News & Blog

• A new report calculates that the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s economic value to Scotland was over £17m last year and it directly supports over 300 jobs.
• Each £1 the RSNO receives from the Scottish Government leverages an additional £2 in income and generates £4.10 in economic benefits plus wellbeing benefits valued at £2.80.
• The study suggests if funding were to increase by £3 million per year, it would restore real-term funding cuts and could generate economic gains to Scotland worth an additional £13.9 million.
• The report shows that the RSNO contributes 729 Wellbeing-adjusted Life Years (WELLBYs), valued at £11.6 million.

The value of Scotland’s only full-time, salaried national orchestra to the country goes far beyond its world-leading musical programme, a new economic impact study has revealed.

The report calculates that the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) directly created £17.2m of value for the Scottish economy in 2024-25 as well as supporting 300 jobs and 500 freelancers. A further £3.4m of additional and potential value and 110 jobs in tourism and hospitality potentially comes from RSNO events.

The study, the first of its kind commissioned by the organisation to examine the value of the orchestra, its educational programme and commercial activity, reports that almost 80% of its supplier spend of £4.4m each year is in Scotland.

And it suggests that the RSNO is able to leverage significant uplift in value from every £1 it receives in funding from the Government.

The orchestra’s executive is warning that risks posed by ongoing funding challenges to the sector could threaten its ability to continue much of the wider work which contributes to that economic impact and, if lost, would be difficult to restart.

The comprehensive study, by BiGGAR Economics, looked at the work of the orchestra, its community and schools’ programmes as well as successful commercial activity such as its contribution to Scottish Digital Arts (SDA).

The RSNO has been a key part of Scotland’s cultural life since 1891 and is unique in that it is Scotland’s only full-time, salaried orchestra.

Beyond its core musical programme at home and abroad, the RSNO has wide-reaching community and schools’ engagement activities and its world-renowned studio in Glasgow has been used for recording many Hollywood and video games soundtracks.

Income remains strong but continued pressure on funding

Over the last decade as core funding has fallen in real terms, the RSNO has been successful at increasing income through commercial activity.

BiGGAR Economics was commissioned by the RSNO to evaluate its economic and social impact to highlight the RSNO’s contribution to Scotland and help support discussions around national investment in arts and culture.

In 2024/25, the study shows that the RSNO generated £17.2million of Gross Value Added (GVA) for Scotland and supported 300 jobs. It also supported around 500 freelancers. This value arose from expenditure relating to concerts, staff wages, and musicians’ recording activity for film, television, and video games.

An additional, potential £3.4million of GVA and 110 jobs are supported in the tourism and hospitality economy where RSNO events and performances are held.

Income for the RSNO totalled £12.9 million last year. The RSNO received £4.2m in grants from the Scottish Government which is less than its annual salary costs. Funding has reduced over the last decade in real terms and, while the organisation has successfully diversified to build new income streams, it is warning that without help it cannot sustain the current level.

Each £1 the RSNO receives from the Scottish Government leverages an additional £2 in income and generates £4.10 in GVA plus wellbeing benefits valued at £2.80.

Gregor Stewart, RSNO Chair, said: ‘We have always known our work helps promote Scotland’s cultural success, but this study proves the significant financial benefits to the economy of Scotland as a whole.

‘The RSNO is a hugely important business supporting jobs in Glasgow and all over Scotland. We have successfully increased our commercial income by, for example, building a world-class studio here which in a hugely competitive environment, attracts the makers of Hollywood blockbusters.

‘We are only successful in doing that because the talented musicians we employ full-time are world-leading too and in a fiercely competitive environment, we need funding to be able to keep attracting them to Scotland.’

Wellbeing score adds further value to the RSNO’s impact

The report also shows that the RSNO enhances the wellbeing of the people whose lives it touches, including its live and digital audiences, staff and others. This contribution amounts to 729 Wellbeing-Adjusted Life Years (WELLBYs), valued at £11.6 million. WELLBYs are used by academics across the world to define wellbeing and happiness.

When adding wellbeing benefits, the total of leveraged valued is £6.90 for every £1 of Government funding.

A key part of the RSNO is its educational work which is undertaken by members of the orchestra. Its Schools Programme aims to connect every Scottish child with their national orchestra and, since 2016, has reached more than 220,000 young people across the country.

The RSNO partners with Charanga, a leading online music education platform used by tens of thousands of teachers and millions of students globally, and across Scotland in 2024, RSNO material was accessed for classroom viewing 7,586 times.

Alistair Mackie, RSNO Chief Executive said: ‘We are enormously proud of the education work we do through the likes of Charanga, but the reality is we will struggle to maintain these levels of activity without proper support.

‘Attracting and retaining world-class musicians who help showcase Scotland to the world is at the core of what we are about, but it also gives us the ability to fulfil these programmes. The current financial environment makes that a recurring challenge.

‘This report shows the true wider value of the RSNO to Scotland and our success, such as our recent European tour, enhances Scotland’s cultural reputation abroad. The funding the RSNO receives is an investment generating genuine economic value for Scotland. With more, we could significantly increase our economic value. Equally any real terms reduction such as a standstill budget, could see that value fall.’

The report looked at what could happen if the RSNO were to revert to a freelance model of employment to manage the funding constraint and predicted total economic impact would fall by 6% and WELLBYs would decrease by 19%.

‘The danger of no longer supporting salaried jobs in the arts is a reduction of Scotland’s talent pool and, within the RSNO, there would be both a loss in the quality and quantity of performances and reduced community engagement,’ said Mr Mackie.

Alternatively, additional funding of £3 million would restore real-term funding cuts and could generate economic gains to Scotland worth an additional £13.9 million GVA and wellbeing gains worth £10.3 million, which would enable the RSNO to build capacity to deliver more high-quality performances, record soundtracks, and deliver on its community responsibilities.

The report was highlighted at a reception in the Scottish Parliament hosted by Michelle Thompson MSP on Thursday 6 November. The full report can be accessed here: rsno.org.uk/our-impact/

This report has been made possible with support from Scottish Enterprise.