Best selling music of 2014 – 13% British
One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay helped UK artists account for one in seven of the albums sold globally during 2014, the BPI has said.
One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay head the list of best selling British artists that help account for one in seven of the albums sold Worldwide during 2014, the BPI has reported. With 13.7% of worldwide sales, it’s the highest British share since the BPI began recording those figures in 2000.
Albums from Sam Smith and Pink Floyd also made the top ten list of the world’s biggest-sellers of 2014. Sales of albums by British artists rose in Canada, Australia, Italy and Sweden, as well as in the US.
According to the BPI’s Music Market 2015 report, Taylor Swift topped the list of global recording artists, after shifting six million copies of her album ‘1989’. The figures, which take into account album sales, track sales and streams, put One Direction in second place and Ed Sheeran in third.
Also worthy of note, the BPI also found that streaming had doubled in the UK during 2014.
With regards to the UK album market, British acts dominated album sales in the UK in 2014, taking all of the top 10 best-selling artist albums of the year for the first time, and accounting for more than half (50%) of UK album sales. British artists also accounted for 20.4% of sales in Australia, while in Italy it was 19.8%.
Other British artists making a notable global impact in 2014 include London Grammar in France and Australia, James Blunt in Germany, Paloma Faith in Australia and Arctic Monkeys in countries including the US.
BPI and Brit Awards chief executive, Geoff Taylor, said the figures showed the UK is a creative powerhouse. “Music is a tremendous exports success story for the UK – all around the world, fans are listening to the records we produce, supporting not only our balance of trade but a positive image for Britain overseas,” he said.
2104 TOP TEN GLOBAL RECORDING ARTISTS
Artist Album Album Sales Nationality
1. Taylor Swift 1989 6.0 million USA
2. One Direction Four 3.2 million UK
3. Ed Sheeran X 4.4 million UK
4. Coldplay Ghost Stories 3 .7 million UK
5. AC/DC Rock or Bust 2.7 million UK/Australia
6. Michael Jackson Xscape 1.7 million US
7. Pink Floyd The Endless River 2.5 million UK
8. Sam Smith In The Lonely Hour 3.5 million US
9. Katy Perry Prism 1.2 million US
10. Beyonce Beyonce 1.4 million UK