In 2024, the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) reported that women broke records on the UK charts. Female pop artists dominated the singles chart for a total of 34 weeks, surpassing any previous record. Sabrina Carpenter played a significant role in this success, with her hits Espresso, Taste, and Please, Please, Please topping the charts for 21 of those weeks.
The UK charts’ biggest selling albums were also dominated by women, with Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department taking first place. Her break-up album sold over 783,000 copies by the end of the year, earning Swift the accolade of selling more albums than any other artist in a calendar year since Ed Sheeran’s ÷ sold 2.7 million copies in 2017. Three of Swift’s other albums, including 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Lover, and Folklore, were also among the year’s 20 biggest titles.
Charli XCX’s Brat, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet, and Chappell Roan’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess also featured in the year-end top 20 album charts, and all four were nominated for album of the year at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
The BPI acknowledged that the availability of millions of songs at the touch of a button makes it harder for British musicians to compete globally. For the first time since records began in 1970, the UK failed to feature in the year’s top 10 best-selling songs list. Instead, the chart was dominated by US singer-songwriters, including Noah Kahan, Benson Boone, and Sabrina Carpenter, with none of the top 10 singles by a British artist. The biggest-selling song by a Brit came twelfth, with Myles Smith’s folk-pop stomper Stargazing.
BPI Chief Executive Dr Jo Twist acknowledged it was becoming “much harder” for British musicians to cut through in a “hyper-competitive global music economy” but remained optimistic. She believes that music is cyclical and that major UK artists who have not been active could return in 2025 with new material. She also urged the UK to protect and support its own music industry, particularly as emerging music superpowers like Latin America and South Korea often receive government backing.
The BPI noted that proposed changes to the UK’s copyright law could enable international tech giants to train AI models on artists’ work without payment or permission and voiced concerns about this development. They believe that the UK remains a world music power, but this status cannot be taken for granted, stressing the importance of a supportive policy environment that puts the focus on human artistry and enables continued investment in the next generation of British talent
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