year. In an accompanying statement, the BPI suggested that the increase is in part the result of multiple streaming platforms raising their subscription prices.
Combined with sales of physical music and digital downloads, along with synch and public performance revenue, the U.K. recorded music market saw total revenue rise 4.8% to £1.49 billion ($1.9 billion), marking a decade of continuous growth. The report notes that since 2014, annual streaming revenue has increased by more than 800% to become the dominant format for recorded music in the U.K.
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The 2024 revenue figure is the highest ever achieved in the U.K. in one year. However, after adjusting for inflation, annual revenue is still hundreds of millions of pounds lower compared to where the music industry should have been in real terms since 2006, the first year when public performance and synch were included in the annual total, reports the BPI.
Breaking down streaming revenue, ad-supported streams enjoyed the biggest annual growth in the market last year with an 8.9% increase to £77.9 million ($100 million). However, paid subscriptions to services such as Amazon, Apple, Spotify and YouTube continue to make up the vast majority of total streaming revenue, bringing in £875.5 million ($1.13 billion) in 2024.
Although the physical market generated more revenue in the U.K. than in any year since 2017, growth slowed last year despite high vinyl and CD sales of new albums by artists including Coldplay (Moon Music), Sabrina Carpenter (Short n’ Sweet) and Taylor Swift (The Tortured Poets Department). Total revenue from vinyl, CD and other physical music formats increased by 1.3% in 2024 to £246.5 million ($317.9 million) after climbing 12.8% the year before. Within this, revenue generated by vinyl LPs rose by 2.9% to £145.7 million ($188.2 million), while CD revenue fell by 0.5% in 2024 to £96.7 million ($124 million).
Despite slowing growth in physical formats, the BPI attributed the continued strength in vinyl partially to the enthusiasm of new generations of music fans. In 2024, eight of the year-end top 10 across vinyl were current records, led by Chappell Roan (The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess), Charli XCX (Brat) and Fontaines D.C. (Romance). In 2014, half of the top 10 sellers were catalogue titles.
At the start of the decade, CD revenue in the U.K. suffered from a series of year-on-year double-digit percentage declines, but over the last three years, it has stabilized. Like vinyl, the CD market is led by new releases.
Elsewhere, public performance revenue climbed 5.6% year-on-year to £161.7 million ($206.5 million), while synch revenue ended the year with a new annual high of £43.9 million ($56.7 million).
In terms of individual songs, four singles generated more than 200 million audio and video streams last year: Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” with 233.1 million streams, Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” with 219.3 million streams, Carpenter’s “Espresso” with 202.8 million streams and Teddy Swims‘ “Lose Control” with 201.6 million streams. Kahan and Carpenter’s tracks each spent seven weeks atop the Official U.K. Singles Chart, while Boone enjoyed two weeks atop the summit. Swims, meanwhile, peaked at No. 2 but earned the most-downloaded single of 2024 in the U.K., with 67,000 units sold.
More than a dozen other tracks scored over 100 million audio and video streams in the U.K. in 2024. These included “Stargazing”, the breakthrough hit by BRITs Rising Star 2025 winner Myles Smith, as well as releases by fellow British artists Cassö, RAYE, D-Block Europe (“Prada”), and Artemas (“I Like The Way You Kiss Me”).
Despite gains in each area of the U.K. recorded music market, Dr. Jo Twist, BPI’s CEO, stressed the importance of raising awareness around the government’s potential future approach to generative artificial intelligence training. At present, a data mining exception to copyright law is being discussed, meaning that AI developers could use songs for AI training in instances where artists have not “opted out” of their work being included.
Last month, over 1,000 artists, including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox and Hans Zimmer, contributed to a new “silent” album to protest this proposal. Titled Is This What We Want?, the album featured recordings of empty studios. In an accompanying statement, the use of silence was said to represent “the impact on artists’ and music professionals’ livelihoods that is expected if the government does not change course.”
“After a decade of growth, it is all too easy to take for granted the success of UK recorded music and the vital role record businesses play in this, underpinned by copyright, by investing billions to nurture and promote diverse talent from across the UK,” said Twist in a statement. “But in the face of intensifying global competition, it’s essential they’re empowered by a supportive policy environment to keep British artists on the world’s top step.
“Crucially, this requires the exciting potential of AI to be realised by the government safeguarding the UK’s gold-standard copyright framework and not siding with global big tech at the expense of human artistry and our world-leading creative industries,” Twist continued.
Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox and Hans Zimmer are among the artists who have contributed to a new “silent” album to protest the U.K. government’s stance on artificial intelligence (AI).
The record, titled Is This What We Want?, is “co-written” by more than 1,000 musicians and features recordings of empty studios and performance spaces. In an accompanying statement, the use of silence is said to represent “the impact on artists’ and music professionals’ livelihoods that is expected if the government does not change course.”
The record was organized by Ed Newton-Rex, the founder of Fairly Trained, a non-profit that certifies generative AI companies that respect creators’ rights. The tracklisting to the 12-track LP reads: “The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies.”
Is This What We Want? is now available on all major streaming platforms.
Also credited as co-writers are performers and songwriters from across the industry, including Billy Ocean, Ed O’Brien, Dan Smith (Bastille), The Clash, Mystery Jets, Jamiroquai, Imogen Heap, Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Riz Ahmed, Tori Amos, James MacMillan and Max Richter. The full list of musicians involved with the record can be viewed at the LP’s official website. All proceeds from the album will be donated to the charity Help Musicians.
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The release comes at the close of the British government’s 10-week consultation on how copyrighted content, including music, can lawfully be used by developers to train generative AI models. Initially, the government proposed a data mining exception to copyright law, meaning that AI developers could use copyrighted songs for AI training in instances where artists have not “opted out” of their work being included.
The government report said the “opt out” approach gives rightsholders a greater ability to control and license the use of their content, but it has proved controversial with creators and copyright holders. In March 2024, the 27-nation European Union passed the Artificial Intelligence Act, which requires transparency and accountability from AI developers about training methods and is viewed as more creator-friendly.
Speaking at the beginning of the consultation, Lisa Nandy, the U.K.’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said in a statement: “This government firmly believes that our musicians, writers, artists and other creatives should have the ability to know and control how their content is used by AI firms and be able to seek licensing deals and fair payment. Achieving this, and ensuring legal certainty, will help our creative and AI sectors grow and innovate together in partnership.”
Industry body UK Music said in its most recent report that the music U.K. scene contributed £7.6 billion ($9.6 billion) to the country’s economy, while exports reached £4.6 billion ($5.8 billion).
“The government’s proposal would hand the life’s work of the country’s musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians’ work to outcompete them,” said Newton-Rex in a statement on the album release. “It is a plan that would not only be disastrous for musicians, but that is totally unnecessary: the UK can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus. This album shows that, however the government tries to justify it, musicians themselves are united in their thorough condemnation of this ill-thought-through plan.”
Jo Twist, CEO of the British Phonographic Institution (BPI), added, “The UK’s gold-standard copyright framework is central to the global success of our creative industries. We understand AI’s potential to drive change including greater productivity or improvements to public services, but it is entirely possible to realise this without destroying our status as a creative superpower.”
Speaking to Billboard U.K. in January, alt-pop star Imogen Heap — a co-writer on Is This What We Want? — expanded on her approach to AI. “The thing which makes me nervous is the provenance; there’s all this amazing video, art and poetry being generated by AI as well as music, but you know, creators need to be credited and they need to tell us where they’re training [the data] from.”
The wait is over. In 2025, Billboard U.K. will be hosting its inaugural Power Players list, also known as the Power 100, for the U.K. and Ireland’s world-beating music industry professionals.
While Billboard’s Power 100 ranks the music industry’s most influential executives globally, this list will celebrate and recognise the executives and members that are at the forefront of the U.K. and Ireland’s music scene, and boosting the region’s hugely talented artists on a global scale
Billboard U.K.’s Power Players list will be published in June 2025, and will be celebrated with an exclusive event at the upcoming inaugural SXSW London.
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Further details will be shared in the coming months.
“The U.K. and Ireland has long been home to some of the most influential figures in global music, shaping the industry and driving artists to new heights,” says Mo Ghoneim, president of Billboard U.K. “We look forward to spotlighting the executives leading this charge with Billboard U.K.’s Power Players, from labels to live, streaming to rights, and beyond.”
The news follows a period of success for British and Irish artists in recent years. In 2024, there were appearances for Hozier, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran on Billboard’s Year-End Top Artists charts. Rising stars, meanwhile, like Lola Young, Aretmas, Myles Smith and more are growing their audiences domestically and internationally.
2025 will also be a bumper year for concert-goers with the U.K. hosting some of the most in-demand tours and live experiences: Oasis will kick off their reunion tour in Wales before heading around the globe, and superstars like Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Usher and more come into market for huge shows.
There are challenges to be met, too: Grassroots music venues face decimation without urgent action; legislation on artificial intelligence is paramount to the government’s agenda on growth; artists are finding touring a loss-making endeavour; the live and festival landscape continues to evolve and bring new obstacles. These themes will shape the inaugural U.K. Power Players, but the doors are wide open.
The Power Players list will be peer-nominated and selected by the Billboard U.K. team. Nominations open Feb. 4 and will close in two weeks on Feb. 17. Interested parties can fill in the nominations form here. For any queries, please contact power100@uk.billboard.com or tsmith@uk.billboard.com.
LONDON — Musicians and creator groups are calling upon the British government to take legislative action to help end the “endemic” misogyny, bullying and discrimination that many female artists still routinely face throughout the industry.
“We need a cultural change in the music industry… and the only way that can happen is if people are educated and there are consequences to their actions,” Charisse Beaumont, CEO of Black Lives in Music (BLiM), told a cross-party committee of MPs on Tuesday (Jan. 28).
Appearing alongside Beaumont at the Parliamentary session was singer-songwriter Celeste, classical soprano singer Lucy Cox and Naomi Pohl, general secretary of the U.K. Musicians’ Union, who all echoed calls for greater protections and support for women working across all sectors of the music business, particularly those in freelance employment.
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“What is most prevalent in my daily experience of being a female in the music industry is this idea of an ingrained bias or even an unconscious sexist bias,” Celeste told MPs.
“I think that all women will deal with it but there will be a scale of how much you [encounter it]. I can imagine that what I might experience might be different to an artist who is on a global scale and I know, for example, from some of my close friends and peers who are just starting out in music … [that they] experience things that I haven’t experienced when I have had the protection of already being established,” said the singer, whose debut album, Not Your Muse, topped the U.K. charts in 2021.
Beaumont called on the current Labour government to enact the original recommendations made by the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) in its highly critical report “Misogyny in Music,” published last January.
That report painted a damning picture of the music business as an industry “still routinely described as a boys club” where a “culture of silence” prevailed with many victims of sexual harassment or abuse afraid to report such incidents.
It followed an inquiry into misogyny in the U.K. music industry, which began in June 2022 and saw artists and executives give evidence, including senior executives from all three major labels, representatives of the live industry, former BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac and British pop singer and Ivors Academy board director Rebecca Ferguson.
In response, the committee made a number of recommendations, including banning the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and other forms of confidentiality clauses in cases involving sexual abuse, bullying or misconduct, as well as stronger rights for freelance music workers, nearly all of which were rejected by the then-Conservative government.
With Sir Keir Starmer‘s Labour Party now in power, musicians and artist representatives used Tuesday’s catch-up session with committee members as an opportunity to exert pressure on politicians to act.
In a statement, Beaumont said her organization had heard “hundreds” of stories from women about harassment they had faced in the music industry, including being “sexually assaulted by male artists, as well as promoters, [and] people assaulting women in music education” since the launch of its anonymous survey YourSafetyYourSay in April.
BLiM’s chief executive also described accounts of young women being pressured to take part in “almost naked casting videos” and feeling “pressured to drink and take drugs,” as well as “male producers grooming young female vocalists.”
Black Lives in Music reports that 71% of respondents to its anonymous survey feel that bullying and harassment is accepted as being part of the industry they work in and only 29% feel there are people in their U.K. music business who will protect them.
NDAs are frequently used to protect perpetrators, says the organization, which identifies a normalization of harassment and objectification of women in the industry, particularly Black women. These problems are often underreported, says BLiM, as women fear the consequences and lack of support.
“Often there is no recourse or accountability, so reporting incidents is futile as those doing the bullying control the narrative. It’s happening under their watch and they are too powerful,” said Beaumont in a statement following Tuesday’s session.
BLiM said its research into bullying and harassment in the British music business will be made available to the newly formed U.K. body The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), which has the remit of upholding and improving standards of behavior across the creative industries, including music, and is due to officially launch later this year.