Half of the UK’s most-streamed artists are from London, new research finds
The findings have been attributed to the city’s “diverse and vibrant cultural scene, world-class recording studios, and a long history of fostering musical communities”.
Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
New research has found that 50 percent of the UK’s most-streamed artists are from London.
The findings came from data compiled by A2D2, which studied the top 40 most successful British artists of all time (on the basis of their total and daily streaming figures) and looked at whereabouts in the country they hail from.
London-born artists made up half of the list overall, with Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Coldplay, Queen and Adele all featuring.
However, the artist A2D2 deemed to be the most successful in the UK came from outside of London. Topping the list is Ed Sheeran, who was born in Halifax and was raised in Suffolk.
Other artists in the top 10 from outside of London include The Beatles and Calvin Harris, from Liverpool and Dumfries respectively. Meanwhile, two of the top 10 artists came from the Midlands. These were Harry Styles, who was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, and Ellie Goulding, from neighbouring Herefordshire.
“London’s musical influence points to its unique ecosystem for nurturing musical talent,” says A2D2’s founder Peter Fealey in response o the news. “The city’s diverse and vibrant cultural scene, world-class recording studios, and a long history of fostering musical communities have been attracting artists from all across the UK and beyond, giving them collaboration opportunities, as well as access to industry players for artists to break through internationally”.
In other music news, the entirety of Universal Music Group’s song catalogue has been removed from TikTok after its current licensing agreement expires on 31 January 2024, Music Business News has confirmed.
In an open letter issued earlier this week (30 January), titled ‘Why we must call time out on TikTok’, UMG accused TikTok of attempting to “bully” them into “accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth”.
UMG said that during its contract renewal discussions with TikTok, it has been “pressing” the tech giant on “three critical issues”, including “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”
