Posted June 1, 201114 yr UK must adapt to singles market Source: MW 09:55 | Tuesday May 31, 2011 By Paul Williams For a third successive week a British artist – Adele, naturally – has the number one single in America, an incredible feat given only five other singles by UK acts have topped the Billboard Hot 100 this century. But the outlook has been a lot bleaker of late on the home front for our artists. A week ago the only British act to be found anywhere in the OCC-compiled Top 10 was Lauren Bennett, a singer from Kent, and she only figured as a featured vocalist on a track by US duo LMFAO. This added up to the worst showing by UK artists in the Top 10 since NME launched the first UK singles chart back in November 1952. It would be great to dismiss all this as some kind of statistical blip, harking back to the time a few weeks ago when Adele and Jessie J were ruling the singles chart. But this near no-show underlines a continuing trend of how domestic acts are struggling to make a significant mark on our singles chart in a way that never used to be the case. Of course, there are still plenty of examples of British artists having phenomenal singles success, such as Katy B and Tinie Tempah, but the time has long passed since the UK singles chart was ruled by UK acts. Now the lead tends to come from abroad, especially the US. There appears to be many reasons for this shift. Part of it is simply cyclical and may be put down to which acts are currently active with releases. But what is happening here goes much deeper. Most significantly, the genre make-up of the singles chart has been changing dramatically in recent years, far beyond what has happened in the past when, say, pop would be in the ascendance one year and dance ruled the next. The most obvious movement has been with rock, historically one of the UK’s most successful genres. But, as we have previously discussed, rock rarely seems to figure at the business end of the singles chart anymore. Not too long ago the equivalents of emerging UK guitar bands like The Vaccines would have expected to be scoring sizable rather than minor hit singles, illustrated by Arctic Monkeys whose chart account opened with two number one singles. Even in the field of pop, another of the UK’s strong music heartlands, domestic acts are finding it harder to compete in a singles market where pop increasingly means the likes of Black Eyed Peas and Rihanna rather than bands with guitars like Duran Duran or the pure pop of George Michael. This kind of rhythmic pop is a market ruled by the US songwriting and production houses and one in which the UK industry struggles to compete, although the likes of Taio Cruz prove breakthroughs are still possible. The UK majors are also launching fewer acts these days, a policy formed from economic necessity than by choice. This means labels are relying on a smaller pool of artists to score hit singles, evidenced by a number of the British acts who do figure among the Top 100 singles chart of the year so far having multiple entries. And it is what the majors do that dictates the shape and feel of the singles chart: beyond what MoS puts out and a few exceptions – Adele most obviously – they now make up most of the Top 40. That never used to happen, but the result is independents that are championing UK talent rarely, if ever, get a look in, reducing the overall number of British acts present. On the albums chart, however, it is a very different story, with UK acts currently behind 12 of the year’s top 16 sellers. This suggests what is going on with singles is not simply about UK A&R policy but also a change in the make-up of the audience buying singles. While the UK albums chart appears to be as musically eclectic as ever, the singles countdown has narrowed and that may only start to change when a wider and more varied set of music fans start downloading. Until then we may have to settle for a singles chart that is musically less diverse and lighter on British talent. ++++ Interesting article on MW
June 1, 201114 yr But the outlook has been a lot bleaker of late on the home front for our artists. A week ago the only British act to be found anywhere in the OCC-compiled Top 10 was Lauren Bennett, a singer from Kent, and she only figured as a featured vocalist on a track by US duo LMFAO. This added up to the worst showing by UK artists in the Top 10 since NME launched the first UK singles chart back in November 1952.Erm... The Saturdays? :huh:
June 1, 201114 yr But a week ago only Lauren Bennett. Saturdays are there this week. I said somewhere else that it's mainly that the hit production and songwriters come from elsewhere and seems that MW agrees. Edited June 1, 201114 yr by SKOB
June 1, 201114 yr Wait, so this was actually the first time in the chart's history that no lead British artists were in the top 10? :mellow: Thank God for Lauren Bennett then!
June 1, 201114 yr I remember in the mid-80's, the US started to get tired of the 'British invasion', so their radio stations deliberately refused to playlist British songs - perhaps we should do the same nowadays IRO US songs? ;) The fact that it'd cut massively the amount of rap in the charts having nothing to do with my suggestion, of course... :teresa: ;)
June 1, 201114 yr I remember in the mid-80's, the US started to get tired of the 'British invasion', so their radio stations deliberately refused to playlist British songs - perhaps we should do the same nowadays IRO US songs? ;) The fact that it'd cut massively the amount of rap in the charts having nothing to do with my suggestion, of course... :teresa: ;) I doubt that'd have much effect at all now that there's this whole new-fangled internet thing.
June 1, 201114 yr Wait, so this was actually the first time in the chart's history that no lead British artists were in the top 10? :mellow: Thank God for Lauren Bennett then! Unless Jessie J can climb back into it, this week will be the same.
June 1, 201114 yr Unless Jessie J can climb back into it, this week will be the same. At least we have Example and Coldplay next week to (at least temporarily) get rid of the problem.
June 1, 201114 yr I doubt that'd have much effect at all now that there's this whole new-fangled internet thing. Very true, though it would royally p***-off the rap-loving (and Birdy-hating) Reggie Yates! :w00t:
June 1, 201114 yr At least we have Example to (at least temporarily) get rid of the problem. British-born, yes - but the music will remain US *styled*...
June 1, 201114 yr British-born, yes - but the music will remain US *styled*... Dance music is the exact opposite of 'US styled'.
June 1, 201114 yr But Example is a rapper... But he doesn't rap on CTWYKM. (Well, he does, but only for about 10 seconds) And anyway, as I said before, rap is not exclusively a US thing. UK hip hop and US hip hop are very different things. Edited June 1, 201114 yr by Bray
June 1, 201114 yr But Example is a rapper... Not all the time, and not on his new single. On his Twitter he describes himself as a "Singer turned rapper turned back to singer, rapping only occasionally"
June 1, 201114 yr But he doesn't rap on CTWYKM. (Well, he does, but only for about 10 seconds) 10 seconds too much for me. ;) And anyway, as I said before, rap is not exclusively a US thing. UK hip hop and US hip hop are very different things. And I haven't disagreed with that, but the fact remains that the hip-hop style originated in the US - but now I'm starting to forget why my original point was? Edited June 1, 201114 yr by vidcapper
June 1, 201114 yr And I haven't disagreed with that, but the fact remains that the hip-hop style originated in the US - but now I'm starting to forget why my original point was? The American hip-hop style(s) originated in the US. British hip-hop styles didn't. Edited June 1, 201114 yr by Bray
June 1, 201114 yr The US based hit music is genreless at the moment as they blend popular genres together to simple dance music. Thus, it's easy for radio, clubs and fun to listen to. No matter who sings it, it could be Ne-Yo, Lauren Bennett or your neighbour, the point it has to be danceable. People think "Hey this is fun, I'll download it" It's nothing deeper than that imo.
June 1, 201114 yr The American hip-hop style(s) originated in the US. British hip-hop styles didn't. I remember what I was gonna say, now... Going back to the lack of UK artists in the T10. ITSM it is a catch 22 situation [for those too young... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic) ]... The charts are currently dominated by a very limited variety of music, which puts off fans of other types from buying music - radio stations mistakenly assume that means they aren't interested in other in other types, so they don't play them - thus perpetuating the cycle... :rolleyes:
June 1, 201114 yr I remember what I was gonna say, now... Going back to the lack of UK artists in the T10. ITSM it is a catch 22 situation [for those too young... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic) ]... The charts are currently dominated by a very limited variety of music, which puts off fans of other types from buying music - radio stations mistakenly assume that means they aren't interested in other in other types, so they don't play them - thus perpetuating the cycle... :rolleyes: Look at the so-called "non-#1s" of las year though... the main two were Dizzee Rascal and JLS, two British acts who were trying to follow the crowd and ended up with a poor end product that had flash-in-the-pan success. The main British success stories of last year, given how they weren't hyped to the hilt like Ellie Goulding, were Plan B and Tinie Tempah - the former because he managed to bring hip-hop into almost Radio 2 territory and the latter because he injected some fun into the hip-hop scene. British artists can still succeed in this climate, they just have to do something slightly different.
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