Why Is the U.K. Struggling to Break New Pop Acts?

 

Leveling up to the international stage is proving increasingly difficult and costly for rising British musicians.

 

Earlier this month, an alarming stat sent a shudder through the U.K. music industry. When the Official Singles Charts announced the biggest songs of the year so far in the country, only four of the top 20 were by British artists: Artemas (“I Like The Way You Kiss Me”), Cassö (“Prada” featuring Raye and D-Block Europe), Sophie Ellis-Bextor (“Murder On The Dance Floor”) and Natasha Bedingfield (“Unwritten”), the latter two enjoying a boost from film syncs in Saltburn and Anyone But You, respectively.

 

It was a chilling omen nonetheless. Where are the breakout stars from the U.K., and how will they get onto the international stage?

 

2024 has proved a particularly tough one for U.K. artists: no single from a British artist has hit No. 1 on the charts. The last was by Wham! for the seasonal hit “Last Christmas;” before that, it was the Beatles with the AI-assisted single “Now and Then.” In 2022, the top 10 songs in the U.K. were all made by homegrown artists like Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender and Kate Bush. Now, questions are being asked about the success of U.K. artists on a global scale — particularly pop — and why the landscape is not particularly rosy.

 

The U.K. appears to be in an era of importing music. Alongside stalwarts like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, new names like Noah Kahan, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims, Tate McRae and Shaboozey have flourished in a way that local talent has not. Annabella Coldrick, CEO of the Music Managers Forum, says that strong performances on the U.K. Charts can be key milestones for acts as they head to international markets. “If we’re not even dominating the charts in our own market,” Coldrick says, “then who follows?”

 

So how can the U.K.’s emerging artists keep pace? Competing with the resources and spending that the major labels can unlock in the U.S .market is an uphill battle, but music journalist Alim Kheraj suggests it runs deeper than that: “The U.K. [industry]has been so focused on hip-hop and singer-songwriters for a while now, so perhaps that’s why there’s been fewer pop stars transferring to the global stage.” There’s been international success for Artemas and Myles Smith, whose single “Stargazing” blazed onto the Hot 100 earlier this year, and other British artists like dance act Fred Again… and rapper Central Cee, but few in the more traditional pop sphere.

 

Coldrick says that we could see a change in the majors’ involvement with supporting new talent. “Maybe there’s a world in which the catalog labels become entirely separate from investment in new music,” she says. “That might be a good thing as it’s a different kind of investment business.” Following the announcement that resources at several labels at Universal Music would be merged, there are fears that non-priority artists will fall even further down the chain given their return on investment compared to catalog hits.

 

There are a myriad of issues that touring U.K. musicians face in 2024. Production costs and visa fees have risen substantially and the after-effects of Brexit have meant that touring EU countries is less profitable. “We’ve got very little government investment and a hostile environment for touring,” Coldrick says. “Artists and managers will do anything to make things work as they’re innovative problem solvers, but that’s a huge burden for them.”

 

Coldrick also notes that the U.K. is lagging behind other markets’ approach to exporting music. She celebrates the success of regional music scenes, particularly in Latin American countries and Asia, but says that lack of a “joined-up” export program is holding back U.K. artists. Those schemes can help provide funds to cover tour and visa costs and provide practical advice.

 

In 2022, a report by UK Music said that the value of exporting British talent — led by Harry Styles and Glass Animals — generated £4 billion to the economy. The Music Export Growth Scheme, Coldrick notes, is relatively slight compared to initiatives by Australia and the Netherlands. “We’ve been putting barriers up,” she says. “We’ve rested on our laurels a little bit and always relied on our great heritage and history.”

 

Kheraj suggests that there needs to be a recalibration of what we consider a “breakout artist.”’” He notes that the forthcoming new album from breakout act Sabrina Carpenter will be her sixth and follows success in the Disney stable, as well as a recent support slot on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Similarly, buzzy new act Chappell Roan first signed with Atlantic in 2015 and released music consistently until her 2023 debut album. Charli XCX’s first megahits — “Boom Clap” and Iggy Azalea team-up “Fancy” — were released in 2014; a decade later, she’s a key endorsement for Kamala Harris in the upcoming U.S. presidential election and in the midst of a Brat Summer.

 

“Someone like Olivia Rodrigo was a star and had a hit right out the gate, but that is so rare these days for an artist to launch with that level of commercial success,” Kheraj says. “We should be looking at people who’ve been doing it for a while longer as it does take time.”

 

There is no shortage of talent. Earlier this month Griff, who first released music on Warner Music in 2019, shared her debut LP Vertigo and had the best-selling opening week for a debut album by a British female since Raye’s 2021 debut; in October she will support Carpenter on a run of U.S. tour dates. Kheraj points to the early success of Jade Thirlwall’s debut solo single “Angel of My Dreams” on the U.K. Singles Charts as a bright spot. “She gets all the cultural touch points, is a fan of that world and has already operated on a global stage,” he says of the Little Mix member. “I think we could see her cross over to ‘Main Pop Girl.’” :lol:

 

Other names have made solid starts in their careers domestically and overseas: Holly Humberstone, Olivia Dean, Maisie Peters, Cat Burns and FLO to name a few. With malleable genres disrupting the pure “pop” tag, indie artists like Rachel Chinouriri, Wet Leg and The Last Dinner Party could all scale up rapidly on the international stage.

 

Perhaps 2024 will act as something of a recalibration for success in the pop world and beyond. There’s no denying that the U.K. has the right talent to succeed, it’s now a question of how to make the world hear it.

 

https://www.billboard.com/pro/why-uk-strugg...k-new-pop-acts/

 

Fascinating article. My roundabout answer is that we are in an age where TikTok almost exclusively makes or breaks the hits. :P

UK songs have extremely struggled this year, even by big pop acts like Dua Lipa. I'm sure something has switched in the past year as it all seems very American

This sort of spell comes and goes, I remember there a barren spell in the mid 2000s before Leona Lewis and Adele came along.

It’s a bad time for Brit acts but still Charli xcx is doing pretty good and Myles is surprisingly doing very well in the US. But TikTok is making it more global friendly and usually UK artists get big in the UK first and perhaps that’s harder to achieve in this climate

Love that they namechecked JADE as a potential main pop girl. :lol: :wub:

I don't think it helps that the artists the industry is keen to push aren't the same as those who do manage to score a singles chart breakthrough, typically through a viral hit. It's all well and good saying that Artemas has one of the biggest breakout hits of the year, but his mixtape came out a couple of weeks ago, alongside a new single, and the support's nowhere to be seen. Perhaps there's still time for dirty little secret to get some support from Radio 1 but it's unlikely much streaming support will come without the song proving itself first, which feels like a chicken and egg scenario.

 

This isn't just a UK thing either, it feels rare that the artist behind a TikTok hit will receive much support with a follow-up, yet that's how many new artists are finding themselves in the chart - that's why it feels like fewer new artists are around. Noah Kahan, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Tate McRae aren't new artists at all, they've all been around a few years at least, so the field's feeling a little empty when we're calling someone who had a #3 hit in 2020 a "new name" in 2024. It's a sign of the times about how music consumption has changed, it's not as easy as it was before where songs would have weeks of build-up before release and if you were on a major label, you were almost guaranteed some self space in Woolies and HMV, whereas now, a little extra effort needs to be put in by the listener to find new stuff. I just don't think streaming platforms are reacting very fast, and the likes of Radio 1 have their own artists to push which often link more with the album chart than the singles chart - and this I think is where we've noticed a lack of UK breakthrough acts. Not saying it's wrong to support any artists who aren't releasing catchy pop songs, far from it, but things don't marry up like they used to.

I notice the lack of focus on "pure pop" acts. I sometimes wonder where are the huge interest for "full-on pop" that feels like only Dua Lipa is leading.

 

Many musicians and industry experts are focusing so much on authenticity, credibility, viral moments and the more unpleasant aspects of youth (especially if seen on the Internet like the "sad girl" thing) so it chokes out the potential marketing of family friendly pop (oh yeah, sweary pop with angsty and/or direct lyrics, that's a problem) and narrowing the appeal and alienating the more grown and mature listeners.

 

I chalk it up to "stan culture" on X and all that (don't wanna get into more details)...

Edited August 1, 2024Aug 1 by All★bySmashMouth

I notice the lack of focus on "pure pop" acts. I sometimes wonder where are the huge interest for "full-on pop" that feels like only Dua Lipa is leading.

 

Many musicians and industry experts are focusing so much on authenticity, credibility, viral moments and the more unpleasant aspects of youth (especially if seen on the Internet like the "sad girl" thing) so it chokes out the potential marketing of family friendly pop (oh yeah, sweary pop with angsty and/or direct lyrics, that's a problem) and narrowing the appeal and alienating the more grown and mature listeners.

 

I chalk it up to "stan culture" on X and all that (don't wanna get into more details)...

 

Yes, it's bizarre to me that the industry hasn't cottoned on to the fact that most people like straight-forward pop songs than you can sing along to - and that there's not enough artists doing them.

shifting music tastes come and go, what's in and what's out, sometimes the US and UK align, sometimes they don't. Whenever the UK has invaded the music pop world (60s and 80s) there comes a fight back from the US who inevitably morph and take over again. There were times when not a single UK act was on the Hot 100. It's even worse for smaller countries, they are sometimes lucky to get 1 or 2 significant acts or one-off hits.

 

Plus streaming companies deciding who gets on playlists and radio stations deciding who they want to play....

Maybe they should have a separate chart just for UK artists or something. At least then they don't get totally buried.

We need to bring back Bré's Homegrown Chart.

the biggest issue is that there is no real solution

cannot really see how things could improve

I mean tiktok is gonna continue like it is now, with hits being global rather than UK

so cannot see a proper solution to the problem

Jon Savage hit the nail on the head when he described the UK music scene, or at least the public's taste as having a pendulum like pattern where it swings back and forth between UK acts and US acts.

Think back to say the 50s, Rock n Roll is king before the British invasion, then Motown and Psych Rock being US led, then Glam Rock (UK), before big American MOR stuff like the Eagles dominates, then UK Punk happens, then Disco (US led), then New Romantic (UK), then the likes of big US acts like Jackson, Prince, Madonna and Springsteen, replaced by Acid House and Madchester (UK), Grunge, then Britpop, the Britneys, Christinas, post punk revival and so forth, the UK came back with Garage and 'landfill indie' and so on.

 

It's probably quite extreme now but it'll come back soon enough