The Ghanaian rapper Stormzy is raking in major mula for the British music industry.
How he, Ed Sheeran, Little Mix and Drake boosted the market’s industry in 2017?
Fantastic news below…
The retail value of the U.K’s industry rose by 9.6% last year thanks to the $1.63 billion it earned from sales generated by physical album copies, streaming and digital downloads.
A large percentage of its earnings, much to the delight of his fans, came from sales of Stormzy’s debut album ‘Gangs Signs & Prayers’ and the singles launched to support its chart run.
Sales, which saw him outsell Beyonce‘s ‘Lemonade’, Rihanna‘s ‘ANTI‘ and Jay Z‘s ‘4:44′ in the market last year.
Top selling artist albums of 2017
- Ed Sheeran Divide (Atlantic Records)
- Rag’n’Bone Man Human (Columbia)
- Sam Smith The Thrill Of It All (Capitol)
- Little Mix Glory Days (Syco)
- P!nk Beautiful Trauma (RCA)
- Ed Sheeran x (Atlantic)
- Michael Ball & Alfie Boe Together Again (Decca)
- Drake More Life (Island)
- Liam Gallagher As You Were (Warner Bros.)
- Stormzy Gang Signs & Prayer (#Merky)
Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI & the BRIT Awards had this to say about last year’s numbers…
Whilst the rapid growth of streaming and resilient demand for physical formats gives us confidence for the future, it is important to remember that the music industry still has a long way to go to recover fully. Structural challenges must be overcome if long-term growth is to be sustained.
First we must continue to fight the ‘Value Gap’, so that all digital platforms pay fairly for their use of music. Second, Government must ensure our musicians are able to tour freely even after we leave the EU.
Finally, we should make the U.K. the best place to invest in new content by forging an online environment that is safe for consumers and where illegal sites cannot flourish. If we do this, the future for British music, which is already one of our leading exports, will be very bright.
Do you think Stormzy will fare as well in the U.S?
Stormzy i’m afraid wouldn’t fare well in the U.S market Solo wise he needs to piggyback a heavyweight Artist like a Drake.What Drake did for the UK artist with ( more life ) was tremendous when it came to bringing awareness to the rest of the world . for e.g I had no idea who a Jorja Smith was or Giggs.
The issue with the U.S market is that there is so much competition you really have to be doing something real special to stand out.
Stormzy has about as much chance of making it in the USA as Little Mix. Both acts are too British with limited appeal to a global audience
Ermm little mix have a huge following in the US!! Hence 4 albums in the top 30 on the Billboard 200 album charts. Do your research!! Stormyz will be big if he sticks to what he is doing now and doesn’t change ahem chipmunk and Tynchy Strider oh and let’s not forget Jessie J and Joss Stone Who all failed when finding success (moderate) in America
Their last two albums dropped off the Billboard Top 200 after 3-4 weeks, they’ve never had an album certified in the US and their highest single position is #67. Perhaps you need to take your own advice and do some research. I’ll give you a headstart: https://www.billboard.com/music/little-mix/chart-history
Who & who? ??♂️