A new report has revealed that royalties from performances of live music fell close to 30 per cent in 2021, despite some concerts returning last year.

According to PRS for Music, the organisation that collects royalties for songwriters, revenues from concerts was £8million in 2020, down from £11.3million in 2020 and £54million in 2019.

19,300 setlists were reported last year, compared to 124,000 pre-pandemic.

CEO of PRS for Music, Andrea Martin said :”It’s a huge decrease, but we will see a bounce back this year” (via BBC).

Martin also went on to say that with 240 tours planned for this year, there was some “renewed optimism”.

Last year, a new forecast by PwC in their ‘Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2021–2025’ report, predicted that the UK’s live music sector wasn’t expected to return to its pre-coronavirus pandemic revenues until the year 2025.

Mark Maitland, UK head of Entertainment and Media at PwC, said: “UK consumers’ rapid migration to digital behaviours in the pandemic has now become embedded in their day-to-day lives, helping to sustain overall growth across Entertainment and Media for the coming five years. As companies race to meet consumers’ evolving needs with new products, services and experiences, the E&M industry will become more pervasive, more immersive and more diverse.

“Some sectors have found interesting ways to navigate the effects of the pandemic – notable examples include B2B events moving to online/virtual and now increasingly hybrid formats. However, sectors such as live music have struggled to go virtual, as it’s so difficult to replicate the in-person experience online. So there’s pent-up demand in those sectors ready to be released as lockdown ends.”

By 2025, the UK’s live music revenue is forecast to be worth £1.56 billion – almost as much as the £1.58bn it was worth in 2019.