Scotland’s music industry brings hundreds of thousands of people into the country and our artists continue to reach a global audience, yet the sector is under pressure.
Latest figures show around 2.3 million music tourists come to Scotland each year, generating £857 million and supporting more than 7,000 jobs.
Yet for many of the people actually working in music, remaining in the industry is a challenge. Artists face low and irregular incomes, grassroots venues operate on thin margins, touring has become more expensive and many music businesses struggle to find the investment needed to grow. This summer saw some Scottish festivals cancelled due to low ticket sales or soaring costs.
The Scottish Music Industry Association says fixing those problems will require more than short-term grants or individual success stories.
Its new Scottish Music Industry Roadmap 2026–30 sets out eight priorities intended to create a stronger and more sustainable sector over the next four years.
Developed following two years of consultation and research, it focuses on everything from fair pay and venues to investment, exports and audience development.
At the centre of the plan is a simple challenge: how does Scotland turn its musical talent into an industry where more people can actually build lasting careers?
For artists and freelancers, the most immediate issue is money. The roadmap calls for fairer pay, clearer contracts, faster payments and more paid opportunities, alongside better professional development for musicians and the people working around them.
The problem is not unique to Scotland. UK Music has previously found that 43% of musicians who rely entirely on music for their income were earning less than £14,000 a year from it.
Scotland can continue producing talented artists, producers, managers and technicians, but many will eventually leave the industry if they cannot make a living.
SMIA argues that success should be measured not just by the number of new acts breaking through, but by whether people can build sustainable careers at every level of the sector. That also means protecting the places where those careers begin.
Music Venue Trust figures show Scotland had 68 trading grassroots music venues in 2025. Together they staged almost 15,000 events and attracted more than 1.8 million audience visits. Only a third of the venues surveyed reported making a profit.
Collectively, they spent more on staging live music than they generated directly from it, while employment across the Scottish grassroots venue sector fell from 2,668 people in 2024 to 2,100 the following year.
The roadmap calls for better protection of venues, rehearsal rooms, studios and other music spaces, while recognising that planning policy, transport and business rates can be just as important as arts funding.
A second major issue is what happens to the economic value created by successful Scottish music.
An artist can live and work in Scotland while their management, record label, publishing company, distribution network and other commercial relationships are based elsewhere. SMIA wants Scotland to develop more of that infrastructure here.
That means stronger music businesses in areas including management, publishing, recorded music, technology and production, backed by specialist business support and better access to investment.
Funding also needs to become more predictable. The Scottish Government has increased cultural spending, with £100.7 million allocated to Creative Scotland in the 2026–27 budget, including £74 million for its multi-year funding programme.
The roadmap argues that music organisations and businesses need investment that allows them to plan, employ people and grow over several years rather than constantly move from one funding deadline to the next.
For artists, the same long-term thinking is required internationally. Touring and exporting music have become increasingly expensive, particularly for emerging acts trying to establish themselves overseas.
SMIA wants stronger support for international touring, showcases and business connections to help more Scottish artists reach global audiences without taking unsustainable financial risks.
The final part of the challenge is persuading government and public agencies to treat music as more than a cultural extra.
SMIA wants music to be viewed as a cultural, social and economic asset, with government, councils, businesses and industry organisations working more closely together.
An independent advisory group is due to be established later this year, while annual implementation plans and progress reports are intended to measure what happens between now and 2030.
The industry will gather at the SMIA Summit at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket on Thursday 8 October to begin discussing how the roadmap can be turned into practical action.
Scotland does not need to prove that it can produce great music. The bigger task is building the venues, businesses, investment and working conditions needed to ensure the people making it can build careers here too.