Cost of buying CDs 'up a fifth since Brexit vote'

The cost of buying CDs in Britain has increased by around a fifth since the Brexit vote, a record labels director said.

Most are made in Germany and the plummeting value of the pound against the euro has caused the dramatic price inflation, Ian Moss said. He warned introducing tariffs following a hard Brexit would create other costs for music producers.

Musicians already lead a hand-to-mouth existence and could be £4,000 out of pocket following the June 23 leave vote, a conference in Belfast was separately told.

Mr Moss said: "There are serious problems along the way but the fundamentals are that the British are really good at making music and that should not change."

He said most CDs and vinyl were produced in continental Europe, particularly Germany.

The director of public affairs at the British Recorded Music Industry trade body added that it was costing around 20% more to manufacture physical music and the industry would have to consider establishing plants in Britain instead.

He added: "This is not going to be fall off a cliff catastrophic. We have an incredibly unique cultural genius in the way that we create music and plays ... that the world has always wanted to see and listen to.

"It is in European countries' interests to do a deal in music/culture. But we will get to the fans no matter what."

2015 was a stellar year for British music as UK artists achieved a record 17% global share - around one in every six albums sold worldwide.

Physical sales are still worth just under half of the total, £309 million during the 12 months to June 2016. Audio streaming is the real growth area.

And Mr Moss said the real difficulties posed by Brexit related to the movement of artists between Britain and Europe and the potential imposition of a work permit regime.

"We don't want a situation where it is really difficult to take UK session musicians on an EU tour."

Mr Moss appeared at a conference as part of the Sound of Belfast 2016 festival.