
As we approach the end of January, things could be looking up for UK artists on the domestic charts.
Lola Young is on course for a second week at No.1 in the singles chart with Messy. If she manages it, that would equal the number of weeks new release singles by UK-only artists occupied the top spot in 2024 (Backbone by Chase & Status and Stormzy). Charli XCX also went to No.1 with Billie Eilish and Wham! reached the summit at Christmas.
Meanwhile, Central Cee is on course to make a chart impact with debut album Can’t Rush Greatness and multiple tracks from the record.
The BRIT Awards 2025 nominations also reveal a range of British talent including multiple nominations for Charli XCX, Dua Lipa, Ezra Collective, The Last Dinner Party and Myles Smith, as well as nods for Beabadoobee, Central Cee, English Teacher, Sam Fender, Michael Kiwanuka, Jade, Fred Again, Rachel Chinouriri, Chase & Status, Stormzy and Coldplay.
The debate about UK artists’ success in an evolving international ecosystem comes at a time when there are concerns about the regulation of AI.
“Strong copyright is the basis of growth,” BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE told Music Week. “This would help us support talent to succeed and would enable the creative and AI sectors to flourish together, whereas a copyright exception would weaken the UK’s copyright system and offer AI companies permission to take – for their own profit, and without authorisation or compensation – the product of UK musicians’ hard work, expertise, and investment.”
She added: “It would amount to a wholly unnecessary subsidy, worth billions of pounds, to overseas tech corporations at the expense of homegrown creators.”
Here, the BPI’s Dr Jo Twist discusses the absence of British No.1 singles last year, the opportunities for UK artists and investing in domestic talent…
How concerned should we be about the lack of UK No.1s and hits in 2024. How can domestic talent make a stronger impact and achieve chart breakthroughs after a difficult year?
“While it’s the case that UK artists are used to enjoying stronger years in the Official Charts, and we should absolutely be on our guard against this developing into a more pronounced pattern, we also have to remember the cyclical nature of our industry and the fact that some of our higher profile global artists have not been in full promo mode these past 12 months. There have been similar trends, at least in the Singles Charts, as recently as 2016 and 2020, so this is not new.
“And we know also just how much more competitive the global music economy is now, including here at home. Streaming has created many benefits, with more British artists commercially active and succeeding than ever. But it has also levelled the playing field globally and both enabled and emboldened new markets and their artists, including some with the active backing of their governments, such as in South Korea, who reportedly put in around $25 million annually to support their K-Pop industry.”
There was a wave of US stars in the charts too…
“It’s clearly also a moment of ascendancy for US pop right now, including with such breakthrough talents as Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, and of course there is the phenomenon that is Taylor Swift. All that said, there are British successes we can point to, not least Charli XCX, who has been one of the standout UK performers with her album Brat reaching No.1 and becoming a world-wide hit, earning Grammy and Mercury Prize nominations, with The BRITs still to come. In fact, Brat was one of a number of albums by solo British women or in groups to top the Official Albums Chart in 2024. These also included Prelude To Ecstasy, the debut by The Last Dinner Party, and new releases by Dua Lipa [Radical Optimism) and Beabadoobee (This Is How Tomorrow Moves).
“There were notable UK successes in the Official Singles Charts too, including by breakthrough artists such as Artemas, and the 2025 BRIT Rising Star Myles Smith. More than 20 UK artists topped the Official Albums Chart across the year, including D-Block Europe, James Arthur, Lewis Capaldi, Blossoms, Elbow, Idles, James, Kasabian, The Libertines, Shed Seven and Snow Patrol, David Gilmour, and The Cure, among others. And let’s not forget what a great year Coldplay had, arguably confirming their status as the world’s biggest band.”
There are encouraging signs with an exciting new and diverse generation of talent coming through
Dr Jo Twist
Are there any encouraging signs for UK breakthroughs? What are the challenges for new music from domestic acts cutting through?
“There are encouraging signs with an exciting new and diverse generation of talent coming through and bubbling under, including, of course, Myles Smith, Lola Young and English Teacher to name just a few. There are also artists who are not that far into their careers, who are really beginning to cut through now, such as Yard Act, The K’s, Declan McKenna, Jamie Webster, Griff, Flo, and Sea Girls, plus there has been a No.1 – and gold certification for the debut by The Last Dinner Party, and also a first No.1 for Beabadoobee with her This Is How Tomorrow Moves album.
“In terms of our global performance, there were positive signs also. Charli XCX’s Brat made No.3 on the Billboard 200 – her highest position in the US albums chart to date – as well as No.1 in Australia, Croatia and Ireland. Artemas made No.1 in Germany, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland, and reached No.12 on the US Hot 100. Dua Lipa topped the charts in the Netherlands, France, Portugal, and Spain. And Central Cee (feat. Lil Baby) got to No.18 on the US Hot 100 – the biggest US hit for a UK rapper since Tinie Tempah’s Written In The Stars. Coldplay’s Moon Music topped the Billboard 200, along with other markets, and they became the first British band to simultaneously top the UK and US album charts since The 1975 in February 2016.”
How are labels leading the charge with UK talent?
“We can be optimistic in that there is an absolute commitment by UK record labels to signing and developing emerging talent from across the UK and in supporting new British music. In the past five years, between 2018 and 2023, they have invested well over £2 billion in A&R and global marketing in UK-signed artists. This underscores just how crucial it is that our UK record labels are themselves supported by a business environment that enables them to invest in and nurture new talent. That means encouraging more music and creative arts education and uniting as an industry to move on from the streaming debate, which, whilst important to have had and which has seen a number of positive outcomes for creators, has undoubtedly also taken away some of our industry’s focus on growth and competing with other markets.
“It is also essential that our industry comes together, and fast, on generative AI, as the powerful global tech lobby clearly has done, so that we can press government as part of its consultation on AI. We want to ensure that the exciting potential of AI is realised with human artistry at its heart and with our world-leading rights framework in no way diminished or diluted as global tech is demanding, where generative AI is only made possible where it is fully licensed.”
Subscribers can read our 2024 UK recorded music market report here.