CHART ANALYSIS: 2012 has been a busy year for British music, with the Olympics and Jubilee planting some of our best loved songwriters and performers firmly back in the national consciousness. But British music has also enjoyed a US chart resurgence this year. Adele and One Direction are the obvious headliners, but a number of other UK acts are making waves across the pond.
What’s more, PRS for Music announced on Friday that royalty income from British music abroad has more than doubled in the last decade, citing recent successes in the US as an encouraging new development.
Mumford & Sons are currently leading the charge with second album Babel, which topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and achieved the greatest first week sales of any album released in 2012. It follows up the huge success of debut Sigh No More, which sold 2.5 million in the States alone.
Meanwhile Ellie Goulding’s single Lights is one of the surprise successes of the year. Originally appearing on her 2010 album of the same name, the track recently peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, going on to sell more than three million downloads thanks to heavy rotation on US radio – an interesting affair considering it peaked at number 49 back home in the UK last year.
Alex Clare is another UK act enjoying American Top 10 action with his track Too Close. Originally released in the UK last year, it gained exposure in 2012 after use in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 adverts. The end result has been a million-seller in the States as well as a UK Top 5 hit and German number one.
Cher Lloyd and Calvin Harris have both recently scored US Top 20 hits whilst September saw 21 by Adele finally leave Billboard’s Top 10 albums after selling more than nine million copies. Her new single Skyfall, co-written by Paul Epworth, has topped both the UK and US iTunes charts.
The UK and US do seem to be sharing the same taste in massive pop hits more than ever this year, as Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know, Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe and Fun’s We Are Young have all been transatlantic number ones. Internet sensation PSY can also not be ignored with single Gangnam Style reaching number one in the UK and number two in the States. Whether this heralds the beginning of a global breakout of acts from South Korea’s flourishing K-Pop scene remains to be seen.
Looking to the UK album chart as well as Mumford & Sons, we have seen new offerings from Rita Ora, The Vaccines, The xx, The Killers and most recently Muse all soaring to the top spot in recent weeks.
Words: Russell Iliffe, PRS for Music
What’s more, PRS for Music announced on Friday that royalty income from British music abroad has more than doubled in the last decade, citing recent successes in the US as an encouraging new development.
Mumford & Sons are currently leading the charge with second album Babel, which topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and achieved the greatest first week sales of any album released in 2012. It follows up the huge success of debut Sigh No More, which sold 2.5 million in the States alone.
Meanwhile Ellie Goulding’s single Lights is one of the surprise successes of the year. Originally appearing on her 2010 album of the same name, the track recently peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, going on to sell more than three million downloads thanks to heavy rotation on US radio – an interesting affair considering it peaked at number 49 back home in the UK last year.
Alex Clare is another UK act enjoying American Top 10 action with his track Too Close. Originally released in the UK last year, it gained exposure in 2012 after use in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 adverts. The end result has been a million-seller in the States as well as a UK Top 5 hit and German number one.
Cher Lloyd and Calvin Harris have both recently scored US Top 20 hits whilst September saw 21 by Adele finally leave Billboard’s Top 10 albums after selling more than nine million copies. Her new single Skyfall, co-written by Paul Epworth, has topped both the UK and US iTunes charts.
The UK and US do seem to be sharing the same taste in massive pop hits more than ever this year, as Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know, Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe and Fun’s We Are Young have all been transatlantic number ones. Internet sensation PSY can also not be ignored with single Gangnam Style reaching number one in the UK and number two in the States. Whether this heralds the beginning of a global breakout of acts from South Korea’s flourishing K-Pop scene remains to be seen.
Looking to the UK album chart as well as Mumford & Sons, we have seen new offerings from Rita Ora, The Vaccines, The xx, The Killers and most recently Muse all soaring to the top spot in recent weeks.
Words: Russell Iliffe, PRS for Music
