Adele, Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles are among the UK music acts to have achieved huge global prominence in recent years.
But after a period of success it has emerged that, for the first time in more than twenty years, there are no British performers in the worldwide top 10 of top selling albums or singles.
The new 2024 figures compare with two years ago when UK artists took seven of the 20 spots in the singles and albums lists for the year.
The new figures, revealed by the BBC, are published by global music industry organisation the IFPI.
Taylor Swift was first on the global bestselling albums top ten, with her hit release The Tortured Poets Department, followed by Billie Eilish‘s Hit Me Hard and Soft and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet.
The number one single globally was US act Benson Boone’s hit Beautiful Things, followed by Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso and Teddy Swims’ Lose Control.
Popular releases by Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Charlie XCX failed to break into these top ten lists.
Taylor Swift secured top spot on the global bestselling albums top ten with her popular release The Tortured Poets Department
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, released on May 17, was the runner up on the global bestselling albums top ten
Sabrina Carpenter also had a successful year, with her Short n’ Sweet album the third bestselling of the year
American artist Benson Boone topped the bestselling singles table with his hit song Beautiful Things
Coldplay were one of a host of British hitmakers who failed to break into either top ten
For the first time in more than twenty years, there are no British performers in the worldwide top 10 of top selling albums or singles
The British act who was in the highest position was Artemas, a singer and producer, who has the 15th most successful single with I Like The Way You Kiss Me.
According to the report, prior to the new figures, UK performers had been present every year in either one or both of the top single or album lists, going back to at least 2003.
It comes after it emerged there were also no homegrown performers in the domestic top ten singles list for 2024.
The growth of music from South Korea and Latin America, in the age of streaming, is also likely to have impacted on British success. South Korean boybands accounted for four of the top ten selling albums on the global list.
Jo Twist, chief executive of the BPI, which represents the UK’s recorded music industry, told the BBC: ‘British artists may have enjoyed stronger years on the international stage, which perhaps isn’t surprising given some of our biggest names were not in cycle in 2024.
‘There was still plenty to be excited about, as a new generation announced itself – not least Charli XCX, who enjoyed a breakthrough year globally, alongside international chart success for emerging artists such as Jordan Adetunji, Artemas and Good Neighbours, while the likes of Lola Young and Myles Smith are now rapidly building an international following.’
Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us featured on the top selling songs of the year globally, a controversial song born out of his feud with Canadian superstar Drake
SZA’s 2022 album SOS featured at number five on the year’s top selling albums. She is set to embark on a world tour with Kendrick Lamar in 2025, including a number of shows in the UK
Dua Lipa, however, failed to secure a spot on either list in a year where she released her third studio album Radical Optimism
She added: ‘Streaming has created many benefits, enabling more artists to succeed, but has also levelled the playing field for music markets around the world, opening up more challenges to the UK.’
Billboard’s UK editor Thomas Smith said it was too early to call it an ‘existential threat’ but admitted ‘we’re probably not far off’.
He told BBC News: ‘It’s concerning that it’s going down – it feels like quite rapidly.’ But he added these things were ‘cyclical’.
