Liverpool's musicians struggle to make a living. Its pubs, bars and restaurants struggle to stay open. Venues pay for music every year, yet almost none of what Liverpool spends reaches Liverpool artists. Sinfonik works with local government to increase income for artists, lower music costs for venues and the council, and keep more music value in the local economy.
01 — The Challenge
Artists43%
of working UK musicians earn £14,000 a year or less from music — barely above the £11,000 UK poverty line for a single adult. [1][2]
£20.7K
average yearly income from music for a UK musician — most juggle three or four jobs to get there. [1]
3,140
full-time-equivalent artists and musicians work in the Liverpool City Region — plus 1,100+ "invisible" freelancers the official data misses. [3]
Venues1 in 3
UK hospitality businesses were operating at a loss in 2025, after April's rises in employer costs. [4]
20 a day
licensed venues closed across Britain in the second quarter of 2026 — 1,839 pubs, bars and restaurants in three months. [5]
£600
a year is what a typical small venue pays for TheMusicLicence to play background music — a fixed fee, whether or not a single song is local. [6]
02 — Why is it this bad?
Liverpool gave the world its music. Its own venues barely play it.
Venues pay a blanket licence to PPL PRS. The fee is the same whether they play a Toxteth songwriter or a global superstar, so there's no reason to choose local. The money follows the charts — and the UK charts are dominated by a handful of international stars, most of them American. The money flows out of the city, and out of the country.
Local music29%
of the music on the UK's Spotify charts is by British artists. 55% is American. Liverpool artists are a sliver of that 29%. [7]
Money leaving Liverpool~£600K
a year in music-licence fees paid by Liverpool's restaurants, cafés, pubs and bars ends up with artists outside the UK — and almost none of the rest reaches Liverpool artists. [8]
A pilot for Liverpool songwriters and neighbourhood venues.
Sinfonik and Liverpool City Council — with the Liverpool City Region Music Board — could work together on a pilot to boost demand for local music and lower what pubs, bars, restaurants and the council pay for it.
With Sinfonik, Liverpool artists grant a direct public-performance licence; participating venues get curated playlists where half the repertoire is local and pay no public-performance fees for the songs in those playlists. The city boosts its local economy and the music scene it is famous for.
50%of the music in participating venues from Liverpool artists
01 · ARTISTS
License directly, keep every right
Non-exclusive and free to join. Venue plays run on streaming or downloads, so they're traceable and can generate royalties.
02 · VENUES
Press play, pay no licence fee
Curated playlists — 50% local, 100% human-made — covered by a free public-performance licence.
03 · LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL
Support for artists and venues, and a lift for the local economy
Venues save on licences, songwriters get played and paid, and the value stays on Merseyside — a step towards the city region's £1 billion music-economy goal.
04 — What if Liverpool used Sinfonik?
More income opportunities for Liverpool artists. Lower music costs for venues. Economic development for the city.
Music licensing is deeply connected with the local economy. We created a simple model to make these connections more salient. Drag the slider to add venues.
Venues with Sinfonik00% of 1,400
Venue with SinfonikNot yet1 dot = 2 venues
Hours of local music0hours a year of Liverpool artists playing in the venues that join
Local song plays0plays a year of songs by Liverpool artists in the venues that join
Potential savings for pubs, bars & restaurants£0a year if they used only Sinfonik and saved £600 per venue in licence fees
Local economic output£0a year kept in the city region: venue savings plus artist royalties, times the music sector's 1.92 multiplier
05 — Start with a pilot
Let's make Liverpool's music pay Liverpool.
Council teams, the LCR Music Board and partners can request the pilot brief.
How the model worksVenues: 1,400 is the number of restaurants, cafés, pubs, bars, clubs and takeaways registered in the Liverpool local-authority area (ONS Inter-Departmental Business Register, local units, 2026: 1,425). The council's own register lists 3,728 premises licences, including shops and off-licences.Hours: venues × 8 h/day × 360 days × 50% local. Plays: 17 songs per hour (~3.5 min per song).Savings: venues × £600 a year, a typical TheMusicLicence fee for a small venue playing background music (PPL PRS lists £364.62 + VAT for a pub up to 400 sqm and £400.81 + VAT for a restaurant up to 30 seats; sector guides put most small venues at £500–£800). Assumes joining venues play only Sinfonik music.Local economic output: (venue savings + artist streaming royalties at £0.003 per play) × 1.92, the Type II multiplier for the Liverpool City Region music sector (£780m total impact on £406m direct GVA, University of Liverpool, 2026).Money leaving: 1,400 venues × £600 ≈ £840K a year in licence fees × 71% non-British chart share ≈ £600K. PPL PRS does not publish city-level collections or distributions.Illustrative scenarios, not observed results. The pilot would replace every assumption with verified Liverpool data.
Sources
[1]Musicians' Union & Help Musicians, The Musicians' Census (2023): nearly 6,000 UK musicians; 43% earn under £14,000 a year from music; average music income £20,700. helpmusicians.org.uk ↗
[2]DWP Households Below Average Income 2024/25, via Trust for London: poverty line (60% of median income, after housing costs) of £212 a week for a single working-age adult, ≈ £11,000 a year. trustforlondon.org.uk ↗
[3]University of Liverpool for Liverpool City Council and the LCR Combined Authority, Liverpool City Region Music Economy Report (2026): 14,400 workforce, 3,140 FTE artists and musicians, 1,147 "invisible" freelance musicians, £780m total impact, £406m direct GVA, 1.92 multiplier, 621 venues on the Live Music Map. liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk ↗
[4]UKHospitality, BII, BBPA & Hospitality Ulster, Quarterly Members' Survey Q2 2025: one third of hospitality businesses operating at a loss. ukhospitality.org.uk ↗
[5]NIQ Hospitality Market Monitor, Q2 2026, as reported by The Caterer: 1,839 licensed premises closed April–June 2026, about 20 a day; 98,564 licensed premises in Britain. thecaterer.com ↗
[6]PPL PRS, TheMusicLicence cost examples (February 2026): £364.62 + VAT for a pub or bar up to 400 sqm, £400.81 + VAT for a restaurant or café up to 30 seats; typical small-venue range £500–£800 per Orange Jelly's licensees' guide. pplprs.co.uk ↗ · orangejelly.co.uk ↗
[7]Skoove & DataPulse Research, Spotify Top 200 analysis, May 2024–July 2025: British artists 29% of UK chart points, American artists 55%; the UK ranks 39th of 73 countries for support of domestic artists. Luminate's 2024 year-end report found UK acts' share of UK streams fell a further 2.7 points. skoove.com ↗
[8]Sinfonik estimate: 1,400 venues (ONS IDBR local units in food and beverage service activities, Liverpool, 2026) × £600 average licence ≈ £840K × 71% non-British chart share ≈ £600K. Liverpool City Council premises licence register: 3,728 licences, October 2026. nomisweb.co.uk ↗ · licensing.liverpool.gov.uk ↗
