The BPI has found that UK artists were behind all of the top 10 singles of the year in 2022, for the first time since the industry began publishing year-end results more than 50 years ago.
Based on Official Charts Company data, the analysis found that domestics artists either performed or were featured on all ten of the year’s highest-selling singles, led by Harry Styles’ As It Was. Hits by Calum Scott, Cat Burns, Ed Sheeran, Glass Animals, Kate Bush, LF System and Sam Fender also made the list.
Elsewhere on the end-of-year list, UK artists were behind 15 of the year’s Top 20 singles and close to 60 (58%) of 2022’s Top 100. According to the BPI, the results highlight the extent to which streaming is enabling British talent from a range of backgrounds and genres to thrive.
The results came as UK recorded music consumption increased for the eighth consecutive year, with a landmark of more than 150 billion audio streams in one calendar year surpassed for the first time. In total, 166.1 million albums or their equivalent were streamed or purchased across all formats in 2022. Overall, Streaming Equivalent Albums – calculated by adding up all of the audio song streams from an album, with 1,250 premium streams or 3,750 free streams from the same album equivalent to 1 album unit – made up a record 86.1% of the market. This was more than double the volume achieved in 2017, when the market had 68.1 billion audio streams.
Looking towards physical sales, over 11.6 million CDs and 5.5 million vinyl LPs were purchased across 2022, as well as 195,000 cassettes. On the digital front, there were 3.7 million album downloads last year.
Speaking on the report, BPI Chair YolanDa Brown says, 'It’s wonderful to see so many exciting new artists breaking through to thrive alongside more established UK artists – leading the next wave of British talent to global success thanks to the compelling mix of their creativity and artistry, the ever expanding opportunities afforded by streaming and the support of their record labels. I congratulate British artists and their teams on another year of brilliant success.'
