BPI Want Songs To Remain The Same

The recorded industry has made its views clear on the impending EU referendum, with a recent BPI survey revealing that almost 68% of labels want to remain in the EU. The survey, conducted between April 25th and May 6th, also confirmed that almost all (95%) BPI members produce recorded music and services that are commercially available in EU markets.

The survey said that almost half (47%) of respondents earn at least a quarter or more of their revenues outside of the UK from the EU and a key concern is retaining influence over EU copyright rules.

Chief Executive of the BPI & BRIT Awards Geoff Taylor said: “British music is riding high and now accounts for a quarter of the total market in Europe for recorded music. This success helps to create jobs in the UK and fund exceptionally high levels of investment by British labels into new music. A strong majority of the UK labels we polled believe that remaining in the EU is critical to their business and that leaving would risk harming their future prospects”.

Taylor continued: “Music and the wider creative industries are a major success story for the UK economy. Given the importance of exports to Europe to our business, we believe that the prospects for British music are brighter if the UK remains within the European Union”.

70% of respondents said the EU was either very (50%) or quite important (20%) to their future prospects and 59% of respondents believed that leaving the EU could make it more difficult to successfully promote British music and artists in Europe.

56% believe that withdrawal from the EU could have negative consequences for fans, with only 4% feeling it would be positive and 30% believing it would actually make no difference. The EU referendum takes place on June 23rd.