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Posted by: ben08 28th March 2023, 12:52 PM

A new music award is being launched for artists that get over a billion streams in the UK.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the company that runs the BRIT Awards, the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company, has announced the new award: the BRIT Billion.

Part of the BPI’s role is to award the sale certifications for music in the UK. Whenever you hear about an album being certified platinum, gold or silver in the UK, it’s a BPI Certification. Since the advent of streaming, keeping track of a song’s sales and popularity has become harder. Songs can become some of the most recognised tracks of a year without anywhere near the same numbers when it comes to physical sales.

Recognising this shift, BPI introduced steaming media to single releases in 2014 and for album release certifications in 2015. BPI Certified was also rebranded as BRIT Certified Awards in 2018.

The current requirements for BRIT Certification for a single in units shifted are 200,000 for silver, 400,000 for gold, 600,000 for platinum, and a multiple of 600,000 for multi-platinum. Now, BPI will recognise the BRIT Billion award for artists who reach one billion career UK streams.

It is expected to launch in Spring 2023, when the first wave of recipient artists will be announced. The award is the first from BPI to recognise the achievements of artists across their entire career. The BRIT Billion total will include tracks the artist is the principal performer or featured artist on.

“With total weekly audio streams in the UK now regularly exceeding the three billion mark, it seems an appropriate moment to recognise exceptional artist achievement through streaming, as the primary currency for recorded music,” says Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize.

“This new blue-riband award will sit alongside our existing Certified Awards, giving artists and their label and management teams the special opportunity to celebrate outstanding UK career success in streaming, and the valued contribution they have made to British music,” Taylor continues.



The BRIT Billion award is part of the BPI’s 50th anniversary celebrations. BPI was established in April 1973 and has been an indispensable part of the UK’s music industry ever since.

While many artists have songs that have received over a billion streams globally, the data for artists with a billion streams from the UK is less known. Last year, the UK music industry saw 147 billion streams with 159.3 million equivalent albums sold according to BPI.

In 2021 alone, Dua Lipa had over 500 million streams from the UK, while Sam Fender had 270 million. Artists likely to receive the BRIT Billion award include its biggest stars like Ed Sheeran and Adele.



So which artists do we expect to receive this new award?

Will the first award be made this Saturday, the 1st of April?

If they announce the total career streams, will Drake or Ed Sheeran top the list?

Will there be a new on-line searchable database, or will awards be added to the existing web site?

Posted by: GraceAJX 28th March 2023, 12:53 PM

There's bound to be quite a few artists no? Especially given it's including features. All of the big names which spring to mind will undoubtedly receive it.

Posted by: ben08 28th March 2023, 12:57 PM

Could that be 100 artists on the list?

Hope they give actual numbers.

Posted by: Frenchie 28th March 2023, 01:07 PM

I like that they’re rewarding streaming as getting a platinum single nowadays isn’t easy. Excited to see the list of who’s getting it.

Posted by: Jessie Where 28th March 2023, 01:24 PM

Isn't it? It feels like it's easier than ever. I'd say it's more true of platinum albums though.

Posted by: ChrisJK 28th March 2023, 01:36 PM

In the Friday Chart Show thread, I'm often surprised how many songs have *Millionaire* next to them, so I think it's easier to get over 600,000 chart sales these days.

I think a lot of artists will get this award if it's career streams in the UK. Ed, Adele, Taylor, Drake spring to mind.

Posted by: ben08 28th March 2023, 01:39 PM

Beatles, Queen, Elvis?

Posted by: Frenchie 28th March 2023, 01:54 PM

It seems that the songs that clog up the top 40 for months on end get their quicker but overall the numbers are lower. Last year only 16 songs were certified platinum whereas five years ago in 2017 within just the year 41 we’re certified platinum.

Posted by: Dobbo. 28th March 2023, 02:06 PM

Yes there's plenty that don't even go top 40 that have the Millionaire tag, like Calum Scott's You Are The Reason.

Posted by: Addy! 28th March 2023, 04:13 PM

Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris, Adele are probably amongst streaming era artists to receive that award!!!

Posted by: braindeadpj 28th March 2023, 05:03 PM

A billion streams does seem a little low assuming they mean the currently accepted 1,000 million and not the UK's historical 1 million million definition. That's only around 2,850,000 sale units (for singles) assuming a ratio of around 1:350 (for 50% premium and 50% freemium). There'll probably be 100s of artists.... including the Killers (just for Mr Brightside)

Posted by: jimwatts 28th March 2023, 05:42 PM

Actually, a 50/50 split of premium and free streams would give an average stream value of 1/171 of a sale, i.e. (1/100 + 1/600) / 2

I think it's more like 3 premium streams for every 2 free streams, so 1/150 of a sale on average - meaning 1 billion streams would equate
to total sale units of circa 6.67 million.

Posted by: braindeadpj 28th March 2023, 07:24 PM

My bad, you're right. 1200 streams split 50:50 would give 6 and 1 sale so 7/1200 which is approx. 1/171 and not just the midpoint between 1/100 and 1/600. So at 6.67 million that would reduce the numbers as it's not as low as I thought. The Killers may still make it as Mr Brightside would get them almost halfway there.... Of course if they count album streams then its 1 million sales..... Will they count both? Or will they just count raw streams?
Perhaps 'only' 30 to 50 artists reaching it?

Posted by: ben08 28th March 2023, 08:58 PM

In official UK statistics the term is now used to denote 1 thousand million – 1,000,000,000.

You can see this if you look closely at the picture of the award I included (9 zeros).

Posted by: Rough_edges 28th March 2023, 10:28 PM

Ellie will be a part of this aswell already

Posted by: Charis 28th March 2023, 11:02 PM

I think even Westlife have 1 billion streams in the UK..

Posted by: Brer 29th March 2023, 06:34 PM

I don't think I've ever seen the word 'billion' actually used to mean 1 million million, other than people pointing out that was its historical definition in the UK - maybe it's still used in some niche contexts where it wouldn't cause confusion but would think 99.9% of the time it's safe to assume 'billion' means 1,000,000,000.

Aside though, doesn't look like there are any artists that are even remotely close to a "British" billion (aka 1,000 billion / 1 trillion) career streams worldwide let alone in the UK. According to https://chartmasters.org/most-streamed-artists-ever-on-spotify/ (not sure how accurate this is but it'd need to be out by an order of magnitude to make any difference to my overall point) Drake is #1 with a career total of 56.8 billion Spotify streams worldwide as lead artist and another 20.5 billion as a feature. So that's not even 10% of the way there! Ofc a bit closer when factoring in other streaming services but only to maybe 20% at a push?

Posted by: ben08 31st March 2023, 06:26 PM

From Music Week.

Sheeran has had at least one song in the Top 75 for the last 470 weeks, and has amassed staggering career track consumption of 91,688,788 units - including 252,368 in the last week - far in excess of any other artist.

How many streams in that total?

Likely to get this new award.

Posted by: Eric_Blob 31st March 2023, 07:13 PM

I was actually taught in junior school that it was a million million. Thinking back to what school I was in, this must've been between 1999 and 2001. So maybe around that time it was still in use, although it's possible that it was just my one particular teacher. I remember we were taught it the other way around, that a billion is really a million million but that some foreigners only mean 1,000 million when they say it. By the time I was in senior school we were told to always assume it's 1,000 million.

I was actually quite reluctant to use the new definition of a billion because I thought the one I was originally taught was more logical.

Posted by: chartjack2 31st March 2023, 07:49 PM

A billion hasn’t been a million million in the UK officially since 1974 when Denis Healy as Chancellor adopted the US system.

Posted by: No Sleeep 31st March 2023, 08:39 PM

That’s the first I’ve heard of any other kind of billion

It’s impossible to calculate how many streams an artist has in a specific country right?

Posted by: chartjack2 31st March 2023, 09:10 PM

Well the OCC make that calculation every week, so I assume they have the data

Posted by: No Sleeep 31st March 2023, 09:11 PM

Oh I’m sure they do but there’s no way for us to work it out so I have no idea what to expect

Posted by: GTH 31st March 2023, 09:59 PM

I guess that’s down to the shift from pure sales and a one off transaction to ongoing general consumption. The immediate sales might not look so good compared to when downloads were doing much better, but tracks are getting a longer life outside the chart with regular streaming. The weighting brought in at that point has definitely impacted as has been noted. Lifetime sales now look much healthier in comparison.

Will be interesting to see the list when announced, more so with the legacy acts than Ed, Adele, Taylor etc.

Posted by: Popchartfreak 1st April 2023, 09:51 AM

as the charts are basically streaming charts it should be fairly predictable to anyone that follows the charts I would imagine - unless chart-gathering data is wildly inaccurate Just guessing...

1. Ed Sheeran
2. Drake
3. Adele
4. everyone else?

Posted by: GraceAJX 1st April 2023, 10:09 AM

Yeah i've never heard of this other billion definition either and, as someone mentioned, nobody would come close to 1 trillion streams, even globally.

Posted by: ben08 1st April 2023, 11:45 AM

Happy birthday BPI, 50 years old today.




No sign of that billionaires list yet. It was promised for the "spring". Coming soon.

Posted by: No Sleeep 1st April 2023, 05:25 PM

Well for pre-streaming artists, which the vast majority of my favourite artists are, it’s kind of impossible to know who would even come close. I wouldn’t think Britney would be that close to a billion in the UK but when you factor in YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon and whatever else who knows?

Posted by: Frenchie 3rd May 2023, 05:50 PM

The first 13 recipients are being announced tomorrow!

Posted by: SineFromAbove 3rd May 2023, 08:06 PM

Lady Gaga has 1B streams based on the reported streams here:

https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/lady-gagas-top-40-biggest-songs-on-the-official-uk-chart__29864/

Shallow: 336M
Poker Face: 83M
Bad Romance: 84M
Just Dance: 72M
Rain on Me: 155M
Telephone: 58M
Born This Way: 52M
Always Remember Us This Way: 118M
Paparazzi: 39M
The Edge of Glory: 34M

TOTAL: 1.031B

Posted by: No Sleeep 4th May 2023, 01:32 AM

https://www.musicweek.com/talent/read/bpi-reveals-first-first-wave-of-brit-billion-artists/087835

Mariah!!!

Posted by: ___∆___ 4th May 2023, 07:08 AM

Rita Ora and Raye getting the award before Gaga *.*

Posted by: Jessie Where 4th May 2023, 07:12 AM

Rita Ora seems odd considering she has what seemed like a rather brief phase of success during the streaming era.

Posted by: sammy01 4th May 2023, 07:16 AM

If Raye and Rita Ora already have it then it is a pointless award tbh. The bar is very low seemingly and there must be 100s of artists who qualify.

Posted by: Frenchie 4th May 2023, 07:18 AM

Some of those names surprise me but maybe all you need is a bunch of medium hits that will stream continuously over time.

Posted by: tommie 4th May 2023, 07:20 AM

Yup, but Raye is a current media darling and Rita Ora is about to launch her album.

This award is already a joke, no surprise.

Posted by: Yousee 4th May 2023, 07:21 AM

Joke award. Literally any artiste that has had some UK success will make the list!

Posted by: JulianT 4th May 2023, 07:24 AM

I am quite surprised Raye has made it to a billion streams already but I guess she has had quite a few dance features over the years that have been pretty big.

Posted by: Frenchie 4th May 2023, 07:27 AM

I find Aj Tracey and Headie One more surprising! I wouldn’t of thought they were the type of acts to get lots of streams over time.

Posted by: Dante77 4th May 2023, 08:08 AM

I find this pointless and a total gimmick, just another marketing ploy, and one based on metrics that are easy to manipulate, fake and quantify….

Posted by: Sour Candy 4th May 2023, 09:59 AM

Where's the list of these 13 artists?

Posted by: Frenchie 4th May 2023, 10:17 AM

https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/lewis-capaldi-mariah-carey-and-more-honoured-with-new-brit-billion-award__39180/

ABBA
Mariah Carey
Whitney Houston
Coldplay
Aj Tracey
Headie One
Rita Ora
Raye
Lewis Capaldi
Anne-Marie
George Ezra
Sam Smith
Ellie Goulding

Posted by: Sour Candy 4th May 2023, 10:26 AM

Thanks!

Posted by: spiceboy 4th May 2023, 10:38 AM

Lol what a load of nonsense there must be hundreds of artists with over 1 billion streams if some of these have achieved it. Why choose just thirteen, and Rita Ora and Raye... come on!?

Posted by: Jessie Where 4th May 2023, 10:40 AM

So Anne-Marie and Rita Ora honestly have more than Do a Lipa?

Posted by: Rough_edges 4th May 2023, 10:46 AM

Very confused as to how Raye and Rita Ora are on this list especially Raye

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 4th May 2023, 10:47 AM

Yeah, I can think of loads of other UK artists who have 1b streams on Spotify alone, let alone other platforms!

Posted by: jimwatts 4th May 2023, 10:47 AM

This list is obviously just a selection and not the top 13. Ed Sheeran isn't even there!

Posted by: Tafty³³³ 4th May 2023, 10:48 AM

I presume this works similar to a certification? Labels can buy them?

Pointless "award" and serves as nothing but an ego boost.

Posted by: danæ 4th May 2023, 10:48 AM

not necessarily, there's clearly a load of performers who have passed the billion and BPI aren't announcing them all at once for whatever reason

Posted by: -Jay- 4th May 2023, 10:48 AM

This feels very pointless. To me it seems more like an excuse for photo opportunities with artists who were available to pose with the statue, and thus promote the Brits brand… than the accolade meaning anything truly worthwhile at this point. It’s not really any surprise that numerous popular artists with extensive catalogues will exceed over a billion UK streams over a number of years.

Seems like they’re wanting to stagger out the process of announcing artists who’ve achieved this award, to prolong the attention. If they just gave it to everyone who is eligible now, it would be done and dusted and probably pointless from their perspective. Maybe they’ll tie in giving awards to artists when it benefits them, like Ed Sheeran could get his alongside his next #1 album? Dua Lipa when she makes her comeback?

Posted by: Frenchie 4th May 2023, 10:49 AM

They should have gone for a higher amount like 5 billion or something, cause giving it out to probably over 50 artists seems a bit pointless.

Posted by: tommie 4th May 2023, 10:56 AM

Quite obviously this is what's going on, hence why Rita Ora of all people got an award as she's about to release an album. It's purely promotional fodder rather than something meaningful; even older artists with a couple of hits + a huge catalog might end up getting this award; it wouldn't surprise me at all if acts like Spice Girls, Sugababes, Kylie, etc have or will achieve this despite never really doing anything meaningful in the streaming era due to their catalogs.

Posted by: No Sleeep 4th May 2023, 10:59 AM

I wonder how they’re calculating it exactly

Posted by: Jessie Where 4th May 2023, 11:00 AM

I think all Raye's big features like 'You Don't Know Me', 'Bed', 'Secrets' etc must amount to way more than Rita Ora so I can understand it.

Posted by: Eric_Blob 4th May 2023, 11:07 AM

I'm surprised at the criticism for this tbh. The benchmark might be pretty low I guess, but I think it will be fun because every day every artist is inching closer to a billion UK streams. For me I would enjoy seeing the artists from the 80's, 90's, 00's, etc. eventually get the award in future years.

They can always do another award for 10 billion streams or something which would be more exceptional.

Yeah it's pretty much guaranteed Spice Girls, Sugababes and Kylie will all get it by the end of the decade at the latest (or maybe they already have it?).

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 4th May 2023, 11:10 AM

Yep, even just 'You Don't Know Me' and 'BED' alone give her almost 1b on Spotify.

Posted by: Tafty³³³ 4th May 2023, 11:10 AM

So this award isn't even just 1bn streams in the UK?

Posted by: WhoOdyssey 4th May 2023, 11:11 AM

Ah never mind, I forgot that Spotify was worldwide silly me!

I imagine a good proportion of Raye's features are UK streams though.

Posted by: ben08 4th May 2023, 11:58 AM

From BPI today.

https://www.bpi.co.uk/news-analysis/bpi-announce-first-artist-recipients-of-new-and-prestigious-brit-billion-award/

The BPI – the representative voice for the UK’s world leading record labels and music companies – today reveals the first wave of artists that have been recognised with the prestigious new BRIT Billion award, which celebrates and acknowledges outstanding achievement in recorded music by surpassing the landmark of one billion career UK streams - as calculated by the Official Charts Company.

From the multi-decade-spanning success of global icons ABBA, Coldplay, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, the impact of contemporary and pioneering rap and hip-hop talent AJ Tracey and Headie One, to the chart-dominating reign of pop artists and singer-songwriters such as Anne-Marie, Ellie Goulding, George Ezra, Lewis Capaldi, RAYE, Rita Ora and Sam Smith, the BRIT Billion award celebrates these artists’ undeniable impact on UK music and marks their achievement in hitting this significant milestone.

The BRIT Billion award, which, like the existing BRIT Certified scheme and its iconic Platinum, Silver and Gold tiers, is verified using Official Charts data - and represents the first significant upgrade to the certifications programme since April 2018, when it was rebranded from the BPI Awards to the BRIT Certified Awards. BRIT Billion also marks 50 years of the BPI and the 50th anniversary of the certifications programme, which was created by the BPI in 1973.

This will be the first time in its five-decade history that the certifications scheme officially recognises an artist’s combined success across multiple projects. The One Billion career total will include tracks an artist has appeared on either as the principal performer or as a featured artist, as credited by the Official Charts.

The introduction of BRIT Billion reflects the extent to which streaming has transformed the music landscape for artists and fans alike over the past decade – more than 85% of the UK’s recorded music consumption now takes place through streaming, and in 2022 there were a record 160 billion audio streams in the UK in total. Many artists now measure success in the tens and hundreds of millions of streams each year in the UK alone, but a growing number are also surpassing the billion threshold, creating the need for a prestigious new award to mark and celebrate their outstanding achievement. Many more artists who have surpassed the threshold will be announced in due course.

With nearly 400 million albums sold worldwide, 17 No. 1 hits and over 50 million weekly global streams, ABBA are one of the world’s most successful music acts of all time. Ever since their breakthrough with ‘Waterloo’ back in 1974, Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad have enjoyed worldwide hits such as ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’ and ‘Mamma Mia’, which are also the group’s most streamed songs in the UK.

Rapper, singer-songwriter and producer AJ Tracey first hit the UK’s Official Charts in 2017 and since then has enjoyed both critical and commercial acclaim for his music, becoming one of the most streamed rappers in the UK, with both of his albums placing inside the Top 3 on the UK’s Official Albums Chart on release. His hit ‘Ladbroke Grove’ has amassed over 250 million streams to date.

AJ said: “It’s a real honour to have been given one of the first ever BRIT Billion awards. I do this all for you guys, so thank you for listening. New album on the way. Stay locked!”

BRIT-nominated singer Anne-Marie has become one of the UK’s most popular artists through her consistent chart success, and recent move into TV, as one of the coaches for BBC One’s The Voice UK. Her debut and follow up albums both hit the Top 3 of the Official Albums Chart on release (the former including hit single ‘2002’ which has accumulated a quarter of a billion streams to date), and has released a score of huge hit collaborations with the likes of Little Mix, Niall Horan, Rudimental, David Guetta, Clean Bandit and more recently Aitch on their UK Top 10 single 'Psycho'.

One of the best-selling acts of all time, Coldplay have released nine studio albums to date (all of which have gone to Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart) - producing singles and streaming hits such as ‘Yellow’, ‘Viva La Vida’, ‘Fix You’, ‘Hymn for the Weekend’ and ‘My Universe’, with numerous worldwide sell-out tours and music accolades across their 20+ year career. The band - consisting of Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, Will Champion and Chris Martin, have continued to evolve and discover new sonic worlds, and are universally recognised as one of planet's most influential and pioneering acts.

BRIT-winning Ellie Goulding has amassed huge streaming numbers over the years, with her 4x Platinum hit ‘Love Me Like You Do’ – her most streamed track in the UK to date. Five studio albums under her belt and a number of hit singles such as ‘Starry Eyes’, ‘Under the Sheets’, ‘Anything Could Happen’ and ‘On My Mind’ have cemented her as one of the UK’s most exciting pop artists.

Chart-topping singer songwriter George Ezra has been a household name since his 2013 smash hit ‘Budapest’, taken from his Official Albums Chart No. 1 ‘Wanted on Voyage’. His BRIT-Certified and 6x Platinum single ‘Shotgun’, released in 2018, has been streamed just shy of 500 million times in the UK - making it one of the most streamed songs ever in the UK, with all three of his studio albums hitting the No. 1 spot in the UK’s Official Albums Chart. His third consecutive number 1 album ‘Gold Rush Kid’, released in 2022, is now Gold and single ‘Green Green Grass’ is Platinum.

Rap pioneer Headie One rose to prominence as a solo artist in 2018 with the release of ‘Know Better’, his first signing to Sony’s Relentless label. Since then he has become a regular fixture in the UK’s Official Charts, through releases including ‘18Hunna’ featuring Dave and ‘Ain’t It Different’ with Stormzy and AJ Tracey (reaching over 130 million streams in the UK to date), with his Gold-certified debut album hitting the Official No. 1 spot on release in 2020.

International superstar Lewis Capaldi has endeared himself to countless fans since the release of his debut album ‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent’ - the biggest selling UK album of both 2019 and 2020, which also included the BRIT Certified 8x Platinum ‘Someone You Loved’, 2019’s biggest single of the year and the most-streamed song in the UK of all time with over 600 million streams (as verified by the Official Charts Company). The Scot’s forthcoming album ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’ seems to be following a similar success pattern, having achieved three No. 1 singles with ‘Wish You The Best’, ‘Forget Me’ and ‘Pointless’ ahead of its release.

Lewis said: "Am so buzzing to be one of the first artists ever to be given a "BRIT Billion" award! Never in a million years did I think any of this stuff would happen but now it is I will gladly accept each and every award, you have my address x.”

Global pop and R&B royalty Mariah Carey rose to fame in the early 90s and since then has become one of music’s most treasured icons with hit singles such as ‘Hero’, ‘Fantasy’, ‘Without You’ and ‘One Sweet Day’, and ten top 10s in the Official Albums Chart and breaking a number of records along the way. The 1994 single ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ has ensured Mariah’s synonymy with the festive period even now, and is one of the UK’s most streamed songs of all time with over 370 million streams.

Mariah said: “I'm really honoured to be one of the recipients of the BRIT Billion Award. I'm so grateful to my fans for their endless and enduring support. I love you UK lambily and cannot wait to come back to your side of the pond and create more magical moments together.”

RAYE is one of the UK’s most exciting singer-songwriters of recent times. As an independent artist she released her debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues’ earlier this year, reaching No. 2 in the UK’s Official Albums Chart and No. 1 in the Independent Album charts. Following a multitude of Top 10 singles, RAYE achieved her first No.1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart this January with ‘Escapism.' 'Escapism.' achieved Platinum status shortly after the album's release, joining RAYE's impressive collection of streaming and platinum-certified hits, which also includes "Decline" ft Mr Eazi, "By Your Side" with Jonas Blue, "You Don't Know Me" with Jax Jones, "Ferrari Horses" with D-Block Europe, "Bed" with Joel Corry and "Secrets" with Regard.

RAYE said: “Thank you so much to the BPI for this award. One billion streams is a very overwhelming number to truly wrap my head around, I’m very grateful to everyone and anyone who is included in that number, thank you.”

First featuring on the No. 1 single ‘Hot Right Now’ in 2012, Rita Ora has been front and centre of the UK pop music scene for two decades, with two studio albums (her debut going straight in as Official No.1), and a string of Official No. 1 singles including ‘R.I.P.’, ‘How We Do (Party)’, ‘Your Song’, ‘Anywhere’, and ‘Let You Love Me’ - which has scored over 150 million UK streams to date. She is also the record holder for the most Top Ten singles (13) by a British female artist.

Multi-Platinum artist/songwriter  Sam Smith has amassed over 40 million album sales, 300 million single sales and 55 billion career streams. Their multi-platinum debut album In the Lonely Hour became the biggest selling debut album of the decade, and Sam’s fourth studio album Gloria became their third #1 album. Sam Smith holds two Guinness World Records – for the most consecutive weeks in the UK Top 10 Album Chart (for their 2014 debut, In The Lonely Hour) and for having the first James Bond Theme to reach No.1 on the UK Charts (for the Oscar and Golden Globe winning Writing’s on the Wall).

Known worldwide as “The Voice” in honour of her inimitable vocal prowess, Whitney Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 200 million album sales globally to date and the only artist to have achieved seven consecutive No. 1 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100. Released in 1987, ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ is her most streamed UK song and BRIT Certified 3x Platinum; other hit singles over her 30+ year career include ‘Saving All My Love For You’, ‘It’s Not Right (But It’s OK)’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ and ‘My Love Is Your Love’.

The BRIT Billion trophy has been designed to high specifications using premium quality materials to reflect the exceptional achievement that this elite-level award represents. Created for the BPI by Gaudio Awards1, the design incorporates the iconic BRITs ‘B’ and an encapsulated BRITs statuette, and each award will be personalised with the recipient artist’s name.

Sophie Jones, BPI Chief Strategy Officer and Interim Chief Executive, said: “For a recording artist, there can be few greater sources of pride than having a Platinum or Gold disc on their wall, but in an era when success in measured in the hundreds of millions and indeed billions of streams, it was clear that we needed a new and additional way to recognise and celebrate outstanding achievement in recorded music, and I feel certain that having a BRIT Billion Award will become equally prized .”

YolanDa Brown DL OBE, musician and Chair of the BPI, said: “As a musician, nothing gives you a greater thrill than knowing that people are enjoying and connecting with your work. Being streamed in the billions represents a pinnacle of success – underlining the treasured bond that exists between artist and fan – and I congratulate all the inaugural recipient artists and their record labels on being honoured with a BRIT Billion award. I look forward to seeing many more artists achieve this incredible feat in the future.”

Toby Leveson, Senior Digital Content Manager, BPI, said:

“The certifications scheme has always been a great measure of cultural cut-through, and we’re taking this to the next level with BRIT Billion, as the UK becomes the first country in the world to celebrate streaming success across an artist's entire catalogue. The variety of artists receiving the very first BRIT Billion Awards is a testament to the taste of the British public, from artists with timeless iconic tracks including ABBA, Mariah Carey, and Coldplay, to massive stars of recent years such as RAYE, Anne-Marie, and AJ Tracey.”

Posted by: Maestro 4th May 2023, 12:20 PM

Oasis and the Killers amongst others must have also passed the milestone.

Mr. Brightside has a more than a quarter of a billion on Spotify alone

Posted by: ben08 4th May 2023, 12:23 PM

That is worldwide; the BPI award is for UK streams alone.

Posted by: danæ 4th May 2023, 12:26 PM

Mr. Brightside's UK Spotify total *is* more than a quarter of a billion, as per Kworb

Posted by: ben08 4th May 2023, 04:17 PM

^ Good to know. Thanks.

Posted by: 777666jason 4th May 2023, 06:26 PM

Wonder how often they releasing the "waves" if the likes of Ed Sheeran and adele have been excluded

Posted by: ben08 4th May 2023, 10:34 PM

The Beatles have had significant chart success on Spotify in the UK, as of April 2023.

"Come Together" - has over 239 million streams
"Let It Be" - has over 204 million streams
"Here Comes the Sun" - has over 182 million
"Hey Jude" - has over 168 million streams
"Yesterday" - has over 160 million streams

That's a total of 953m streams with just 5 tracks.

They should get one of these new Brit awards.

Posted by: ___∆___ 5th May 2023, 07:34 AM

Maybe they are going to announce the awards in batches otherwise it would be over and done with if they issued them all and a potential long wait for the next award?

The glaringly obvious omissions appear to be artists like the Beatles, Oasis, Elton John, Eminem, Fleetwood Mac, Lady Gaga etc., several of whom clog up the album charts week after week with ‘Greatest Hits’

Posted by: Rough_edges 5th May 2023, 08:31 AM

Just doesn't sit well that Raye who only has one big hit and it was this year and all the other streams are majority due to collaborations has hit this milestone. I can imagine this list being hundreds

Posted by: ben08 5th May 2023, 11:44 AM

Keep the best wine to the last.

Posted by: Last Dreamer 9th May 2023, 01:34 PM

It's weird to see the legends (like ABBA and Whitney) and nobodies (Aj Tracey, Headie One, Rita Ora, Raye) in one list.

Posted by: dandy* 11th May 2023, 05:47 PM

I'm no fan of Rita Ora but I don't think you can call her a nobody.

How much success do people have to have these days before they count as being a somebody if 13 top 10 hits, including 4 number ones, doesn't get you over that line?

Posted by: sammy01 11th May 2023, 06:30 PM

Given the amount of artists that will have 1B UK streams it would have been sensible to do a gradual cert system like singles and albums.

1B = Silver
3B = Gold
5B = Platinum

Which leaves 10B Diamond for when that starts becoming needed (though you imagine Ed and maybe a couple of others might be over 10B already).

Posted by: ___∆___ 29th May 2023, 05:57 PM

James Arthur has received one *.*

View this post on Instagram

Posted by: sammy01 30th May 2023, 07:39 PM

This award is such a flop

Posted by: spiceboy 30th May 2023, 07:59 PM

Totally!

Posted by: ben08 30th May 2023, 08:27 PM

When is the next batch of awards going to be released?
BPI are very slow.

Posted by: TomJ1991 31st May 2023, 09:31 PM

James Arthur got one while promoting a new single, so I'm wondering whether it is just an award that artists can request to help with promo? As has already been said, the likes of The Beatles, Ed Sheeran, Michael Jackson and Adele are such glaring omissions.

Posted by: ben08 16th June 2023, 12:36 PM

From BPI 15/6/23

Becky Hill has been announced as the latest artist to receive a BRIT Billion Award by the BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world leading record labels and music companies.

The BRIT Billion award celebrates Becky’s achievement in surpassing the landmark of one billion career UK streams - as calculated by the Official Charts Company. She was presented with the prestigious award backstage at Parklife Festival in Manchester’s Heaton Park on Sunday ahead of her performance.

Winner of Best Dance Act two years running at the BRIT Awards 2022 and 2023, Becky Hill already has a Gold-certified top 10 album to her name in the shape of Only Honest At The Weekend. Her critically acclaimed run of hits include a number one spot on the Official Singles Chart with Gecko (Overdrive) (with Oliver Heldens) and a further four top 10 singles with the anthems Wish You Well (with Sigala), Afterglow (with Wilkinson), Crazy What Love Can Do (with David Guetta and Ella Henderson) and Remember (with David Guetta) – the latter having already amassed over 160 million streams in the UK.

On receiving her BRIT Billion Award, Becky Hill said: “1,000,000,000 streams of my music in the UK. wild. this year marks my 11th year in the music industry & for 8 of them i dreamed of ‘breaking the uk’… i think this award signifies that goal being achieved thanks to the songwriters & producers that created this music with me over the years & thanks to YOU music lovers for listening & dancing! now for the rest of the world.”

Officially launched on 4th May 2023, the first wave of 13 artists to receive the BRIT Billion award included global icons ABBA, Coldplay, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, pioneering rap and hip-hop artists AJ Tracey and Headie One, and chart-dominating pop artists and singer-songwriters Anne-Marie, Ellie Goulding, George Ezra, Lewis Capaldi, RAYE, Rita Ora and Sam Smith. Recent recipients include Years & Years’ Olly Alexander, who received the BRIT Billion award from Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh at Mighty Hoopla festival, and singer-songwriter James Arthur, who was presented with his award live on BBC’s The One Show from presenters Alex Scott and Roman Kemp.

The BRIT Billion award reflects the extent to which streaming has transformed the music landscape for artists and fans alike over the past decade – more than 85% of the UK’s recorded music consumption now takes place through streaming, and in 2022 there were a record 160 billion audio streams in the UK in total.

Posted by: ben08 23rd June 2023, 05:07 PM

Key achievements of BPI over 50 years.

https://www.bpi.co.uk/media/3845/bpi-50-50-key-achievements-across-50-years.pdf

Posted by: perrobueno 23rd June 2023, 06:09 PM

I really feel they should give the stars / awards depending on how many billions of streams the artist has reached.

Say, the función would be 2^x or by Fibonacci numbers.

Say,
1 billion = star
2 billion = 2 stars
4 billion = 3 stars
8 billion = 4 stars

Etc. This way it would make much more sense.

Posted by: denz98 24th June 2023, 11:10 AM

Doesn’t the fact AJ Tracey, Headie One, Rita Ora and Raye have got this award NOT make them nobodies?

Posted by: ben08 7th July 2023, 12:49 PM

BRIT Awards@BRITs·5 Jul
It's a billion UK streams for @cleanbandit!
With mega hits like 'Rather Be', 'Rockabye' and 'Tick Tock', it's no wonder they've joined the BRIT Billion club.

Posted by: ben08 14th July 2023, 01:39 PM

From BPI on Twitter.

Lana Del Rey becomes the 18th recipient of the BRIT Billion Award, honoring artists with over one BILLION digital streams in the UK. She joins:

ABBA
AJ Tracey
Anne-Marie
Coldplay
Ellie Goulding
George Ezra
Headie One
Mariah Carey
Lewis Capaldi
Raye
Rita Ora
Sam Smith
Whitney Houston
James Arthur
Years & Years
Becky Hill
Clean Bandit

Posted by: chartjack2 14th July 2023, 04:41 PM

This award is a joke isn’t it?

Posted by: BananasInPyjamas 14th July 2023, 04:46 PM

Have to agree with others that some form of graded certification system would have worked far better here. As it is it's all a bit pointless isn't it?

Posted by: JulianT 14th July 2023, 04:52 PM

I don’t really get the point of revealing this in such a piecemeal way either.

Posted by: braindeadpj 14th July 2023, 06:24 PM

I wonder whether its like it used to be where the record company had to request (and pay for) the certification? That might explain why so many obvious receipients haven't received it yet. Yes a 1 billion, 5 billion and 10 billion would be more meaningful (or perhaps even a 1, 10, and 50, though few or perhaps none would make that?)

Posted by: Megan_x 20th July 2023, 10:04 AM

Posted by: Eric_Blob 20th July 2023, 05:05 PM

I think it's probably to get more media coverage. If they announce one every couple of weeks then they have articles/posts written about it constantly. And probably by the time they're all announced other artists will regularly be trickling over the threshold so it can go on forever.

Posted by: chartjack2 20th July 2023, 08:40 PM

Hope John Deacon got an award in the post

Posted by: ben08 21st July 2023, 11:56 AM

From BPI

Iconic Rock group Queen have been presented with a BRIT Billion Award by the BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world leading record labels and music companies, which is also home to The BRIT Awards.

The BRIT Billion Award celebrates the band’s outstanding achievement as recording artists in surpassing the landmark of one billion career streams in the UK – as calculated by the Official Charts Company.

Contributing to the huge total, Queen’s most-streamed hits include such classics as Another One Bites The Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Killer Queen, Radio Ga Ga, Under Pressure, We Are The Champions, and We Will Rock You, among a great many others.

Receiving the award for Queen are Sir Brian May and Roger Taylor OBE, who have each been presented with the personalised trophy created for the BPI by Gaudio Awards in the shape of the BRITs ‘B’ and incorporating an encapsulated BRITs statuette. The award made to Queen coincides with the 50th anniversary of the band’s self-titled debut album, which was released in July 1973 – the same year the BPI itself came into being in its present role.

Posted by: ben08 4th August 2023, 12:29 PM

Wizkid 30/7/23
It's one billion UK streams for @wizkidayo, who was presented with his BRIT Billion Award while in London for his incredible show at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Posted by: ben08 18th August 2023, 12:54 PM

Another artist named on Twitter (or X). Olivia Rodrigo

BRIT Awards@BRITs·20h
It's a billion streams in the UK for @oliviarodrigo! ✨ She becomes the youngest artist to receive the BRIT Billion Award, and was presented it during her trip to London!

Posted by: ben08 31st August 2023, 07:26 PM

Billie Eilish has been announced as the latest artist to receive a BRIT Billion Award by the BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world leading record labels and music companies.

The BRIT Billion award celebrates Billie’s achievement in surpassing the landmark of one billion career UK streams - as calculated by the Official Charts Company. Bad Guy alone has over 300m streams, with six other tracks crossing the 100m mark.

Posted by: ___∆___ 31st August 2023, 07:31 PM

Wooden spoon award - nobody cares about it and it’s not even gaining much media attention after they’ve been dished out.

Posted by: ben08 1st September 2023, 02:57 PM

FROM THE BPI 01.09.23

Jonas Blue have been awarded a BRIT Billion Award, celebrating the landmark of one billion UK streams.

Posted by: Brer 1st September 2023, 02:59 PM

Is there much point in posting these when every time a new one is posted the only replies are people repeating the same complaints about it being a worthless award

(Not saying I entirely disagree x)

Posted by: ben08 1st September 2023, 03:25 PM

Some people may be interested, but don't comment.
After all I started the thread. Nobody is forced to read it, or to comment.

Posted by: braindeadpj 1st September 2023, 03:39 PM

Continue posting it. It is a pretty worthless 'record' as they are dishing them out as they see fit rather than giving them to everyone who has achieved it and probably not even when they achieve it, but still it's 'interesting'

Posted by: ben08 29th September 2023, 01:29 PM

BRIT Awards@BRITs

The UK can't tame her! @zaralarsson receives her BRIT Billion Award for a billion UK streams!

Zara Larsson joins the awardees.

Posted by: TomJ1991 29th September 2023, 06:43 PM

I mean, to be honest, saying "this artist has had a billion streams" actually makes more sense to me than saying "this artists has had 1 million combined sales - made up of a mixture of video streams, audio streams, downloads, and physical sales". So I like the award as an idea.

Posted by: jimwatts 29th September 2023, 07:36 PM

The idea is fine but this slow rollout is ridiculous - there must be artists crossing this threshold every month, why not just announce everyone who's got it so far and then announce new ones as they achieve it...

Posted by: ben08 5th October 2023, 01:49 PM

Ed Sheeran has been announced as the first British artist to receive a special-edition Gold BRIT Billion Award by the BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world leading record labels and music companies.

The Gold BRIT Billion award celebrates Ed’s landmark achievement in being the first British artist to surpass 10 billion career streams in the UK – as calculated by the Official Charts Company. Over one billion of those streams came in the last 12 months alone. He was presented the Award by musician, actor, and presenter, Jordan Stephens, most well known for being one half of Rizzle Kicks, and host of the BRITs Red Carpet Treatment Podcast.

One of the UK’s most loved voices, Ed has made Official Charts history countless times, breaking records including becoming the first artist to have four albums in the Official Albums Chart Top 10 for a year, and the first British solo artist to claim a full year at No.1 across his catalogue on the Official Singles Chart.

With an untarnished streak of six UK No.1 albums, seven BRIT awards, and 14 UK No.1 singles, Ed recently broke the ticket record playing his Mathematics tour for 81,000 fans at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. He currently holds three of the 10 most-streamed songs of all time with Shape of You (#2), Perfect (#3), and Bad Habits (#9). His latest album Autumn Variations dropped on 29th September and is his second this year following the chart-topping success of ‘-‘, released in May.


Will there be a Platinum BRIT Billion Award for say, 20 billion career streams?

Posted by: _Clo_ 5th October 2023, 01:55 PM

Posted by: Brer 5th October 2023, 04:23 PM

Would be good to know when he passed 10 billion / what number he's up to now... (unless this timing is implying he only just passed it now?)

I guess that's interesting that this is a multi tiered award after all, even if it appears they just made that decision on the spot.

Posted by: Riser 9th October 2023, 01:00 AM

I find it amusing that Jordan from Rizzle Kicks presented the award to Ed, since both artists had their breakthrough in 2011 just a month or two apart. (Maybe that was intentional!) Poor Rizzle Kicks probably not being anywhere near 10 billion streams </3

Posted by: ben08 2nd November 2023, 08:11 PM

Global music icons The Rolling Stones have been announced as the latest recipient of a BRIT Billion Award by the BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world leading record labels and music companies.

The BRIT Billion Award celebrates The Rolling Stones’ incredible career, spanning seven decades. Last week, they celebrated their 14th UK Number 1 album with Hackney Diamonds, their first album of new material in 18 years.

In reaching the landmark of one billion career UK streams, as calculated by the Official Charts Company, the British band became the longest-active artist to receive the prestigious Award, with their most-streamed hits including Paint It, Black, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, and Start Me Up.

The Rolling Stones are the 25th artist to receive a BRIT Billion Award, which was officially launched in May 2023.

Posted by: ben08 3rd November 2023, 12:39 PM

You can see all the winners here.

https://www.bpi.co.uk/brit-billion

There are 32 pictures displayed here, not 25. (Queen occur twice)

Posted by: braindeadpj 3rd November 2023, 03:57 PM

I only see 27 pictures.... 3 rows of 9. Weird that they had Queen twice (i guess its because they gave it to 2 different members of Queen?). Ed is the only multi-winner.... I guess one of the others is a combo too to make it 25 (rather than 26)?

Posted by: ben08 3rd November 2023, 05:13 PM

You are correct!!! My bad maths.

Posted by: braindeadpj 3rd November 2023, 05:19 PM

No worries. I did find the page jumped around a bit (scrolled up and down for no reason) so easy to miscount the rows

Posted by: ben08 5th December 2023, 01:44 PM

Another Brit Billion award.

Ella Henderson
Date Awarded: 01 December 2023

Posted by: Tarynndew 7th December 2023, 09:56 AM

Valuable stuff. Kudos!

Posted by: ben08 20th December 2023, 01:46 PM

Another Brit Billion award.
Joel Corry - Date Awarded: 13 December 2023


Joel Corry@JoelCorry
·
18 Dec
.
@BRITs BILLION AWARD!! 🥳

Thank you to everyone out there streaming my music ❤️

This just gives me more motivation to keep working!! Happy Xmas & bring on more bangers in 2024 🚀

Posted by: ben08 3rd May 2024, 02:57 PM

New award for Bryson Tiller.
Presented to him at his recent London show,
@brysontiller
joins the BRIT Billion club with over one billion UK streams.

Posted by: ben08 3rd May 2024, 08:46 PM

We love a surprise BRIT Billion presentation!!
@jessglynne
becomes the latest artist to receive the Award celebrating one billion UK streams following a presentation from her parents at a stripped back performance of her new album

Posted by: ben08 10th May 2024, 09:29 PM

Amy Winehouse (presented to Janis and Mitch Winehouse)
Date Awarded: 01 May 2024

Amy Winehouse has posthumously been awarded a BRIT Billion Award celebrating one Billion streams in the UK.
@amywinehouse's parents, Janis and Mitch Winehouse accepted the BRIT Billion Award at @AmysFoundation in London 🖤

Posted by: ben08 17th May 2024, 03:43 PM

MABEL
joining the BRIT Billion club is @mabel!😍

She becomes the latest artist to celebrate having one Billion UK streams from hits such as ‘Don’t Call Me Up’, ‘Finders Keepers’, and ‘Mad Love’

Posted by: My... WAP?? 17th May 2024, 03:56 PM

[insert Mabel album blurb]

Posted by: chartjack2 17th May 2024, 05:21 PM

I wish they’d give a full list with actual numbers.