Sam Smith’s Grammy sweep earlier this year was just a small indication of the full extent of the Brit invasion of the US music scene. New figures published today show albums by British artists accounted for almost one in eight of all albums sold in the US last year – up from one in 10 in 2013.
According to data analysed by the BPI from Nielsen Music, Smith led the sales charge, claiming a hat-trick of best-selling album, single and most streamed track by a British artist in the US in 2014. His album, In the Lonely Hour, ended the year as the third best-selling album in the US.
While Zayn Malik’s departure sends the future of One Direction into uncertainty, the group’s last album as five-piece, Four, continued their run of success Stateside last year, securing their place at No 9 in the overall best selling album list. In 2013, no British artist featured in the top 10 US best-sellers list.
Other British triumphs include Ed Sheeran and Coldplay, who, alongside One Direction and Smith, accounted for more than 21% of UK albums sales in the US, with sales across all four titles totalling more than 3.5m.
Aside from those very obvious names, the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, Little Mix and Alt-J – not to mention debuts from the 1975, Disclosure, FKA Twigs and London Grammar – also boosted numbers, while Jasmine Thompson, whose album Bundle of Tantrums was self-released, also succeeded thanks to her millions of YouTube subscribers.
Smith’s Stay With Me was the most streamed song from a British act, with a total of more than 147m streams in the US, while One Direction’s large online fanbase led to surging streaming numbers with more than 533m plays in total. Sheeran was the second most streamed UK artist in the US, racking up 427m streams overall.
BPI and Brit awards chief executive Geoff Taylor said the UK’s music industry was “a worldbeater” and urged the next government to take note of its economic impact:
“The creative industries are the most important source of jobs and growth for the UK economy. The incoming government should act swiftly to boost further investment in British music, by extending creative tax credits so that more albums and music videos are produced here in the UK. This will create exciting new jobs for young people and further strengthen the UK’s reputation as a leading creative nation.”
The recent accomplishments of Brit stars, particularly the balladeers, have been accredited to the vast impact of Adele’s blockbuster album 21, which still features in the top 10 best-selling UK albums in the US market and remained within the top 100 overall albums in the US.
