In the past, acts such as The Beatles, Oasis and Arctic Monkeys have seen the North dominate the charts, but music gurus have unveiled the new musical map of Britain – and Croydon has been crowned the UK’s musical capital.
Pringles enlisted global music streaming service Deezer and music journalist Robbie Wojociechowski to research the birthplaces of the UK’s most streamed artists and find out the country’s differing musical tastes.
Croydon is home to the BRIT School, perhaps making it less surprising that it took the top spot. Alumni include Adele, Amy Winehouse and - more recently - Ella Eyre and Loyle Carner.
The top ten musical hotspots in the UK
- Croydon
- Hackney
- Lambeth
- Newham
- Essex
- Herfordshire
- Wolverhampton
- Manchester
- Birmingham
- Sheffield
To celebrate the accolade, Pringles awarded rising artist Nadia Rose with a special Platinum Pringles can to commemorate the new musical capital being her hometown of Croydon.
Robbie Wojociechowski said: “Music from the South of England has dominated over the last few years. Where once much of Britain’s music scenes might have been found north of the Watford gap, cities like Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield, we seem to be turning towards inner London boroughs like Lambeth and Croydon for inspiration.
“In recent years, London has been a real hotbed of breaking new music, with many MCs and rappers taking the limelight. This shows how we’ve come to embrace previously non-commercial genres such as grime, rap, and trap music. “Better gender balance and more locally-celebrated artists mean good things for the British music scene in the future.”
Rapper Nadia Rose, born and raised in Croydon, added: “Music has always been a huge part of my life - my dad was a dancehall DJ and MC so that instilled a love of music in me from a young age.
“At 13 I started writing and MC’ing, taking part in rap battles with other local kids. It seemed for a while that, as a woman, I’d have to fight harder to break into the industry – but surrounded by other budding artists from the area definitely fueled me to get to where I am today.”
Pringles is running a summer offer – £40 worth of free streaming on Deezer when you pick up three cans of Pringles snacks instore.
Discover Deezer and Pringles ‘Sound of the Summer’ playlist here.
