Glasgow Inspires Most Songs
PRS for Music chart sees Scottish City named in more song titles than any other
Cities and towns have been used as a trigger and inspiration for memorable songs for centuries, from Christmas carols, traditional folk songs to rock songs and it seems that some cities have been more influential than others.
But in a surprise result it is the famous Scottish city of Glasgow which has topped the PRS for Music chart with the most number of songs crediting the city name within the song title.
PRS for Music took the top 30 towns and cities throughout the UK by population (excluding London) to analyse the data using its extensive database.
Number |
City | Amount of Songs |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Glasgow |
119 |
2 |
Edinburgh |
95 |
3 |
Birmingham |
89 |
4 |
Liverpool |
67 |
5 |
Manchester |
63 |
6 |
Belfast |
60 |
7 |
York |
59 |
8 |
Brighton |
54 |
9 |
Bristol |
49 |
10 |
Newcastle |
31 |
Notably, the Scottish capital city, Edinburgh comes in a close second, showing that the Scottish highland spirit really can be inspiration to music creators. Some of the classic Glasgow tunes include ‘I Belong to Glasgow’ written by Will Fyfe, reputedly after helping a drunk who said "The way I feel tonight is that Glasgow belongs to me”.
Songwriters feed off their inspiration and this could be anything from a feeling or an object or place. It seems that a number of songwriters have taken Glasgow into their hearts and felt it was right to produce a piece of work about their feelings towards the city. It’s great to see two Scottish cities, both Glasgow and Edinburgh, having such an effect on our members!
5 Glasgow Inspired Tracks
- I Belong To Glasgow, written by Will Fyfe
- Streets of Glasgow, written by Alastair Caplin
- The Glasgow I Below To, written by Adam McNaughtan
- Let Glasgow Flourish, written by John Bell
- I’ve Been To Glasgow, written by Mark Rogers
About PRS for Music
Here for music since 1914, PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 175,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers. Redefining the global standard for music royalties, PRS for Music ensures songwriters and composers are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public.
For 110 years it has grown and protected the rights of the music creator community, paying out royalties with more accuracy, transparency and speed. In 2023, PRS for Music paid out £943.6m in royalties and collected a record £1.08 billion in revenues. prsformusic.com
