A preliminary audit has been conducted cross-referencing three types of data in an attempt to build up a detailed and accurate picture of the present state of the Sheffield music sector. 

1. Relevant official data from ONS, DCMS, UK Music and Sheffield City Council relevant to a discussion of the structure and size of the local music sector has been collated.

2. Data relating to music companies (both limited by shares and by guarantee), registered societies, charities, and also, where relevant, Royal Charter companies, has also been collected from Companies House and the Charity Register.

3. Primary data relating to the Sheffield music industry and sector has been gathered from a range of online and physical sources¹ to create an itemised list of organisations and individuals that appear to be active and operating in Sheffield over the last 12 months.

The following inclusion criteria have been carefully applied to the second and third data sets.

Inclusion Criteria
i) Within Sheffield city boundary	Established via reference to published biographical information, location data on social media, and, where applicable, postcode from Companies House, Charities Register or company website.
ii) Evidence of activity since November 2023	Established via venue listings, DSP releases, social media and blog posts.
iii) Music or musicians are core to the organisation or individual’s value offer	Relates to perceived business model and extent to which music is leveraged as a central part of the logic by which the org sustains itself. Established either by presentation and self-description or via reference to economic codes associated with music.

This involved dividing registered organisations into the following categories

1. Registered orgs with a Sheffield postcode associated with Sheffield music

2. Registered orgs with a relevant SIC and a Sheffield postcode not associated with Sheffield music

3. Registered orgs associated with Sheffield music with a postcode outside Sheffield

Ultimately this process generated separate data sets of:

• registered organisations
• private individuals
• trading names and brands. 

These lists were then cross-referenced to produce a Sheffield Music Register which records a total of 597 local music organisations with, where publicly available, corresponding Sheffield postcode and company or charity information. The register also identifies 563 separately named individuals working in Sheffield music. In addition, 300 further organisations, brands and trading names were identified where no individual’s name, official organisation or postcode appeared to be publicly available. 

The data from the Sheffield Music Register was then used to generate two analyses.

1. Sheffield Music Sector – Economic Analysis
2. Sheffield Music Sector – Spatial Map

Taxonomy

Theories of sustainable, innovation-driven growth often note the value of productive interactions between public sector, private sector and what is variously referred to as either civil society, the third sector, or, in this report, Voluntary, Community, Faith & Social Enterprise (VCFSE). According to these theories, sustainable development relies on a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit activity. 

Previous reports on the local music sector, by mapping popular music and classical music separately, have to a significant degree separated the commercial music industries in Sheffield from primarily not-for-profit music organisations and activities. While this siloed approach may have been sensible in the past, the underlying operational realities of the sector are evolving.

• Arts organisations who may at one time have been entirely dependent on Arts Council funding have typically diversified their revenue streams to increase their financial resilience. 
• Those associated with popular music styles, especially at a grassroots level, have in general become more able to attract public funding (see recent figures from Music Venue Trust as an example). 
• The musical ecosystem in Sheffield includes regular collaboration between music organisations and musicians associated with different genres or styles. This happens in the context of education, live events, and studio settings. 

The audit seeks to take account of the above to frame the sector as one whole and in terms more relevant to the question of sustainable development. Music activity in Sheffield spans Public, Private and VCFSE. If we can see what the proportions are, how they are distributed geographically, what relationship they might have to patterns of participation, this might reveal patterns that help to clarify the contributions different types of organisation make and the barriers and opportunities that people in the sector face. Furthermore, the kinds of support – training, networks etc – appropriate to different kinds of organisations will vary according to their size and operational priorities.


Neil McSweeney
Department of Music
University of Sheffield
16th Dec 2024

1. bandcamp.com, classicalsheffield.org.uk, exposedmagazine.co.uk, google.com, google.com/maps, instagram, facebook, licensing.sheffield.gov.uk, linkedin, nowthenmagazine.com, ourfaveplaces.co.uk, print media and publicity, sheffieldmusicscene.co.uk, thestar.co.uk, skiddle.com, songkick.com, soundbetter.com, spotify.com, ukmusicteachers.com, viberate.com, welcometosheffield.co.uk, yell.com ↩︎