After years of warning of menace to grassroots and artist’s viability, UK acts have dropped out of world best-sellers chart

UK acts did not make it into the worldwide annual charts of the 12 months’s prime 10 bestselling singles or albums in 2024.

• Learn Extra: The 50 Greatest Albums Of 2024

Based on figures from the Worldwide Federation of the Phonographic Trade (IFPI) by way of BBC Information, no homegrown artist featured on both record final 12 months after Benson Boone claimed the Quantity One tune with ‘Lovely Issues’ and Taylor Swift‘s ‘The Tortured Poets Division‘ was the world’s bestselling album.

Albums by Coldplay, Charli XCX and Dua Lipa didn’t make both record. The very best ranked artist was Artemas who got here in fifteenth with ‘I Like The Approach You Kiss Me’ on the worldwide finest promoting singles record.

Each lists have been primarily dominated by US acts together with Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Kendrick Lamar.

Beforehand, UK acts appeared in a single or each of the highest 10 lists yearly since 2003.

It comes after David Martin of the Featured Artists Coalition just lately pointed to Spotify’s most globally streamed artists of 2024, saying that the growing lack of UK names was an indication of the expertise pipeline already struggling – and never for a scarcity of expertise.

“I’m not saying that is doomsday, it’s fixable however this ought to be the canary down the mine to the UK music trade,” he instructed NME. “What’s the complete ecosystem capable of do collectively to stimulate exercise? Giant arenas and promoters have to have that foresight. You’d count on them to.

“We must always all be very involved. The UK’s share of the worldwide music market has lowered from 17 per cent to 10 per cent within the final seven years. What number of UK artists topped the general Official Charts final 12 months? These ought to be purple flags for the trade. In order for you venues to do effectively, be sure to’ve received performances in them and that you simply’re stimulating new audiences. Would you like promoters to do effectively? Be certain there’s a requirement by permitting artists to construct new fanbases.”

Martin added that the UK wanted to urgently deal with points round cash comprised of streaming, the grassroots levy, the affect of Brexit on touring and the regulation of AI.

“Proper now, we’d like development and simple wins,” he added. “I believe the UK is enormously underachieving towards its potential. I do know the demand that’s on the market and the standard of artists we’ve got. Anyone that claims ‘There’s no good music on the market anymore’ is frankly filled with shit. There’s a lot good music on the market, it’s simply very troublesome for it to chop via and it’s not very effectively supported within the UK.”

It comes after the federal government just lately backed a name for a levy on tickets to gigs at area degree and above – adopting a ‘Premier League mannequin’ with the highest tiers of the reside trade paying again into the ecosystem to maintain the expertise pipeline flowing, as they do in soccer.

It’s hoped that the foremost corporations of the reside trade will take it upon themselves to behave on a voluntary levy, with a deadline for significant selections set for March earlier than the federal government steps again in to contemplate making it necessary by legislation.

As for gig areas, the Music Venue Belief – who just lately reported the “full collapse of touring” throughout the UK – have already been gifted ticket levy donations from the likes of Coldplay, Sam Fender and Katy Perry from their upcoming area and stadium excursions. This additionally comes at a time when MVT’s annual report for 2024 confirmed that one venue was misplaced each two weeks final 12 months, with practically 44 per cent of their venues operating at a loss and a close to 20 per cent spike in venues in want of emergency assist on the point of closure.

With the authorities’s imposed enterprise charges and the VAT on tickets creating “crippling obstacles”, and the time taken for the levy to kick into motion, Music Venue Belief CEO Mark Davyd stated that UK venues “received’t be out of the woods in 2025”.

“For 2026, I’d go as far to say that we will see a brighter future for venues, artists and the touring circuit,” he said. “This 12 months will nonetheless be exhausting, however because of the generosity of Coldplay, Sam Fender, Katy Perry, Enter Shikari, Frank Turner, Mr Scruff, Alien Ant Farm, there can be some monetary help out there and we’re going to attempt to deploy that in a approach that signifies that as many venues as potential could make it via 2025 into the interval after we count on this levy to begin to make an actual distinction to venues, artists and promoters.”

Davyd added: “2025 goes to be a troublesome 12 months and there’s no level in pretending in any other case, however it’s going down in an environment the place all people understands the issues and try their finest to resolve them.”

The worldwide finest promoting albums of 2024 have been: