The annual turnover of the jazz sector of the British music industry was almost £88 million in 2004-5. This is one of the main conclusions of the new report, The Value of Jazz in Britain. The report was commissioned by Jazz Services Ltd as part of its Arts Council England Lottery Development Project. In our research, we found that sales of CDs through shops, websites and at gigs reached almost £40 million while ticket sales for jazz concerts and festivals were worth £22.5 million. The other major source of spending on jazz was the education sector, at just over £12 million.

The Value of Jazz in Britain estimates that there were over 45,000 jazz performances per year in the UK, an average of over 120 per day. One of the biggest growth areas for live jazz has been in the number of annual festivals and the report lists 58 of the major jazz festivals throughout Britain. Based on a survey we undertook of jazz promoters, the report says that half of pub gigs were given free of charge or cost £5 or less to enter. The typical admission charge for a jazz club event was between £5 and £7.50 while tickets for concerts at arts centres or concert halls typically cost between £7.50 and £10.

The income of promoters and musicians from admission charges to concerts, clubs and festivals is supplemented by public funding from arts councils and local authorities, and smaller amounts from arts charities and commercial sponsors. The report estimates that jazz received over £4 million per year in public funding and a much smaller amount in commercial sponsorship. Among commercial sponsors, the report notes the increasing commitment to jazz of firms in the financial services and leisure industries.

Much of consumer spending on jazz CDs in 2004 was devoted to reissues and compilations or a small number of international hit albums. Of the 1,000 or so releases of jazz titles each year, only between 200 and 300 contained newly recorded music. Independent UK labels (many owned by musicians) issuing new recordings expect to sell from a few hundred to one or two thousand copies of each release. Sales of CDs at gigs have become a valuable source of income for many musicians.

The Value of Jazz in Britain also summarises recent audience research on music and other art forms.  This shows that over 3 million UK adults had attended at least one jazz performance in the previous year, with the core audience for jazz is estimated to be about 500,000. This compared with a core audience of 400,000 for classical music concerts and 100,000 for folk music events. The report also quotes research that found that 10% of all adults sang or played jazz, although this was considerably less than those who participated in classical music (31%) or rock and pop (40%).

In the area of jazz education, the report provides a detailed overview of the number of jazz students in higher and further education and the numbers of full and part-time teaching posts at all levels of the education system. There is also data on summer schools and private instrumental tuition.

Based on the responses to a questionnaire sent to every jazz musician registered with Jazz Services Ltd and/or the Musicians’ Union, our report contains a detailed profile of British jazz musicians in 2004-5. The profile shows that the musicians where largely male (86%) and white British (88%). Among instrumentalists, women presented less than 10% of players on all instruments except keyboards, where they were 14% of the total. However, women made up 80% of jazz vocalists. The profile also shows that one third of musicians live in the London area and a further 20% in South East England. About two-thirds described themselves as full-time musicians. The most important source of income was live performance fees (49%) followed by earnings from teaching (20%). In the live performance area, musicians’ main sources of work were jazz clubs, festivals and hotels and restaurants. However, most musicians’ annual earnings from music were well below the national average wage of about £26,000. Almost two-thirds of those who answered the questionnaire said they earned less than £15,000 a year from music. Only 10% had annual earnings of more than £30,000.

Jazz Services was formed over 21 years ago and with support from Arts Council England, encourages the growth and development of jazz within the UK. A unique organisation – offering free, essential services in information, education, touring, communications, marketing and publishing – Jazz Services is recognised as a committed campaigner, providing a valued voice for jazz in the UK.

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Wednesday, 13 December 2006