This year’s BRIT Award nominations will be revealed Wednesday (1/24) at 4pm GMT/11am ET/8am PT. A livestream will be streamed on Instagram and Facebook.
The broadcast, presented by radio and TV presenter Yinka Bokinni, will feature interviews with some of the nominees. Fans will also get to hear more about the main show, which takes place 3/2, live from London’s O2 Arena and broadcast exclusively on ITV1 and ITVX.
The nominations stream is the first part of a new partnership between The BRITs and Meta, which will see exclusive content published on Instagram and Facebook throughout the BRITs campaign.
Island-signed act The Last Dinner Party are the first winners announced for 2024’s ceremony after being crowned BRITs Rising Star.
Amazon Music has tipped its annual 13 breakthrough U.K. artists to watch in 2024, a list that includes The Last Dinner Party, METTE and Kenya Grace.
The annual list positions the acts that the streaming service will champion over the next 12 months.
Buzzing band The Last Dinner Party (Island) are a natural choice following their BRITs Rising Star and BBC Sound of wins. Soul artist and labelmate Sekou, also a BRITs Rising Star nominee, joins them on the list.
Rapper AntsLive (Payday Records), soulful R&B vocalist Elmiene (Polydor/Def Jam), singer, songwriter and producer JayO (0207 Def Jam) and Polydor singer Jazzy, who had a hit in 2022 with “Make Me Feel Good,” are among other nominees.
The list is further made up by South Africa-born singer and Warner Records signing Grace (who hit #1 last year with “Strangers”), dance artist METTE (Since ’93/RCA), singer, songwriter and YouTuber NOAHFINNCE (Hopeless Records), and R&B/soul act Saint Harison (Tell Your Friends).
Dance act salute (Ninja Tune), rapper-producer-engineer Strandz (Relentless) and alt-pop duo Wasia Project (AWAL) complete the list.
The U.K’s Intellectual Property Office has launched a consultation that considers changes to copyright law, which may impact how foreign labels and artists are paid for music that’s broadcast or played in public.
While U.K. law gives performers and copyright owners the right to be paid when their sound recordings are broadcast or played in public in the U.K., not every country provides similar rights, the IPO notes.
U.K. performers and copyright owners are not always paid when their music is broadcast or played in public in other countries—such as the U.S. However, almost all foreign copyright owners qualify for this right to be paid in the U.K. regardless of whether the other country provides similar rights to U.K. nationals. Foreign performers only qualify for this right in the U.K. if they are from a country that provides similar rights.
The consultation will consider changes to how U.K. law provides these rights to foreign copyright owners and foreign performers. Several options are under consideration.
The IPO wants to hear from anyone who may be affected by a change to the law, including artists, labels, collecting societies, broadcasters, and public venues that play music.
The consultation will close on 3/11. After that, the Government will consider responses and publish its response, including its proposed approach. Broadcasting and public playing of music generated revenues of more than £188m in the U.K. in 2022.
D-Block Europe and The Vaccines are battling it out for this week’s Official Albums #1. Over on singles, Ariana Grande is at the top.
The self-released Rolling Stone by DBE could become the duo’s first #1 on Friday. The Vaccines are proving the closest challenger with Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations (Super Easy) new at #2.
American Dream (Epic/Slaughter Gang) by 21 Savage could become his first solo Top 10 at #3. Bill Ryder-Jones (formerly of The Coral) is #7 with lechyd Da (Domino).
Teddy Swims’ debut, I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1) (Warner Records), is up 13 slots to #11.
On the U.K.’s Official Singles midweeks, Grande’s “yes, and?” (Republic) could become her eighth #1 on Friday. However, the race is not yet won: “Stick Season” (Republic) by Noah Kahan is less than 2k sales behind at #2.
“Murder on the Dancefloor” (Polydor) by Sophie Ellis-Bextor is #3, while Swims’ “Lose Control” could claim a new peak at #5. D-Block Europe’s “Eagle” is new at #18.
Shed Seven’s sixth studio album has resulted in their first #1 on the Official Albums Chart. Noah Kahan spends a second week atop the singles chart.
A Matter of Time (Cooking Vinyl) gives the York-formed rock group the record for the longest gap between their debut album and first #1 album: 26 years and three months. It’s Shed Seven’s fifth Top 10 album.
Elsewhere, Busted’s former #1 compilation Greatest Hits 2.0 (Busted Live) returns to the Top 20 at #19 following the release of an extended Another Present for Everyone edition. Dublin garage-punk group SPRINTS rounds out the Top 20 with their debut Letter to Self (City Slang).
At singles, Kahan’s “Stick Season” (Republic) retains its title as the U.K.’s most-streamed track (7.5m streams) for a second week in a row.
Thanks a sync in the film Saltburn, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor” (Polydor) swings to #2, matching the original peak position of the 2001 disco banger. Another throwback tune on the film’s soundtrack, Mason & Princess Superstar’s “Perfect (Exceeder)” (Armada) from 2006, jumps 14 spots to #26.
Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (Warner) breaks into the Top 10 for the time, landing at #6. Moving up an incredible 37 slots is The Weeknd, Plaboy Carti & Madonna’s “Popular” (XO/Republic), returning to its previous peak of #11.
Liam Gallagher & John Squire’s “Just Another Rainbow” (Warner) is today’s highest new entry, at #16, becoming the former Oasis singer’s highest-charting solo single to date.
UMG U.K. celebrated a historic first on Friday: 10 albums in the Official Albums Top 10, thanks to releases by Lewis Capaldi, Taylor Swift and more.
Capaldi made a surprise return to #1 thanks to an extended edition of his #1 2023 set, Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent (EMI). That victory sealed UMG’s tally, which also included 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (EMI) by Swift at #2, The Highlights (Republic) by The Weeknd at #3, ABBA’s Gold - Greatest Hits (Polar Music) at #4 and Noah Kahan’s Stick Season (Mercury/Republic) at #5.
The rest of the Top 10 was made up like so: Guts (Geffen) by Olivia Rodrigo at #6, Diamonds (Virgin EMI) by Elton John at #7, Midnights by Swift at #8, Folklore by Swift at #9 and Eminem’s Curtain Call — The Hits (Aftermath/Interscope) at #10.
May we raise a glass of champers to the hard-working teams in Blighty. Cheers!
Music sales in the U.K. grew 9.6% to reach £2.2b in 2023, less than a tenth of a percent below the sector’s all-time high in 2001, according to preliminary figures from the Entertainment Retailers’ Association.
The 9.6% growth is nearly twice as fast as that achieved in 2022, when music sales grew 5%.
Streaming rose 9.8% in value last year to reach £1.86b and 84% of the market.
Physical sales increased 10.9% to £311m, significantly improving 2022’s 4% decline. Vinyl album sales grew 17.8% to reach £177.3m, while CD recorded its first rise in sales value for two decades, up 2% to £126.2m. Music downloads dipped 5.9% to £42.7m.
ERA CEO Kim Bayley called the results “a red letter day for the music industry” and “a testament not just to the creativity of artists, but to the entrepreneurial drive of digital services and retailers.”
“A world without streaming now seems unthinkable,” she continued. “Meanwhile the tenacity of physical retailers has driven not just the vinyl revival, but a surprise increase in the value of CD sales. Given all we’ve been through, it really doesn’t get much better than this.”
Shed Seven are heading toward #1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart. Over on singles, Liam Gallagher could be set for his first solo #1.
A Matter of Time (Cooking Vinyl) could be the fifth Top 10 and debut #1 for indie group Shed Seven on Friday.
Busted’s former #1 collection, Greatest Hits 2.0 (Busted Live), looks set to rebound into the Top 5 at #3 following the release of its extended Another Present for Everyone edition.
Dublin garage act SPRINTS are #4 with their debut Letter to Self (City Slang). Teddy Swims’ debut major label LP, I’ve Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 1) (Warner), is #8.
On the U.K.’s Official Singles midweeks, “Just Another Rainbow” (Warner)—a collaboration between Gallagher and Stone Roses guitarist John Squire—is #1.
“Murder on the Dancefloor” (Polydor) by Sophie Ellis-Bextor continues its upward climb thanks to an inclusion in the film Saltburn, today jumping four places to #4.
Swims is in the Top 10 for the first time with “Lose Control” at #7, while Bring Me the Horizon are #8 with “Kool-Aid” (RCA).
