US artists claimed the biggest albums along with K-pop bands such as Seventeen, while Irish artist Hozier mixed with US stars Noah Kahan, Benson Boone and Billie Eilish on the singles chart. For the first time in over two decades, British pop stars failed to make it into the worldwide annual chart of the year’s top 10 best-selling singles or albums.
Despite major releases from Coldplay, Dua Lipa and Charli XCX, fierce competition from the US and South Korea kept homegrown acts from the top 10. Previously, British acts have appeared in at least one of the two top 10 lists every year since at least 2003, the BBC reports.
Perhaps less surprising was Taylor Swift’s domination of the 2024 albums chart with her 11th record, The Tortured Poets Department, at number one. Four out of five of the world’s biggest albums of the year were by women, with Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet at number two and three, respectively.
SZA made it to number five with her second studio album, SOS, which was released in December 2022 – a bonus version, SOS Deluxe: Lana, came out this month. K-pop boyband Enhypen were at number four with Romance: Untold, with a further three K-pop records, Seventeen (with two entries) and Stray Kids, in the top 10.
Two more US artists – folk-pop singer-songwriter Noah Kahan and country musician Morgan Wallen – completed the list. However, there was still plenty to celebrate, she said, with new generations of acts breaking through: “Charli XCX [enjoyed] a breakthrough year globally, alongside international chart successes for emerging artists such as Jordan Adetunji, Artemas and Good Neighbours, while the likes of Lola Young and Myles Smith are now rapidly building an international following.”.
She admitted that it was becoming “much harder” to break talent in a “hyper-competitive global music economy”, while asserting that UK record companies do “an amazing job” at nurturing new talent. When it came to the songs chart, Benson Boone topped the list with his single “Beautiful Things”, which became a viral track on TikTok last year. Similarly, Teddy Swims, Shaboozey and Noah Kahan – all hugely popular on the platform – made it into the top 10 with their respective songs.
Kendrick Lamar came in at number eight with his Grammy-winning diss track, “Not Like Us”, while Irish artist Hozier’s song “Too Sweet”, from an extended version of his 2023 album Unreal, Unearth, was at number six. This weekend, UK music achievements will be celebrated at the annual Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London, with Charli XCX, Central Cee, Dua Lipa, The Cure and Ezra Collective among the nominees.
