Europe’s creative economy has been decimated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Venues remain closed, productions & events postponed or cancelled, and advertising revenues have plummeted.
But 2019 was a different story. Cultural and creative industries represented some of Europe’s biggest employers, some of its most diverse and fast-growing sectors, and a major contributor to European GDP. The balance of trade in culture posted a net surplus of €8.6 billion in 2019.
Music Industry Losses
The estimated change in turnover from 2019 to 2020 saw the music sector down 76% according to a study by GESAC, the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers. The only sector to perform worse than music was performing arts, which was down a staggering 90%.
Having seen these figures we feel even more justified in our decision to only release our LoveThatBass Radio show on Mixcloud. It’s so important we keep supporting music artists through these tough times.
The Rebuild
The GESAC study concludes that the creative sector should be central to Europe’s recovery efforts and recommends a three-pronged approach: ‘finance, empower, leverage’. It recommends massive public financing and the promotion of private investment, a solid legal framework to create the conditions needed to revitalise the creative economy and safeguard its long-term growth.
Many, including the NTIA (Night Time Industries Association) & the #WeAreViable movement have been pushing the UK government, local authorities and Public Health England to plan a route back to normality for the live music & clubbing industry. They want to find ways to safeguard and protect one of the oldest and most successful UK industries and one of the most important foundation of our countries culture.
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