In the U.K. music industry, 2023 witnessed a significant rise in the prominence of women artists. According to data analyzed by BPI, the trade body of the U.K. recorded music industry, women artists spent the most weeks at No.1 on the Official Singles Chart in a calendar year since its launch in 1952.
Led by Miley Cyrus’s 10-week chart-topper “Flowers,” which garnered 198 million streams and became the year’s biggest hit, women claimed the No.1 spot on the chart for a total of 31 weeks in 2023. When considering combined streaming and sales activity, four out of the five biggest tracks of the year and seven out of the Top 10 were by women. Alongside Cyrus, notable female artists such as SZA (“Kill Bill”), Taylor Swift (“Anti-Hero”), Libianca (“People”), Ellie Goulding (“Miracle with Calvin Harris”), PinkPantheress (“Boy’s A Liar”), and RAYE (“Escapism” ft 070 Shake) made their mark.
Furthermore, an impressive 48.5% of the tracks that reached the Top 10 of the weekly Official Singles Chart in 2023 were either solo performances or collaborations by women.
The top album of the year was “The Highlights” by The Weeknd, followed by Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” in second place. Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” ranked third, Elton John’s “Diamonds” (originally released in 2017) came fourth, and Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” secured the fifth spot.
The “Barbie” album soundtrack emerged as the top compilation of the year, featuring hits from Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Nicki Minaj, and Ice Spice ft Aqua.
In 2023, a remarkable 11 tracks achieved over 100 million audio and video streams in the U.K., including songs by Dave & Central Cee (“Sprinter”), RAYE ft 070 Shake (“Escapism”), Rema (“Calm Down”), Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding (“Miracle”), SZA (“Kill Bill”), PinkPantheress (“Boy’s A Liar”), Taylor Swift (“Anti-Hero”), Libianca (“People”), Harry Styles (“As It Was”), and Miguel (“Sure Thing”).
The year saw a record-breaking 2,519 tracks accumulate at least 10 million audio and video streams, compared to 1,136 tracks achieving the same milestone in 2018.
Among the U.K.’s successes in the Top 100 singles of the year were Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Sam Smith, Anne-Marie, Ella Henderson, Kenya Grace, Lewis Capaldi, Mimi Webb, D-Block Europe, J Hus, Strandz, Jorja Smith, Becky Hill, Chase & Status, Eliza Rose, Rudimental, Switch Disco, and Venbee. Wham’s timeless classic “Last Christmas” ranked in the Top 20 as it topped the Christmas Official Singles Chart for the first time. Additionally, The Beatles made a comeback to the top of the Official Singles Chart for the first time since 1969 with “Now and Then,” an adaptation of a John Lennon demo from the 1970s, billed as the group’s final song.
In 2023, recorded music consumption in the U.K. increased by 10%, reaching 182.8 million albums, marking the ninth consecutive annual rise. The audio streaming market experienced a remarkable growth of 179.6 billion streams, nearly doubling the total achieved in 2018. Vinyl LP sales also experienced their fastest growth rate of the decade, with an 11.8% rise to 6.1 million units, the highest number in over 30 years. The decline in CD sales slowed, and approximately 100,000 cassettes were purchased.
Jo Twist, the chief executive of BPI, expressed joy at the success of women in the Official Charts in 2023. While acknowledging the need for continued efforts to achieve full representation for women across the music industry, she celebrated the diverse range of recording artists achieving great success with the support of their labels. Twist emphasized the need to celebrate these achievements without becoming complacent, as the music industry continues its work to make such successes the norm.
