The European Commission publishes "Music Moves Europe" study "Analysis of market trends and gaps in funding need for the European Music sector"

The European music sector has painfully re-structured after the digital shift. It remains fragile and requires tailored measures to strive in a competitive global music market. This is the key message of the recently published study “Analysis of market trends and gaps in funding need for the European Music sector” undertaken in the scope of the 2018 Preparatory Action “Music Moves Europe: Boosting European music diversity and talent”.  

The study has been conducted by KEA and Panteia together with a large pool of experts and an advisory board representing leading European music associations and trade bodies. Its objective was to analyse key trends of the European music sector and to provide robust justification for future EU funding.

The study underlines the fragmentation of the European music sector and the structural differences within EU countries. It reflects its pre-Covid-19 state, and identifies three major trends, namely:

• the growing concentration in the recorded and the live music subsectors;
• the development of consumption habits characterised by an increasing share of digital consumption for recorded and live music;
• fastevolving business models, for all the actors of the music value chain, who are adopting more comprehensive media strategies and adapting to the global experience economy.

The analysis of support schemes in the 28 EU member states reveals the disparate levels and architectures of public funding for music throughout the EU. Whilst many schemes exist at different levels of governments – from local to national and European – they fall short in terms of complementarity and in answering the strategically identified funding needs.  Hence, it sheds lights on the need to upscale and widen the scope of the EU’s support.

The study provides a set of recommendations and a strategic approach for future sectorial action for music as part of Creative Europe as well as other EU programmes. This is particularly timely in the context of the recently-announced budget increase of the Creative Europe programme, which unlocks additional resources to support the European music sector when it dearly needs it due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It calls as well for various regulatory improvements for music, such as the harmonisation or facilitation of administrative rules on diverse mobility-related concerns, and advocates for policies that protect local music- and cultural spaces, including music venues and rehearsal spaces.  

Finally, the study calls for increasing the transparency of streaming platforms that are crucial to deliver data to monitor the EU objectives of cultural diversity, and finally to monitor the concentration trends in the recorded and the live music subsectors.

For more information please consult the executive summary in English, German or French or read the whole study here.