Label investment through A&R is driving success for new UK artists

A&R and marketing spend represented 39% of label revenues last year

Labels A&R spending grew nearly 2 and-a-half times faster than their revenue over the past 5 years

A&R spend was 106.6% more in 2021 than 2016 pic.twitter.com/NO7mGHMBo8

— BPI (@bpi_music) August 11, 2022

106.6% more money was spent on A&R in 2021 than it was in 2016 (£173.3 million), which includes artist advances, the cost of new recordings, video production, and tour support. UK labels’ total revenue income climbed by 42.9% over the same five-year period to 2021, mostly due to a 51.3% increase in streaming revenue. This indicates that labels’ A&R investment accounted for 28.4% of their overall revenues and that labels’ A&R spending increased at a rate that was roughly 2.5 times faster than their revenue growth.

The BPI states that “The almost half a billion pound annual investment record labels make in A&R and artist marketing is crucial in enabling them to discover, sign, develop and break new artists, create new music, fund and provide artistic and creative support and direction, organise tour support and provide other supporting services such as marketing, promotion and PR.”

They go on to say that the investment has been crucial “in developing the international careers of British talent such as Arlo Parks, Dua Lipa, George Ezra, Glass Animals, Griff, Joel Corry, Joy Crookes, Lewis Capaldi, Mabel, PinkPantheress, Rag’n’Bone Man, Sam Fender, Tom Grennan and Wolf Alice, to name just a few”. Making the UK number two in the world in music export after the US.

According to a BPI review of data from Luminate, over 120 UK musicians with debut albums released after 2015 earned more than 100 million global audio streams last year. They go on to state that “This represents nearly one-third of all the artists from the UK who attained this level of streaming success in 2021”. Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize, summed it all up in a statement released on the BPI website:

“The UK has been one of the world’s music superpowers since the advent of pop culture, thanks to the combination of our many incredible artists drawn from all regions and nations, and the passion, financial backing and expertise of our record labels. During a time when music has returned to growth after years of decline, labels have continued to prioritise investment in artists. Spending on A&R reached a record £358 million last year and is significantly outpacing revenue increases. It is fuelling success for a new generation of UK artists who are embracing the opportunities of this truly connected world, underpinning our leading position on the global music stage.”

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Deezer’s Global VP of Artist Relations, Nigel Harding as provided the following statement concerning the revelation, “It’s fantastic to see so many homegrown artists like Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa continue to shine both internationally and here in the UK. What really stands out is the enduring appeal of older material. The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ and Tones and I’s ‘Dance Monkey’, both continue to dominate the charts more than 18 months after release. And it’s remarkable that Eminem remains as popular now as he was two decades ago”

The category of the top artist has been awarded to British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. The “Shivers” singer topped the list as the number one streamed artist.  Second and third places were taken by American rapper Eminem and The Weeknd. Following the pair was Dua Lipa, the British hitmaker who came in fourth as the service’s most-streamed artist. Fellow British act, Little Mix, also placed within the top 10 and closed off the list.

Dua Lipa not only charted within the top artist list but was also crowned as the top female artist within the streaming service. The “Don’t Start Now” singer beat out big names such as Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande to be the most streamed female artist. Little Mix also made an appearance within the top five and was announced as the fourth most female act streamed in 2021. The “Shout Out To My Ex” girl group also beat out American artists to reach the high position, Lady Gaga, Billie Elish and Rihanna charted behind Little Mix in streams.

Within the category for Top Track, Canadian artist The Weeknd won with his 2019 track “Blinding Lights”. The number one single was released from the 31-year-old singer’s fourth studio album After Hours. “Dance Money” by Tones and I placed in second place and was followed by “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran which charted at number three. British singer Harry Styles closed the top ten list with his single “Watermelon Sugar”.

The most streamed album was awarded to Olivia Rodrigo for her debut album Sour. The Weeknd also featured within this list, the singer’s double-platinum album After Hours followed in second place. Ed Sheeran’s 2021 album Divide was confirmed as the third most-streamed album within Deezer.

The platform awarded Ed Sheeran with another win; the singer won the Top Karaoke Song award with his number one single “Bad Habits”. Eurovision winners Måneskin filled both the second and third positions, the Italian rockers closed the top three with tracks “Beggin” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave”. American rapper Lil Nas X also charted twice in the category, “Industry Baby” landed at number six and “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” placed at number ten.

The announcement also consisted of further categories including Top Playlist, Top Deezer Originals song and Top Podcast. To accompany the list of the service’s most listened to content Deezer has also created a Best of 2021 channel for its users to enjoy.

The British rival to Spotify and Apple Music has developed it’s own streaming service and already has celebrity backers onboard including Robbie Williams, Alesha Dixon and Sheryl Crow.  As well as featuring on the TV ad campaign, which will run until December 21st, Kylie will also become a curator, making her able to share her exclusive playlists.

Kylie has commented to Music Week Magazine on their new partnership saying, “Music is my life’s great passion and I’m excited to be joining Robbie, Sheryl and the rest of the curation ream at Roxi. I can’t wait to share my playlists and the music I love with you all on Roxi.” The campaign will feature Kylie performing her new single ‘Magic,’ featured on her new album out last week. The advert is set in a family living room which is transformed into a nightclub dance floor, yoga studio, quiz floor studio and ends in a  concert stadium with Kylie.

ROXi CEO Rob Lewis has reported to of said to Music Week, “We’re delighted to welcome Kylie to Roxi. She’s the world’s favourite Australian export and has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide with seven No.1s in the UK alone. Having Kylie join the team at Roxi will help us to deliver on our vision to get everyone listening together, singing together, dancing together, playing together, with Roxi.”

As well as investment from former McLaren executive Rob Davies, the company also has financial backing from Hendrick Holmark, the former finance chief for Pandora and Saracens ruby owner Nigel Wray. The Telegraph newspaper reported that the company also struck partnerships with Sky in September, bringing their streaming services to Sky Q box top sets.

Between this week and the 21st December, there will be more than 350 million impacts broadcasted and the ad will run on over 100 TV channels to include sky movies, sky sports, channel 5, Discovery and most music channels. Although the business launched in 2015 and has suffered a series of delays, it has focused on developing software which can be installed on Televisions and game consoles.

ROXi originally manufactured their own top box for £99 in 2015 under a different name, ‘Electric Jukebox’ but it was clear they had to use an updated technology which could be more adaptable in order to succeed in the music business.

Due to market fluctuations over the coronavirus and Brexit, the company decided to cancel a float which could of seen it rise to 50 million, but the fluctuations in the market gave them concerns in this instance. Rob Lewis admitted to The Telegraph that the development of ROXi has been a “very long, arduous journey.”  Their determination to succeed in these uncertain times is now being fulfilled and having backing from huge stars such as Kylie Minogue will certainly go in their favour.