A lifetime’s music will set you back £21,000
19 October 2005
It’s hard to imagine a life without music. But did you realise just how much you spend on it? New research by Prudential, sponsors of Classic FM’s Composer’s Notes, shows that the average person commits a massive £21,000 of their hard-earned cash to music. This figure includes everything from CDs, vinyl, and MP3 internet downloads, to the equipment it is played on (including CD players, speakers and ipods), plus music magazines, gigs, festivals and events.
An expensive hobby
Eleven per cent of the population describe themselves as people who ‘love music and could not live without it’. They know that they spend a ‘significant’ amount of money on it. The diehard fan has on average £1431.73 worth of equipment — that includes CD players, speakers, cables and MP3 players.
On top of that they spend an additional £887.37 on music per year, that’s £549.70 on CDs, £291.49 on gigs and events, and £46.19 on magazines.
This is compared to the average person who has £890.97 worth of equipment, and spends £424.58 per year on music — on CDs (£199.12), gigs (£211.46) and magazines (£13.91).
Even the 50 per cent of people who say that they ‘like music, but don’t buy much’ have £705.01 worth of equipment, and spend £247.59 per year on their CDs and vinyl (£88.44), gigs (£152.23) and magazines (£6.87).
Regional breakdown
The amount people spend on music differs from region to region.
The highest number of die-hard fans are in London (14 per cent), followed closely by the North West and North East (13 per cent each).
The highest number of general music fans is in the North East, Yorks & Humber (36 per cent) and Wales (34 per cent).
Scotland has the highest number of people who don’t listen to music much.
Events and gigs
The average person spends £211.46 on gigs and musical events every year. In fact, more people go to musical events (71 per cent) than not (29 per cent).
Nightclubs are the most popular event among 16-24 and 25-34 year olds (70 and 52 per cent)
Gigs are most popular with 35-44 year olds (46 per cent)
Concerts and musicals (28 and 24 per cent) are most popular for 55-64 year olds
3 per cent of over-55s still go to festivals
The Scots spend more than any other region on events
Nightclubs are most popular in the North West (45 per cent), followed by the North East (42 per cent), then London (39 per cent)
Gigs are also most popular in the North East (47 per cent) and North West (45 per cent)
Those in Wales are most likely to go to a festival (18 per cent) compared to just 13 per cent in the East and West Midlands
Roger Ramsden, Pru’s Director of PruLab and Marketing, said: "Most people would describe themselves as a music fan of some sort or another, but what is really amazing is just how much money people find themselves spending on it — nineteen thousand pounds is a staggering amount of money.
"I wonder if people take this into account when they plan their finances. My suspicion is that they don’t because it is not seen as one of the big set-costs like a mortgage or bills or food. However, we can see that people spend a significant amount of money on it.
"It’s crucial that people plan their finances to enjoy a secure future. A good financial plan should also take into account the ‘extra’ things — like music and entertainment — so you are not taken by surprise at the end of each month."
