Finnish music industry is now worth over EUR 1 billion

The value of the industry increased substantially from the two preceding years – unsurprisingly given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic – to an all-time record of nearly 1.25 billion euros.

The surge was driven especially by live music and music exports, according to a survey report released by Music Finland in September. Live music accounted for almost 520 million euros, music education for 455 million euros, recordings for 120 million euros and copyright royalties for 110 million euros of the total.

The amount of public and private support to the industry nearly halved to less than 60 million euros, with pandemic-related subsidies still making up almost half of the total.

Music exports continued their recovery from the pandemic last year, but their value remains below the levels witnessed in 2014–2019. While recording sales remained at the level they were before and during the pandemic, copyright royalties rose by 40 per cent compared with 2021 and 65 per cent compared with 2019.

The core segments of music exports were valued at 25.5 million euros, a rise of 40 per cent from 2021. The exports of music-related applications, hardware and services added almost 105 million euros to the total, however.

The most important markets for Finnish music exports were German-speaking Europe (31%), North America (14%), Nordics (12%), Benelux and France (11%), the rest of Europe (11%) and the UK (9%).

Music Finland pointed out that the same positive trend is evident in statistics tracking the exports of pop songs.

Finnish songwriters, it reminded, were behind a total of 125 pop songs performed and published by foreign artists in 2022. The number of song exports has tripled in the past decade and that of internationally active songwriters doubled in the past half-a-decade.