The UK's Most Musical Cities Revealed

Pirate, the UK's premier music studio provider, is a platform used by over 350,000 live artists, producers and DJs across the UK and Ireland. In a new study exploring the dynamics of the UK music industry, Pirate reveals the density of artists in different cities by comparing the number of individuals using music studios to city populations. The study also explores the balance between live artists and DJs in various UK cities and offers insight into the UK's most popular music genres through the analysis of applications to their recent Pirate Residency scheme.

Bristol has been identified as the UK city with the highest concentration of music artists. Pirate's analysis, which examined the number of bands, DJs, and recording artists relative to the overall population, revealed Bristol as the frontrunner in terms of artist density. Joining Bristol in the top five cities with a significant artist population are: Norwich, Brighton and Hove, Nottingham, and Liverpool.

In contrast, Bradford was found to have the lowest density of music artists among the cities analysed. Interestingly, London, despite its famous music scene, also ranked in the bottom five, likely due to the higher cost of living in the capital. This discrepancy highlights the unexpected concentration of music artists across different regions of the country.

Rebecca Mason-Evans runs Pirate Residency, a talent initiative fostering the careers of artists using Pirate’s studios:

The study also showcases a growing interest in electronic music and DJ culture across the UK. Comparing the usage of DJ studios to band rehearsal studios in 17 major cities in the UK and Ireland, Pirate found that DJs outnumber live artists in most cities, including UK music capitals like London, Manchester, and Birmingham. The exception is Edinburgh, where bands outnumber DJs.

Ross Gordon, Pirate’s Edinburgh Site Manager reflects on the talent coming from Pirate’s Edinburgh site:

Pirate’s report also sheds light on the most popular genres among entries to their Pirate Residency scheme, which invites emerging artists to apply for paid gigs and radio play. Rock and indie music emerged as the most popular genres in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, while drum and bass took the lead in the South West and East of England. House and techno dominated most regions, including Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands, the South East, the North West, the East Midlands, and London.

Discover more by reading the full feature on the most musical cities in the UK.