In 2019 the UK music industry was worth £5.8 billion to the UK economy. In 2019 Music tourism was responsible for adding £4.7 billion to the UK economy.
BBC Radio and Television is one of the most important platforms of the British Music Industry Infrastructure contributing through pioneering, promoting and establishing artists to a local, national and international audience, forming relationships with the artists and offering protection as they become famous. BBC Introducing has supported artists like Ed Sheerhan and Loyle Carner, while BBC Radio has helped popularise entire music genre’s like Dubstep and Grime. The BBC Radio platform also serves the artists through generating record sales, streaming sales, and gig sales for the artists.
The BBC Radio 1 Music Festival attracts some of the largest music stars in the world to play at the UK. This music festival is significant for the morale of UK citizens for two reasons. Firstly, it is entirely free, people obtain tickets through application to BBC Radio One. Secondly, the location of the festivals changes each year thus bringing excitement, poetry and tourism to a diverse set of locations throughout the United Kingdom. Previous locations include: Londonderry, Dundee, Lancashire, Kent, Wiltshire, Bangor, Carlisle, Norwich, Execter, Hull, Belfast and Middlesborough. Amidst questions of the break up of the United Kingdom, the Radio 1 Music festival plays an extraordinary important role in creating the sense of collective identity throughout the United Kingdom. Artists that have performed in these locations include Billie Eilish in Middlesborough, Rihanna in Bangore and Muse in Dundee.
Musicians Built Through the BBC:
Supported through BBC Introducing:
(BBC Introducing: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010j8y5)
James Bay
Florence and the Machine
Catfish and the Bottlemen
George Ezra
Slaves
Jake Bugg
Ed Sheehan
Little Simz
Loyle Carner
Bombay Bicycle Club
Ellie Goulding
JME and Skepta
Aluna George
The Ting Tings
Glass Animals
Arlo Parks
Music genres pioneered through the BBC:
Grime (Charlie Slooth’s Fire in the Booth: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03ccjgl)
Electronic
Dubstep (Mary Anne Hobbe’s Dubstep Warz: https://crackmagazine.net/2021/01/mary-anne-hobbs-dubstep-radio)
Jungle
Drum and Base
Zane Lowe (presenter of the 7 – 9 pm BBC Radio 1 show 2003-2015) on working at the BBC:
“It’s about the best place I’ve ever worked in my life. And it’s got the most inspiring people, who do things for all the right reasons – because they love it, they feel proud to do it there, they feel honoured at the privilege of being able to do it for the people, and they take that responsibility very seriously. And you don’t leave. You just don’t.”
BBC Radio Music Festivals:
BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend is a music festival started in 2003:
Artists that have performed include:
The White Stripes
Stereophonics
Chemical Brothers
Foo Fighters
The Streets
Paulo Nutini
Pink
Primal Scream
Kasabian
LCD Soundsystem
Biffy Clyro
Calvin Harris
Dizzee Rascal
Florence and the Machine
Vampire Weekend
Lady Gaga
Arctic Monkeys
The Strokes
My Chemical Romance
Jay Z
Nicki Minaj
Ed Sheehan
Will.i.am
The Maccabees
Bruno Mars
Asap Rocky
J Cole
Kendrick Lamar
Alt-J
Disclosure
Coldplay
Kings of Leon
Katy Perry
Lorde
One Direction
Pharrell Williams
Sam Smith
Ben Howard
David Guetta
Muse
Rita Ora
Snoop Dogg
Mumford and Sons
Tame Impala
The Weekend
Wolf Alice
Dua Lipa
Lana Del Rey
Loyle Carner
Stormy
AJ Tracey
Billie Eilish
Dave
Foals
Mark Ronson
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival
Artists that have performed include:
Laura Marling
Underworld
Thundercat
The National
The Fall
Elbow
Loyle Carner
Little Simz
Kelis
James Blake
Goldfrapp
Foals
Depeche Mode
Bonobo
Anna Calvi
Bicep
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