New wave of global British breakthrough talent helps UK recorded music grow for 11th consecutive year
31 December 2025 - Press release
- UK recorded music consumption rises to 210 million albums, with over 200 billion audio streams generated for the first time and vinyl sales rising for an 18th consecutive year to keep physical formats in growth.
- British breakthrough artists including Olivia Dean, Lola Young and Skye Newman play a leading role in another strong year for women in the UK and globally, signalling the dawn of a new generation of UK stars.
- Oasis and Coldplay’s sell-out tours headline a standout year for rock, with transatlantic chart success for Sleep Token and Mercury Prize winner Sam Fender achieving 2025’s fastest-selling album by a British artist.
- Regions from across the UK make up national success, contributing to another successful year in music, with artists from 9 of the UK’s 12 nations and regions topping the Official Albums Chart.
- BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE celebrates exciting artist breakthroughs in 2025, reflecting the breadth of diverse talent, and calls on UK policymakers to keep British music a global headline act.
British breakthrough artists including Olivia Dean, Lola Young and Skye Newman led a British music revival in the UK and globally in 2025, as the UK recorded music market1 grew for an 11th consecutive year.
The BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world-leading record companies and label businesses, reveals that official recorded music consumption across sales and streams increased by 4.9% annually over the past 12 months to reach a new high of 210.3 million albums (or their streamed equivalent) consumed.2
BPI analysis of Official Charts data show the annual audio streaming market surpassed 200 billion streams for the first time, with 210.3bn streams accumulated across the year. Overall, streaming rose 5.5% year-on year to make up a record 89.3% of consumption (2024: 88.8%), while sales of vinyl LPs increased for an 18th consecutive year, keeping recorded music on physical formats in growth for the second year running (up 1.4% overall).
2025 saw the UK recorded music sector surging at home and internationally. Driven by significant UK record label investment and support, there were a number of key domestic breakthroughs, including BRIT School alumni Lola Young, who landed the year’s second-biggest single with Messy, and Olivia Dean, who became the first woman in UK chart history to achieve her first No.1 single and album in the same week, as well as Chrystal, Skye Newman, and ELAM alumna Sienna Spiro, who all broke into the Official Singles Chart Top 10 for the first time. Liverpool rapper EsDeeKid also scored a first Top 10 hit with Century.
At the same time, UK rock group Sleep Token achieved their first No.1 album in both the UK and US, and Olivia Dean achieved her first Top 5 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with Man I Need, with her album The Art Of Loving spending its first 11 weeks in the Billboard 200 albums chart Top 10.The Last Dinner Party, Myles Smith, RAYE and Wet Leg, who had all previously won new artist categories at The BRIT Awards with Mastercard, also consolidated their initial success both at home and in key music markets around the world.
2025 additionally saw continued success for established UK global stars, including Ed Sheeran, who broke new ground with his eighth studio album, Play. The international promotion for this release saw it achieve significant success around the world, particularly in India, where the album’s third track, Sapphire ft. Arijit Singh peaked at No.1 on Spotify India Daily Charts — the first by an overseas artist in that market since 2021.
In all, 27 UK albums topped the Official Albums Chart. In a year when the Mercury Prize created impact by moving to Newcastle and it was announced the 2026 BRIT Awards with Mastercard is in Manchester, success came from across the UK: North East (Sam Fender), North West (Oasis, The K’s, The Lottery Winners), East of England (Ed Sheeran, Tom Grennan), Scotland (Biffy Clyro), South East (James Marriott, Wet Leg), Wales (Stereophonics, Those Damn Crows), West Midlands (Robbie Williams), and Yorkshire & Humber (Pulp, Yungblud).
UK artists also made their mark in November’s 2026 Grammy nominations, with Olivia Dean and Lola Young nominated for the coveted Best New Artist award (the first time in four years two British artists are in the category), while a broad range of contemporary UK acts such as Wet Leg, FKA twigs, FLO, Fred again.., PinkPantheress, Skepta, Sleep Token, Yungblud and others earned nods across rock, pop, dance, progressive R&B, alternative and more, alongside British music icons Elton John and The Cure.
Commenting on a positive year for British music and its breakthrough artists, Dr. Jo Twist OBE, BPI CEO, said:
“2025 saw UK talent break through domestically and globally, an impressive feat given more acts than ever are vying for audience attention. From Olivia Dean and Lola Young to Sleep Token and Sam Fender, new British talent are now chart-topping sensations at home and are making their presence felt in key markets around the world, while the likes of Ed Sheeran continue to reinforce their icon status. This is testament to the diverse, exceptional talent that exists throughout the UK, and to the vital role labels play in supporting artists to long-term success.
“This impact should be a powerful reminder that British music is a global headline act, and one of the crown jewels of the UK’s creative industries. Ensuring its success should be high on the Government’s agenda in 2026. We need the commitment of policy makers, the continued protection of the UK’s gold-standard copyright framework, and a business environment which supports direct licensing between music and tech companies in order for labels to continue to discover, nurture and promote the global stars of tomorrow.”
Taylor Swift joined by new British stars in another exceptional year for women
In another banner year for women, Taylor Swift became the first artist in nearly half a century to claim the year’s biggest album for two consecutive years with different releases. Having led the market in 2024 with The Tortured Poets Department, she headed the listings in 2025 with follow-up The Life Of A Showgirl, which accumulated 642k chart sales by the end of the year, and had the greatest first-week sales impact by a new LP since Ed Sheeran’s Divide in 2017. While Lewis Capaldi (2019/2020), Adele (2015/2016), Simply Red (1991/1992) and Simon & Garfunkel (1970/1971) had previously had the year’s biggest album in two consecutive years, in each respective case it was with the same album. The last act to have the year’s biggest album in two consecutive years with different releases was ABBA (Greatest Hits in 1976 and Arrival in 1977).
On the Official Singles Chart, Taylor Swift became the first artist to debut simultaneously in the top three positions with, respectively, The Fate Of Ophelia, Opalite and Elizabeth Taylor.
US singer-songwriter Alex Warren scored the year’s biggest single with the 13-week chart-topping Ordinary, although a record-equalling eight of the year-end Top 10 tracks were by women, either solo or in groups or collaborations. This was led at No.2 by UK artist Lola Young (Messy) and also included Chappell Roan (Pink Pony Club), Olivia Dean (Man I Need), Gracie Abrams (That’s So True), Lady Gaga (Die With A Smile with Bruno Mars), Ravyn Lenae (Love Me Not), Rosé (APT. with Bruno Mars), and the fictional - girl pop group Huntr/x (Golden from the animated film KPop Demon Hunters).
In total, women, whether solo or in collaboration with other women were responsible for 44% of the tracks that reached the weekly Official Singles Chart Top 10, not far off the historic share achieved in 2024. Lola Young and Chrystal (the latter with the top 5 hit These Days and on MK’s No.1 single Dior) were among a wave of rising domestic female acts who helped to rekindle the fortunes of British music in the year.
Playing a leading part was Olivia Dean, who became the first woman to score her first No.1s on the Official Singles Chart (Man I Need) and Official Albums Chart (The Art of Loving) in the same week, then became the first to achieve four simultaneous Top 10 singles with Man I Need joined by Nice To Each Other, So Easy (To Fall In Love) and Rein Me In (with Sam Fender). Man I Need has gone on to become her first Top 5 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, having so far climbed to a peak of No.4, while The Art Of Loving spent its first 11 weeks in the Billboard 200 albums chart Top 10.
The wave of new British women also included Skye Newman, who scored a first Top 10 single with Family Matters and became the first UK female solo artist in over a decade to reach the Top 20 with her first two singles. JADE achieved the biggest opening week for a debut album in 2025 with THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!, and there were successful returns for Wet Leg, RAYE and The Last Dinner Party. Wet Leg’s second album Moisturizer debuted at No.1, RAYE scored one of the biggest hits of her career with WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!, and The Last Dinner Party reached No.2 with sophomore release From The Pyre. Also of note was the success of Lily Allen’s fifth studio album West End Girl, which includes Pussy Palace, her first UK Top 10 single in more than a decade.
Sell-out shows, chart-toppers, and a Mercury Prize win seal a successful year for rock
2025 Mercury Prize winner Sam Fender’s People Watching debuted at No.1 with the year’s fastest sales for a UK act, becoming the 10th top artist album overall of 2025.
Oasis’s blockbuster reunion tour, attended by 1.4m fans in the UK & Ireland, triggered a huge rise in the iconic band’s physical sales and streams, including over 1m album sales in 2025 alone. Their 2010 compilation Time Flies… 1994-2009 returned to No.1 following the tour’s launch and revisited the top spot once again in August, and was joined in the top 5 by their albums, Definitely Maybe and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory. Time Flies has now reached No.1 on three occasions since its release, finishing as the fourth biggest artist LP of the year, while Morning Glory, which was also reissued as a deluxe edition to mark its 30th anniversary, was seventh.
Coldplay reinforced their headline status by breaking the Wembley Stadium record with 10 sold-out shows in September, selling nearly 1m tickets as part of their global Music of the Spheres Tour. This residency surpassed previous records and led to a resurgence of earlier Coldplay tracks Yellow, Sparks and Viva La Vida, all of which made it into the UK Top 20.
There was also significant demand for new British rock releases, including from Sleep Token, who scored their first Top 10 single with Caramel ahead of their fourth studio album Even In Arcadia debuting at No.1 in the UK and US. There were additionally UK chart-topping albums from other acts including Biffy Clyro (Futique), Florence + The Machine (Everybody Scream), James Marriott (Don’t Tell The Dog), The K’s (Pretty On The Internet), Pulp (More), Stereophonics (Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Cry, Make ‘Em Wait), Those Damn Crows (God Shaped Hole), Wet Leg (Moisturizer), Wolf Alice (The Clearing) and Yungblud (Idols).
Elsewhere, success across rap and hip hop included Central Cee, whose album Can’t Rush Greatness followed its domestic No.1 debut by becoming the first release by a contemporary British rap artist to reach the Top 10 of the US Billboard 200 albums chart. He also scored another Top 10 single (CRG) with Dave, who achieved chart history with his release, The Boy Who Played The Harp, as he became the first UK rapper to debut three albums at No.1 on the Official Albums Chart. Other UK artists achieving success during the year included Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran, Fred again.., Lewis Capaldi and Myles Smith.
Vinyl revival extends to an 18th consecutive year; enabling continuing physical format growth
Sales of vinyl LPs increased for an 18th consecutive year in 2025. The market grew by 13.3% year-on-year to 7.6m units, a more- than 30-fold increase compared to the size of the market when it returned to growth in 2008. This compares to 9.1% annual growth in 2024.
Six of the ten biggest-selling vinyl titles of the year were released in the last two years, led by Taylor Swift’s The Life Of A Showgirl, which sold over 147,000 units, the most vinyl LPs sold of a release in a calendar year since the Official Charts Company launched in 1994. It is the fourth successive year that Swift has achieved the top annual vinyl seller after Midnights in 2022, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in 2023 and The Tortured Poets Department in 2024.
Taylor Swift claimed a second entry in the year-end vinyl Top 10 with Lover (Live From Paris) at No.4, while Oasis ((What’s The Story) Morning Glory and Definitely Maybe) and Sabrina Carpenter (Man’s Best Friend and Short N’ Sweet) had two albums present. These were joined by releases from Fontaines D.C. (Romance), Olivia Dean (The Art of Loving) and Sam Fender (People Watching), as well as Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, which has been among the year’s Top 10 vinyl sellers for the last 10 consecutive years.
The Life Of A Showgirl was also the year’s top CD album with around 227,000 units sold by the end of December, the highest yearly tally achieved by an album on the format since Adele’s 30 in 2021. It was joined in the year-end CD Top 10 by its predecessor The Tortured Poets Department. Sam Fender had both the second-biggest CD and vinyl album of the year with People Watching, while the year’s leading CD albums also included releases by Ed Sheeran (Play), Lady Gaga (Mayhem), Sabrina Carpenter (Short N’ Sweet), Teddy Swims (I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1), I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2)) and Yungblud (Idols).
After 19 years of decline, album sales across all physical formats grew for a second consecutive year in 2025, maintaining 2024's 1.4% growth level to come in at 17.6m units.
Physical formats continue to play a leading role in determining the No.1 on the Official Albums Chart. Of 2025’s 43 different number one albums, 34 saw their first week at the top achieved with a majority of physical sales.
Playboi Carti’s Music was the only title to chart at No.1 in 2025 without any physical format available, while in 25 of these instances the chart-topping albums were released on cassette, CD and vinyl formats. Sam Fender’s
People Watching also came out on MiniDisc, and Pink Floyd’s At Pompeii – MCMLXXII and Wish You Were Here, and Elton John & Brandi Carlile’s Who Believes in Angels were released on Blu-Ray.
Neil Gibbons, COO of Key Production Group, the UK’s largest physical music manufacturing agency, said:
“We have been watching this consistent growth in demand for vinyl for a long time. The core audience has shifted even beyond Gen Z now as fans build deeper connections with artists by listening to whole albums and collecting multiple formats. There are very exciting releases coming through our teams for 2026, all of which have substantial commitments to the vinyl format and we're even seeing growth in CD orders too. This is all very exciting news for physical music formats and the growth of the wider industry.”
Drew Hill, Chair of the Official Charts Company and Managing Director at Proper Music Distribution, said:
"Vinyl delivering double-digit gains in unit sales, and in doing so marking its 18th consecutive year of growth, is a remarkable achievement that underlines how firmly the format has re-established itself within mainstream consumption. With only modest declines in CD, as the format continues to transition into a more selective but still meaningful role, vinyl’s ability to consistently exceed expectations paints an immensely positive picture. Week after week, both formats continue to shape Official Chart success.”
"Together with the BPI’s figures, it highlights physical music’s ongoing contribution to fan engagement and long-term value for labels and artists. It also reinforces the need to maintain a healthy physical ecosystem to support a balanced and diverse UK recorded music market.”
|
Table 1 – Album Equivalent Sales (volume units) – © Official Charts Company |
|||||
|
|
|
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2025 +/- |
|
Streaming Equivalent Albums (SEA)2 |
Units |
160.3m |
178.0m |
187.8m |
+5.5% |
|
% total |
87.7% |
88.8% |
89.3% |
|
|
|
Track Equivalent Albums (TEA)2
|
Units |
1.8m |
1.8m |
1.8m |
-0.8% |
|
% total |
1.0% |
0.9% |
0.9% |
|
|
|
Digital Albums
|
Units |
3.5m |
3.3m |
3.1m |
-7.9% |
|
% total |
1.9% |
1.7% |
1.5% |
|
|
|
Physical Albums
|
Units |
17.1m |
17.4m |
17.6m |
+1.4% |
|
% total |
9.4% |
8.7% |
8.4% |
|
|
|
CD |
Units |
10.8m |
10.5m |
9.7m |
-7.6% |
|
Vinyl LP |
Units |
6.1m |
6.7m |
7.6m |
+13.3% |
|
Other (incl. cassettes) |
Units |
0.19m |
0.18m |
0.33m |
+79.7% |
|
TOTAL (AES) |
Units |
182.8m |
200.5.m |
210.3m |
+4.9% |
Official Charts – 2025 top 10 best sellers overall and most streamed
Chart 1 – OFFICIAL ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2025 – © Official Charts Company
Pos. Artist & Title
- Taylor Swift – The Life Of A Showgirl
- Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet
- Ed Sheeran – +-=÷x (Tour Collection)
- Oasis – Time Flies… 1994-2009
- Fleetwood Mac – 50 Years - Don’t Stop
- The Weeknd – The Highlights
- Oasis - (What’s The Story) Morning Glory
- Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
- Alex Warren – You’ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1)
- Sam Fender – People Watching
- Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving
Chart 2 – OFFICIAL SINGLES CHART 2025 – © Official Charts Company
Pos. Artist & Title
- Alex Warren – Ordinary
- Lola Young – Messy
- Chappell Roan – Pink Pony Club
- Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna & Rei Ami – Golden
- Rosé & Bruno Mars – Apt.
- Gracie Abrams – That’s So True
- Benson Boone – Beautiful Things
- Ravyn Lenae – Love Me Not
- Olivia Dean – Man I Need
- Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – Die With A Smile
Chart 3 – OFFICIAL VINYL ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2025 – © Official Charts Company
Pos. Artist & Title
- Taylor Swift – The Life Of A Showgirl
- Sam Fender – People Watching
- Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory
- Taylor Swift – Lover (Live From Paris)
- Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
- Olivia Dean – The Art Of Loving
- Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
- Fontaines D.C.– Romance
- Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet
- Oasis– Definitely Maybe
Chart 4 – OFFICIAL CD ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2025 – © Official Charts Company
Pos. Artist & Title
- Taylor Swift – The Life Of A Showgirl
- Sam Fender – People Watching
- Ed Sheeran – Play
- Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet
- Lady Gaga – Mayhem
- Teddy Swims – I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy - Pt 2
- Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department
- Olivia Dean – The Art Of Loving
- Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
- Teddy Swims – I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy - Pt 1
Chart 5 – OFFICIAL CHARTS MOST STREAMED AUDIO TRACKS 2025 – © Official Charts Company
Pos. Artist & Title
- Alex Warren – Ordinary
- Lola Young – Messy
- Chappell Roan – Pink Pony Club
- Huntr/x: Ejae, Audrey Nuna & Rei Ami – Golden
- Gracie Abrams – That’s So True
- Rosé & Bruno Mars – Apt.
- Ravyn Lenae – Love Me Not
- Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – Die With A Smile
- Benson Boone – Beautiful Things
- Olivia Dean – Man I Need
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