UK

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Taking Your Business Global: United Kingdom
Tara Souders
Global Media Management
Full Sail University

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Abstract
At TAS Records, prosperity is our end goal for our artists. Not only do we set the foundation for
our artists, but we continue to provide them with opportunities to help them grow even further.
Our success with this system has been extraordinary and has worked for us and our artists for 5
years now. With this in mind, going global is very much in our interest and in our future plans.
Expanding our talent list with international artists will be a major step for TAS Records. Our
goal is to help small artists achieve their dream of making it big. Throughout the years, many
companies have found success with going international. Through research, this essay will
provide our findings on why this would be beneficial for the company.

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TAS Records Goes Global: United Kingdom
Company Background
At TAS Records, we strive to make little artists into big stars. With our extensive
research team, we find young individuals in small, local music scenes who we think have the
potential to change lives with their music. By signing them, we promise to book them shows,
finding support act positions, holding special label events, and creating a safe and creative space
for them to do what they love. Our operations started in April of 2014 and have been going
strong since then. Currently, we have 6 female artists, 3 male artists, and 4 bands signed to our
label. We are based in Chicago but have representatives located in Philadelphia, New York, and
Florida. At TAS Records, we are one big family. We support, inspire, and motivate each other to
create the music we love.
Market Overview
The United Kingdom are known for birthing some of the greatest artists of all time. The
Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, and Queen are just some of the famous
names in music we still hear today who were from the UK. Due to this, the UK is home to big
music fans. In fact, 142.9 million albums were either streamed, purchased, or downloaded in the
UK last year (2018) and since 2014, sales and streams of music in the UK has grown by 22%
(Music By Numbers, 2019). Who make up these numbers of music listeners in the UK?
According to Statista, people between the ages of 16 and 24 are the ones streaming music in the
United Kingdom (Fuller, 2019). The breakdown of each age category from Statista can also be
seen in Table 1. The UK is also home to major festivals like Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury,
Download, and Slam Dunk. These large festivals are known for some of the greatest lineups of
all time and are a one in a lifetime experience for festival goers and the artists themselves. Many

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of the music fans who attend these festivals only listen to the headlining acts but go to see small
acts as well. In 2016, the live music audience was reported to be around 30.9 million people who
are aged between 21 and 25 years old (Fuller, 2019). With this in mind, expanding our record
label to this area will not only bring excitement to the market but we will find success due to the
passionate music listeners that call the United Kingdom home.
Political and Investment Climate
According to Global Edge, the United Kingdom is a Constitutional Monarchy and a
Commonwealth Realm run by Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Global
Edge, 2019). With a new government system comes new laws and regulations we must follow
with our expansion. Once solidified, TAS Records will have to take a closer look at international
business laws and plan for the future. Doing business in the UK is relatively simple. In fact,
“setting up a business takes on average 13 days in the United Kingdom while the European
average is 32 days”, and the UK is also ranked 7th in the World Bank’s Business Guide from
2018 (Santander Trade, 2019).
Economic Data
The economy in the UK seems to be outstanding. In general, The UK is 9 out of 119 in
exporter rank and 4 out of 119 in importer rank, according to global edge (Global Edge, 2019).
Their top export countries include the US, Germany, and the Netherlands while their top import
companies are Germany, China, and the US. Their top industries include machine tools, electric
power, automation, and railroad equipment (Global Edge, 2019). An economic snapshot can be
found in Table 2 from Global Edge below. In terms of music, 296,000 people were working in
the music, performing and visual arts category in 2018, a 39% rise from 2011 to 2018 (The
Creative Industries, 2019). Throughout the years, music jobs have only grown with the huge

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popularity with music and live music in the UK. The music industry itself contributed 5.2 billion
pounds to the economy in 2018 and UK music exports grew 8% to 478 million pounds (The
Creative Industries, 2019). As mentioned before, live music and touring is huge in the UK.
Attending concerts has become a big part of the music fans experience and many passionate fans
plan to attend more than one date of a tour. Along with this, many artists make sure to make a
stop in London when planning out world tours. “Music tourism alone contributed £4.5bn spend
to the UK in 2018, up 12 per cent from 2017” (UK Music, 2019).
Country Ratings
Here are a few other relevant country ratings the United Kingdom are rated best in. “The
UK music market has overtaken that of Germany to become Europe's largest music market by
revenues” (Global Music Report, 2019). According to US News, the UK rank 13 in starting a
business, 8 to start a career, 10 in headquarter of corporation, and 4 in international influence
(US News, 2019). To see more of their overall, visual rankings, see Table 3 below.
Conclusion
With the research and reasonings presented, I think the expansion to the United Kingdom
would be in great favor for TAS Records. Due to the ease of business in the UK, our company
would be able to seamlessly transition into their culture. Not to mention, the culture of music
lovers in the UK is outstanding and we would find support immediately from these people. The
music industry has proved to researchers with the numbers rising in all areas that this is a
beneficial company. Not only is the music industry successful in general, it also gives back to the
economy. The economy is stable and thriving as time goes on, so the ease of doing business is in
our favor. TAS Records going global is a large step, but this company will fit in with the United
Kingdom perfectly.

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References
Fuller, Steve. “Topic: Music Industry in the United Kingdom (UK).” Www.statista.com, 16 Sept.
2019, https://www.statista.com/topics/3152/music-industry-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/.
Global Edge. “United Kingdom: Government.” >> GlobalEDGE: Your Source for Global
Global Edge. “United Kingdom: Trade Statistics.” >> GlobalEDGE: Your Source for
Global Business Knowledge, 2019, https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/united-
kingdom/tradestats.
Global Music Report. “UK MUSIC IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT.” UK Music Market Size
(Industry Data), Apr. 2019, https://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/music/music-
facts-and-figures/uk-music-market-size-and-value.
Business Knowledge, 2019, https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/united-
kingdom/government.
Music By Numbers. “UK Music Consumption.” UK Music Market Size (Industry Data), Jan.
2019, https://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/music/music-facts-and-
figures/uk-music-market-size-and-value.
Santander Trade. “United Kingdom: Foreign Investment.” Foreign Investment in the United
Kingdom - Santandertrade.com, Nov. 2019, https://santandertrade.com/en/portal/establish-
overseas/united-kingdom/foreign-
investment?&actualiser_id_banque=oui&id_banque=18&memoriser_choix=memoriser.
The Creative Industries. “GOVT DATA ON MUSIC SECTOR.” UK Music Market Size
(Industry Data), Sept. 2019, https://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/music/music-
facts-and-figures/uk-music-market-size-and-value.

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The Creative Industries. “CiC UK To The World.” UK Music Market Size (Industry Data), Nov.
2019, https://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/music/music-facts-and-figures/uk-
music-market-size-and-value.
UK Music. “MUSIC TOURISM.” UK Music Market Size (Industry Data), Nov. 2019,
https://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/music/music-facts-and-figures/uk-music-
market-size-and-value.
US News. “United Kingdom Ranks Among the World's Best Countries.” U.S. News & World
Report, U.S. News & World Report, 2019, https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/united-
kingdom.

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Tables
Table 1
Most Common Age of Music Streamers in the UK 2018
Fuller, Steve. “Topic: Music Industry in the United Kingdom (UK).” Www.statista.com, 16 Sept.
2019, https://www.statista.com/topics/3152/music-industry-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/.

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Table 2
Economic Snapshot
Global Edge. “United Kingdom: Trade Statistics.” >> GlobalEDGE: Your Source for
Global Business Knowledge, 2019, https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/united-
kingdom/tradestats.

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Table 3
United Kingdom Rankings
US News. “United Kingdom Ranks Among the World's Best Countries.” U.S. News & World
Report, U.S. News & World Report, 2019, https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/united-
kingdom.