On 23 June 2025, the Government published ‘The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy’ alongside bespoke Sector Plans for five of the previously identified eight sectors with the highest growth potential, setting out a vision of each sector’s transformation by 2035. This includes the ‘Creative Industries Sector Plan’ and the ‘Digital and Technologies Sector Plan’.
While the main Industrial Strategy is high level and broadly outlines how the Government will support the priority sectors, the Creative Industries Sector Plan has specific interventions that impact the music industry. These measures were developed following an open consultation which BPI responded to, and with input from the Creative Industries Taskforce and the Creative Industries Council, which includes UK Music and Creative UK of which BPI is a member.
Following the publication of the Sector Plan, BPI welcomed the Government’s focus on the creative industries and set out our commitment to continue our work with the Government to ensure that the recorded music industry can reach its fullest potential.
Soon after, on 26 June 2025, the Government published ‘The UK’s Trade Strategy’ which was also developed following an open consultation that BPI responded to. This broad and high level strategy will operate alongside the Industrial Strategy and Sector Plan, and the upcoming SME Growth Strategy expected later this year.
Key takeaways
The Government has identified the music industry as one of the UK’s highest growth potential subsectors in the creative industries. Announcements in the Sector Plan reflect the Government's declared ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to make, perform and enjoy music. The commitments made relate to the impact of digital platforms and emerging technologies (such as AI), global competition and the skills needs.
A headline announcement was up to £30 million of funding over the next three years for a new ‘Music Growth’ package. This is envisaged to help more emerging artists break through on both the domestic and international stage. BPI is seeking further clarification about how exactly this funding will be distributed, but we anticipate that some of it will go towards continued funding of the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) which we administer. We have been lobbying the Government for support for artists at an earlier stage in their careers, who might not yet have reached the level needed to apply for MEGS funding.
The Sector Plan also includes a commitment from the Government to work towards an industry-led agreement on music streaming, which is reflective of the work BPI has been engaged in through the government-led Creator Remuneration Working Group. This group, members may recall, came into existence following the 2021 Select Committee ‘Economics of Streaming’ inquiry. We expect to be able to share more information about the discussions and their outcomes in the coming weeks.
Following many months of debate around the use of copyrighted works in the process of training AI models, the Government has attempted to provide one possible source for future collaboration between industries. It intends to establish a ‘Creative Content Exchange’ (CCE) which will be a marketplace for selling, buying, licensing, and enabling permitted access to creative content. The Government has said that this idea is at an “embryonic stage” and it will consult with the creative sector about how this proposal could work. From conversations BPI has had so far with the Government, it seems that this is not being viewed as a “one-size fits all” option and originated from a focus on accessing existing creative archives. The Government has also said it plans to respond to the ‘Copyright & AI’ consultation later this year.
As expected, there was a big emphasis on creative education and skills, which largely reiterated previous commitments made by the Government to widen access to music education and embed creative subjects in the curriculum. This includes the launch of a new ‘National Centre for Arts and Music Education’ in England by September 2026 and publishing a final report with recommendations following the ‘Curriculum and Assessment Review’ in Autumn 2025. However, some of the new announcements clearly set out the Government's ambition to partner with employers to help raise awareness of creative careers and support sector training pathways. BPI is exploring this further with the Government and will keep members informed of how they may be able to contribute.
Most of the detailed trade and export interventions that are relevant to the music industry were included in the Sector Plan. These recognise the importance of fast-growing markets such as those in the Asia-Pacific, as well as established markets like the EU and the US for recorded music. Announcements included increasing trade missions and developing new trade and investment plans for emerging markets.
You can read a further summary of the Industrial Strategy and relevant Sector Plans from BPI here.
The broader Trade Strategy recognises the economic potential of SME exports and lays out interventions to support this. For example, the capacity of UK Export Finance (UKEF), the Government’s export credit agency, has increased by £20 billion. To support SMEs to export, UKEF will also launch a more efficient, and accessible version of its Export Insurance product. BPI has never found that these products work effectively for our industry and tend to focus more on traditional exporting of manufactured products. We will continue to liaise with the Government on how increased support can be offered to our SME members.
Overall, the Government says the Trade Strategy marks a reset in the UK’s approach to international trade. It is designed to stimulate economic growth, through delivery of targeted business support, and working with international partners to achieve mutual benefit through more agile agreements.
You can read more about the relevant announcements in the Trade Strategy in the summary document prepared by BPI here.
Next steps
BPI will continue to liaise with relevant government departments and officials as we seek further details about these announcements, how this may impact our members, and how we can work with the Government to deliver its commitments for the benefit of the recorded music industry. We will share further updates with our members as and when they become available.
Please get in touch with BPI via [email protected] if you have any questions.