What was the best summer of music in London ever? 1968’s ‘Summer of Love’? Or 1977 when punk brought some anarchy to the city? Or the second summer of love, 1988, with rave (and quite a few people) peaking? How about 1995, the Britpop highpoint?
And what of 2025? Well, the Mayor of London has declared it a landmark year, at least financially.
Sadiq Khan today called London “the undisputed capital of music” and released figures about London’s thriving music economy, saying that 3.6 million fans will have attended shows by the end of the summer, thanks to ‘residences’ by the like of Beyonce at the London Stadium and Billie Eilish at the O2, with Oasis starting their Wembley Stadium dates this Friday, and Coldplay following on from them.
Last year 7.5 million fans attended gigs in the city - including ‘music tourists’ from around the world - which brought in £2.7bn in revenue.
Now Sadiq also heads off claims that this is purely about the most established acts – and venues - only getting richer with huge numbers packed in and paying prices for the privilege, by also pointing out that London’s 179 grassroots music venues are also doing well. The Mayor’s office states that in the last year these smaller venues have hosted 4.2m audience members, seen performances by more than 328,000 artists, employed nearly 7,000 people and contributed £313m to the economy, helped along by PR stunts like May’s Grassroots Tube Map.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to judge whether music is thriving this year, never mind whether it will be looked at as a milestone year to match those aforementioned greats but if you look at albums alone, it hardly seems like a vintage one. Little Simz’ Lotus is quality, then there is, er, the Bon Iver one, Addison Rae’s debut, a decent Lady Gaga record, um, the new Perfume Genius?
No this summer is more about big names rolling into town: huge legacy bands – particularly the reformed Oasis – and the modern pop greats like Eilish or Sabrina Carpenter at BST Hyde Park. While London’s live scene is certainly bringing in the crowds – and our ability to bring in these big hitters is something to be proud of – it does seem a little disingenuous to celebrate our music success at a time when many artists are saying, repeatedly, that they are struggling to make ends meet.
With streaming services having completely devalued record sales – Wet Leg’s triumph in beating Oasis to number one in the album charts at the weekend wasn’t quite such a win when you consider the Oasis record is 15 years old and two of their other old albums were in the top 5 sales – and the ones making the bulk of the money from shows are ticket operators, it means artists are earning very little from their music. As Kate Nash has said, following her move into OnlyFans in order to fund her touring, “My industry is attempting to close the doors on access to a music career if you don’t already have privilege, and I cringe at how much both fans and artist are being taken advantage of because of how much they love music. Meanwhile Live Nation had a gross revenue of $23.16 billion dollars last year, stadium ticket prices are shockingly high and the shareholders of streamers continue to cash out in the millions.”
Anyone who goes into music expecting to be rich is artistically suspect of course; anything truly great does not come from a place of commercial expectations, even if it eventually gets there (unless you’re in the manufactured pop game). And yet for new artists now it’s a case of having your music ripped off by a system loaded against you - even if you are a working class artist who manages to get a foothold with an album out, it’s more than likely you won’t be paid appropriately for it.
The fact is in previous decades, from art schools in the 60s to the dole in the 80s, you had support systems that supported young and underprivileged people to flourish in their creativity. Without that, you’d have no Rolling Stones, no David Bowie, no Sex Pistols, no Smiths, no Pulp. And that’s probably why we’re not now getting the next Rolling Stones, Bowie etc.
And yet… and yet…
It really does seem like an exciting summer of music. And that’s precisely because live music is really where it’s at.
Albums, schmalbums… for younger artists, shows are the only way to make any money at all, and for legacy acts, why bother releasing a new album when all anyone wants to hear are the old ones?
On stage is where it matters now.
For audiences steeped in the digital age, seeing actual live shows supplies an experience that just can’t be matched at home; even if certain people decide to then film half the set on their phones. There is participation here, genuine excitement, and artists are meeting that head on.
This is causing bands like Oasis to deliver exactly what the audiences want for maximum hugging-your-pals-in-tears adrenaline highs, but also making live stages a place for all artists to address their audiences and say something.
No matter what you think of Kneecap, or even Bob Vylan, the very fact that music stages have become highly politicised this year shows a recognition that these occasions matter. In part this is because of those dreaded phones: all shows can be filmed and these recording can be shared with others on social media – for better or for worse – which transforms stages into platforms.
Massive Attack’s gig at LIDO festival this year was more like a Palestinian support rally than a traditional gig. Glastonbury was full of political statements, not simply Kneecap and Bob Vylan, but many others too, with even Rod Stewart felt moved to say something about the Middle East and the Ukraine during his cosy Pyramid Stage set. Billie Eilish at her last O2 gig referenced the “troubles in this world” and declared her gigs a “safe space.”
Gigs are now a place for artists to declare their stance on issues, as much as they are to have fun.
Even Coldplay’s kiss-cams scandal, with Christ Martin accidentally exposing a CEO having an affair, was testament to the fact that what happens at shows matters; footage from them can have huge consequences, even if its mostly mass schadenfreude.
Music shows have always been public events, full of legendary moments and political incidents, but never have they been this easily shared and viewed by millions outside the venues. It makes shows loaded with meaning, unpredictable, passionate, inflamed even.
So yes 2025 is a summer of music in London that feels exciting, vibrant, alive in a way it hasn’t for years, at every level of the industry. It’s making some big bucks for the undeserving in the process, but the most important thing is that people are finding places to gather and connect and feel something… there must surely be a halo effect beyond the stadiums. The live gig bug biting hard. New bands forms... you feel this is only the beginning of a new wave of exciting musical acts. Imagine what would be possible if we actually paid them for their trouble.
