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WISH YOU WERE HERE 2016

LIVE MUSIC TOURISM’S ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION

TO THE EAST MIDLANDS & LEICESTER REVEALED

13/06/16: Today UK Music publishes Wish You Were Here 2016 – A new report that reveals the vast contribution of music tourism to the local East Midlands economy.

The study showed that 360,000 music tourists visited the region in 2015 to attend a live concert or music festival like Download Festival which ran over the Weekend at Donington Park. These visitors generated a staggering £162 million in total for the local economy, and helped sustain 2,021 full-time jobs across the East Midlands.

Music festivals and concerts have been adding to happiness and wellbeing for decades. Importantly music tourism has been driving wealth into recovering local economies across the whole of the UK. Wish You Were Here 2016 clearly shows the value of live music and music tourism to the East Midlands through live concerts and festivals and the huge boost that it continues to bring to the area both culturally and economically.

The report also highlights the city of Leicester and breaks down economic and cultural scale and impact of live music and music tourism within the city, where last year 107,000 attended music events including 32,000 music tourists, who generated £9 million in revenue for the city, and which looks set to grow next year following Kasabian’s recent shows at the King Power Stadium.

MUSIC TOURISM IN THE EAST MIDLANDS IN 2015

£162 million generated by music tourism in the East Midlands in 2015

360,000 music tourists attending music events the East Midlands in 2015

2,021 full time jobs sustained by music tourism in 2015

107,000 total attendance at music events in Leicester in 2015

32,000 music tourists generated £9 million in Leicester last year

Andrew Bingham MP for High Peak said:

“Music festivals and concerts contributed to 360,000 music tourists visiting our region in 2015. These visitors generated £162 million in local spend and sustained 2,021 jobs. We need to support live music events so that they continue to generate these impressive figures.”

Jo Dipple, UK Music Chief Executive said:

“The appetite for live music has continued to grow. Last year overseas music tourism increased by 16%, whilst British music events were attended by a staggering 27.7 million people in 2015. What this report shows, unequivocally, is the economic value of live music to communities, cities and regions.”

For further information on this report / interview requests please contact:

James Murtagh-Hopkins

Director of Communications UK Music

0203 713 8452 // 07834 335525

Notes to Editors:

To view the full report please go to: http://bit.ly/1ZJaiSi

This study was carried out by Oxford Economics on behalf of UK Music.

2016 is the second edition of the report, which was first published in 2013.

Full Methodology is available at www.ukmusic.org

#WYWH2016

About UK Music:

UK Music is the umbrella organisation which represents the collective interests of the UK’s commercial music industry - from artists, musicians, songwriters and composers, to record labels, music managers, music publishers, studio producers, music licensing organisations and the live music industry. The members of UK Music are: AIM, BASCA, BPI, FAC, MMF, MPA, MPG, MU, PPL, PRS for Music and the Live Music Group. www.ukmusic.org