GX Index · Reports · CC BY 4.0
UK Live Music Reports Library
Free, open-licence research.
Free, open-licence research on UK booking rates, musician earnings and the wider live-music industry — read in-browser, download as PDF, share with attribution.
Updated 23 October 2026
01 — Latest issue
September 2026, out now
| Read the reportPage by page, in the viewer | |
| Download the PDFThe full issue, to keep or cite |
02 — Browse
9 reportsEvery report
Pick a report to read it page by page.
| GIGXCHANGE Index — September 2026Monthly UK booking rate distributions — 4,772 approved observations across 13 cities, 7 use cases and 4 band sizes.6 Oct 2026 · GX Index · 11 pages · PDF | |
| GIGXCHANGE Index — August 2026Monthly UK booking rate distributions — 4,431 approved observations across 13 cities, 7 use cases and 4 band sizes.3 Sept 2026 · GX Index · 11 pages · PDF | |
| State of the Circuit 20268,989 gigs, 2,622 rooms, 1,270 open mic nights — and 287 towns with a venue and no gig listed anywhere we can see. A count of the UK grassroots circuit.6 Aug 2026 · Annual · 11 pages · PDF | |
| GIGXCHANGE Index — July 2026Monthly UK booking rate distributions — 4,290 approved observations across 13 cities, 7 use cases and 4 band sizes.31 Jul 2026 · GX Index · 11 pages · PDF | |
| GIGXCHANGE Index — June 2026Monthly UK booking rate distributions — 4,036 approved observations across 13 cities, 7 use cases and 4 band sizes.4 Jul 2026 · GX Index · 11 pages · PDF | |
| GIGXCHANGE Index — May 2026Monthly UK booking rate distributions — 3,847 approved observations across 13 cities, 7 use cases and 4 band sizes.20 May 2026 · GX Index · 11 pages · PDF | |
| UK Musician Earnings 202643% of UK musicians earn under £14,000 a year while the industry contributes £8bn. Income paradox at the heart of UK live music.23 Apr 2026 · Ad-hoc · 11 pages · PDF | |
| GIGXCHANGE Index — April 2026Monthly UK booking rate distributions — 2,381 approved observations across 14 cities, 7 use cases and 4 band sizes.20 Apr 2026 · GX Index · 11 pages · PDF | |
| UK Live Music Yearbook 2026Annual snapshot of the UK live music economy — venues, fees, audiences, scene-level trends across 12 pages.15 Mar 2026 · Annual · 12 pages · PDF |
03 — About
About the library
| Who It's ForWorking musicians pricing their next gig, agents and bookers benchmarking quotes, venue programmers sense-checking offers, and journalists or researchers needing one citable UK source. |
| What's InsideWeighted booking-fee percentiles by city and band size, musician income distributions, venue-ecosystem data, season-by-season demand curves and year-on-year scene benchmarks. |
| How OftenThe GX Index report drops monthly, themed special editions like Musician Earnings quarterly, the UK Live Music Yearbook annually. Underlying datasets refresh nightly. |
| Why FreeBetter data → better booking decisions → healthier UK live-music economy. We built the GigXchange marketplace at 0–5% booker fee; these reports are how we give back to the scene that fills it. |
04 — Open data
CC BY 4.0Backed by an open dataset
| Hugging FaceAll datasets · ML-research surface | |
| KaggleAll datasets · data-science community | |
| ZenodoPermanent DOI archive · CERN-hosted | |
| Live GX IndexReal-time UK fee percentiles by city & band size |
05 — Activity
Recent activity
| 6 Oct · ReportMonthly: GigXchange Index — September 2026 published. 4,772 observations across 13 UK cities. |
| 3 Sept · ReportMonthly: GigXchange Index — August 2026 published. 4,431 observations across 13 UK cities. |
| 31 Jul · ReportMonthly: GigXchange Index — July 2026 published. 4,290 observations across 13 UK cities. |
| 4 Jul · ReportMonthly: GigXchange Index — June 2026 published. 4,036 observations across 13 UK cities. |
| 20 May · ReportMonthly: GigXchange Index — May 2026 published. 3,847 observations across 13 UK cities. |
| 26 Apr · New mirrorGX Index + Musician Earnings datasets published on Kaggle — 6 new dofollow backlinks. |
| 23 Apr · ReportNew: UK Musician Earnings 2026 — The State of Play published with permanent DOI. |
| 22 Apr · DataGX Index nightly refresh added 200 new submission-verified observations. |
| 20 Apr · ReportMonthly: GigXchange Index — April 2026 published. 2,381 observations across 14 UK cities. |
| 15 Mar · AnnualAnnual: UK Live Music Yearbook 2026 released. |
| Roadmap · Coming soonOctober 2026 GX Index release · Quarterly venue-economics deep-dive · Wedding Sector Report 2026. |
06 — Questions4 answersReport questions
07 — At a glance
5 panelsThe library, in brief
The Library9
Every issue and special report — free to read. The open library of UK live-music research — read in-browser or download.
9 open reports, newest first
Monthly GX Index issues — rates by city and band size
Special editions: Musician Earnings, the Yearbook
Read page-by-page or download the PDF
Every report backed by an open dataset
Free under CC BY 4.0
| Browse the library | |
| Latest: September 2026 | |
| Live GX Index | |
| Find out more | |
| Join free |
Sources Cited15+
UK sources cited across the library. Every figure traces to a vetted source, weighted by trust.
Confirmed bookings — the strongest signal
Musicians’ Union and Equity published rates
Public UK industry rate cards, rescanned weekly
Venue gig budgets and artist asking rates
Verified rate imports, checked on import
Full methodology published in the open
| How the Index works | |
| Methodology | |
| Find out more | |
| Join free |
Open Data3
Open-data mirrors — cite and build on freely. Every report’s raw data, mirrored across three open platforms.
Hugging Face — ML-research surface
Kaggle — data-science community
Zenodo — permanent DOI, CERN-hosted
All datasets CC BY 4.0
Refreshed as new reports publish
Cite GigXchange and use freely
| UK market statistics | |
| Live GX Index | |
| Find out more | |
| Join free |
CC BY 4.0CC BY
Free to cite, quote and redistribute. Published open under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
Free to cite, quote and build on commercially
Each report carries a permanent DOI
Attribution: “GigXchange, gigxchange.app/rates”
Journalists, researchers and policy bodies welcome
No paywall, no signup to read
Datasets share the same licence
| All reports | |
| UK market statistics | |
| Find out more | |
| Join free |
Live IndexLive
The live rates behind every report. The reports are snapshots — the Index is live, refreshed nightly.
Median UK fees by city, act size and event
Percentiles p25/p50/p75/p90 — never an average
Rebuilt every night at 05:00 UK time
A free rate calculator
Submit a rate to sharpen it
The source of every monthly report
| Open the GX Index | |
| Submit a rate | |
| Find out more | |
| Join free |
08 — Keep exploring
Use the data
Latest issueGX Index — September 2026 · what gigs actually pay, by city, gig type and band size.
| Read the report |
| GX Index — live rates | |
| UK Market Statistics |
| How much do gigs pay? | |
| The GX Index explained | |
| State of UK Live Music |
Add your real gig fees to the UK Gig Pay Survey — anonymous, ~60 seconds, and every entry sharpens the next GX Index.
| Take the survey |
Help Make the Data Better
Submit a real booking rate (anonymous, 60 seconds) to make the next report's percentiles sharper. Or sign up to the platform to book direct (0–5% booker fee) — every booking auto-feeds the Index.
UK Live Music Reports Library
Free, open-licence research on UK booking rates, musician earnings and the wider live-music industry — read in-browser, download as PDF, share with attribution.
GIGXCHANGE Index — September 2026
GIGXCHANGE Index — August 2026
State of the Circuit 2026
GIGXCHANGE Index — July 2026
GIGXCHANGE Index — June 2026
GIGXCHANGE Index — May 2026
UK Musician Earnings 2026
GIGXCHANGE Index — April 2026
UK Live Music Yearbook 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — September 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — August 2026 State of the Circuit 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — July 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — June 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — May 2026 UK Musician Earnings 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — April 2026 UK Live Music Yearbook 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — September 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — August 2026 State of the Circuit 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — July 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — June 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — May 2026 UK Musician Earnings 2026 GIGXCHANGE Index — April 2026 UK Live Music Yearbook 2026
Last updated: 23 October 2026
About the Library
Most UK live-music data is paywalled, anecdotal or anchored to a single press-release number. The GigXchange Reports Library publishes the underlying data openly under CC BY 4.0 with permanent DOIs.
Who It's For
Working musicians pricing their next gig, agents and bookers benchmarking quotes, venue programmers sense-checking offers, and journalists or researchers needing one citable UK source.
What's Inside
Weighted booking-fee percentiles by city and band size, musician income distributions, venue-ecosystem data, season-by-season demand curves and year-on-year scene benchmarks.
How Often
The GX Index report drops monthly, themed special editions like Musician Earnings quarterly, the UK Live Music Yearbook annually. Underlying datasets refresh nightly.
Why Free
Better data → better booking decisions → healthier UK live-music economy. We built the GigXchange marketplace at 0–5% booker fee; these reports are how we give back to the scene that fills it.
Browse the Reports
Search by title, topic or date — pick a report to read it page-by-page in the viewer.
Every Report Backed by an Open Dataset
Each report links to the raw data behind it — mirrored across three open-research platforms. CC BY 4.0; cite GigXchange and use freely.
Recent Activity
Latest data refreshes, new mirrors, citation pickups, and what's on the roadmap.
Help Make the Data Better
Submit a real booking rate (anonymous, 60 seconds) to make the next report's percentiles sharper. Or sign up to the platform to book direct (0–5% booker fee) — every booking auto-feeds the Index.