Oasis’s reunion tour helped pull a record 24.7 million music tourists into concerts and festivals in the UK last year, and the bill for that spectacle landed at £11.2 billion across the economy. The numbers come from UK Music, which said the total was up 4.8% on 2024 and that the vast majority of those visitors, 85%, were UK music fans counted as domestic tourists because they travelled more than three times the average commute to attend an event.
The Price of the Show
The report reads like a celebration of spending, but the machinery underneath is plain enough. Overseas music tourists rose 27% to 2.1 million from 1.6 million in 2024, helped by artists including Coldplay, Lana Del Rey and Oasis, who played only in the UK last year. UK Music said it did not have data for overall gig attendees, but said the total would be far higher once local fans were included. Even by its own accounting, the industry’s preferred measure is not attendance or access, but money moving through tickets, food, drink, merchandise, travel, accommodation and meals.
The report gave particular credit to the Gallagher brothers’ reunion tour, where Oasis played for the first time in 15 years, despite a scandal over ticket pricing, for what it called the most profitable run of gigs in British history. Oasis fans spent more than £1 billion on the reunion tour, or more than £766 per person across the tour. That’s the kind of arithmetic the live music economy loves: a crowd turned into a revenue stream, then praised for the privilege.
The band’s five shows at Manchester’s Heaton Park pushed music tourist spending in the north-west up 16% year on year to £1.4 billion. London, never shy about hoovering up the rest, saw music tourism spending rise 27.4% from £2.7 billion to £3.4 billion, and the capital accounted for more than 30% of total spend last year. The geography of the sector is clear enough. Big cities and big acts take the lion’s share. The rest gets the leftovers and the security fences.
Who Gets Paid, Who Gets Squeezed
UK Music said the record £11.2 billion spent on music tourism last year was up 11% on the £10 billion in 2024. It said £5.7 billion was spent directly by music tourists on tickets, food and drink, merchandise, travel, accommodation and meals while travelling to events, with a further £5.5 billion spent indirectly on fencing and security at concerts. That split says plenty. The industry counts the barriers, guards and controlled entrances as part of the success story. The crowd pays twice: once to get in, and again to be managed.
The report also said the record spend was boosted by inflation and soaring ticket prices. That detail sits awkwardly beside the usual triumphalism. Fans are told they’re supporting culture, while the price of entry climbs and resale markets feast on the gap. Ian Murray, the creative industries minister, said, “These record-breaking figures are a testament to what the UK’s music industry does better than anywhere else in the world.” He added, “That’s why this government is committed to backing the entire music ecosystem in its upcoming plan for music: protecting fans from the exploitation of ticket touts, supporting the grassroots venues and studios that are the lifeblood of our future talent, and working to improve opportunities for UK artists to tour in Europe.”
Tom Kiehl, the chief executive of UK Music, said, “The billions spent are a huge shot in the arm for towns and cities right across the UK,” and added, “However, the government must support music fans by delivering on their manifesto pledge to tackle the menace of ticket touts who charge exorbitant prices for resale tickets, squeezing the amount of cash fans have to spend on gig-going.” The language is tidy. The reality is less so. Fans are squeezed by soaring prices, while the state and the industry argue over how best to keep the money flowing.
The Grassroots Line They Keep Selling
Ian Murray also promised support for “the grassroots venues and studios that are the lifeblood of our future talent.” That line gets repeated whenever the big numbers look good enough to justify it. UK Music said the number of full-time equivalent jobs in live music rose 3% last year, from 71,760 to 74,000. More jobs, more spending, more fences, more security, more ticket inflation. The sector calls it growth. Everyone else gets to pay for the privilege of standing in line.
Other major acts in the UK last year included Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Chris Brown, Sam Fender and the South Korean artists Blackpink and Stray Kids. Glastonbury, which featured Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli xcx and the 1975, also helped fuel a bumper summer. The names change. The structure doesn’t. A handful of headline acts draw the crowds, the crowds are monetised, and the state turns up to congratulate itself on the receipts.