By Ruth Suter

A STUDY is set to measure how much the music industry is worth to Scotland.

In partnership with the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), Glasgow University researchers will explore how much money the sector generates per year through sales and services.

The project, Mapping and Measuring the Scottish Music Industry, will be carried out by Dr Matt Brennan, a reader in popular music at the university’s College of Arts and PhD student Robert Allan, a founder and member of the band Glasvegas.

The team hopes to provide a map of Scotland’s prosperous music industries and reflect recent changes the sector has faced over the past two decades.

Robert Kilpatrick, general manager of SMIA, said: “We hope that the launch of this project further stimulates a national conversation about the value of music to Scotland’s economy and wider culture, and we very much look forward to

utilising the findings to see SMIA services, projects and events provide maximum impact and benefit to the sector for years to come.”

READ MORE: Prices cut to encourage youth football in Glasgow

Tour guide for Glasgow Music Tours, Fiona Shepherd, left, is welcoming the study. She said: “Matt Brennan has a long history of researching music in Scotland. The fact the researchers are musicians themselves is great because they understand the ground work. They are in a unique position to collect data – the report won’t be dry as they have a great understanding of the industry itself ...”

She added: “The point of the research is to present it to the Scottish Government and see how they can change the music scene. I’m sure it will be of great value as it will be able to provide specific data for specific future funding.”

A report by UK Music revealed Scotland’s music sector generated £431 million of spending in Scotland last year and sustained 4300 full-time jobs.

But as Brexit looms, the implications on live music remain unknown.

Shepherd said putting up barriers means “it will become more difficult to tour in Europe”.

She added: “I can see orchestras being hit hard. I hope musicians will find a way, it will require a shift and some creative thinking about how you pull that off.”

The researchers plan to use Sweden as a case study to assess what the Scottish music industry can learn from successful music economies in other small nations.