Half of UK recording studios fear closure within a year as business rates bite

A Music Producers Guild study warns roughly half of Britain's commercial studios are weighing closure within 12 months, with not a single one able to pass the soaring costs on to clients.

The rooms where Britain's records actually get made are quietly going dark. A Music Producers Guild study, cited by UK Music, found around half of the country's commercial recording studios are considering shutting up shop within the next year as business rates climb. The figure that should worry anyone who cares about live music down the line: 100% of those surveyed said they simply cannot pass the rises on to clients.

The root of it is a quirk of how studios get classed. They're rated like office space, which lobs them into higher brackets and locks them out of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief scheme — the roughly 40% discount that pubs, venues and shops lean on. Studio rates were reported to have jumped about 25%, and there's nowhere to put that cost.

The MPG and UK Music have launched a campaign and petition pushing ministers to fold studios into the RHL relief scheme. The pressure is landing: in early 2026 the House of Lords called for rate relief for UK music studios, and the industry has warned the government that studios and grassroots venues alike face closure without a rethink.

It's the familiar squeeze — the infrastructure that feeds the stage is the bit nobody sees until it's gone. Lose the studios and you don't just lose buildings; you lose the cheap, available rooms where the next headliners learn to make something worth touring.