UK record labels together pumped £494.8 million into A&R and marketing last year, according to new stats from record industry trade group BPI. And that’s more than double what was spent on such things back in 2016, according to the BPI’s figures. Labels have been increasingly keen to stress the investment they make in new talent and new releases in recent years, of course, as the debate around how the digital pie gets sliced up has become ever more public. Of the monies generated by streaming, 50-55% goes to the record industry, with 10-15% flowing to songwriters and music publishers, and the streaming services keeping 30-35%.
