In the new edition of Music Week, we take a closer look at some of the chart trends of the past year.
One of the most striking has been the range of artists who are able to secure multiple hits in the Top 10 at the same time. While we’ve been used to a new album resulting in a rash of hits in the week of release, now it’s not unusual for an artist to have a couple of entries in the upper echelons of the chart at any point in a campaign.
Sabrina Carpenter typifies the chart trend for simultaneous Top 10 hits in 2024. The US star had a triumvirate of hits that reached the summit – Espresso, Please Please Please and Taste.
In addition, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Gracie Abrams, Charli XCX, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Ariana Grande, Noah Kahan and Teddy Swims each managed to secure simultaneous Top 10 singles outside of the week of album release in the past year.
In the current singles chart, Bruno Mars is at No.2 with Apt (along with Rosé) and No.9 with Die With A Smile (with Lady Gaga), while Teddy Swims is at No.6 with The Door and No.7 with Bad Dreams. His No.2 hit, Lose Control, is at No.23.
“We’re having to adjust to multiple songs by one artist in the chart at the same time; sometimes we have multiple songs on the playlist,” Chris Price, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra head of music. “But that’s how people consume music now, so we have evolved to fit with that.”
It wasn’t just about the length of time – 21 weeks – at No.1 for Carpenter, but the consistency across multiple tracks. Over a number of weeks, she had three songs in the Top 5 competing with each other and also managed to dominate the entire Top 3 for a fortnight.
We’re having to adjust to multiple songs by one artist in the chart at the same time
Chris Price
While it was a phenomenal performance for Carpenter, that success has been building for a while in the UK.
“We’ve been playing Sabrina for several years now,” said Price. “She’s been into the Live Lounge twice, she performed on the main stage at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Luton. We’re really proud of that relationship and just thrilled to see her absolutely flying and owning the chart. It’s been the year of Sabrina, hasn’t it?”
The downside of that success for those artists though was that UK artists were increasingly crowded out of the weekly Top 5, while there were only three UK singles chart-toppers in 2024 (Backbone by Chase & Status and Stormzy, Guess by Charl XCX fear. Billie Eilish and Wham!’s perennial Last Christmas).
For the year-end Top 40 rankings, nine of the Top 40 tracks were by UK acts.
“It is tough, it takes longer [to break artists],” said Price. “There are structural reasons around the streaming ecosystem and the addressable market [for US artists on DSPs in North America]. I think that is a big part of the reason why we’re seeing the dominance of American artists in the UK chart.”
Price has recently expanded Radio 1’s Brit List initiative to help artists build their reach.
“Creatively, British music is in really good shape, but if there is one respect in which the Americans are doing better, it’s in the producer-songwriter space,” he added. “If you look at the chart in any given week, quite often it’s a combination of Amy Allen, Dan Nigro, Julian Bunetta and Kid Harpoon. Kid Harpoon is British, obviously, but there is that brain drain of British talent that gravitates towards the US.”
On a more positive note, though, Charli XCX was a UK act among those hitmakers capable of securing a pair of singles in the Top 10 at the same time during 2024 (Guess and Apple).
Price noted that Charli XCX’s global success with Brat in 2024 follows her long-term career trajectory.
“Charli XCX was kind of the saviour of British music in the UK chart this summer,” said Price. “Radio 1’s been playing Charli XCX for nearly 15 years. I'm not saying she's only just broken, but this is her moment –and we've been playing her the best part of 15 years now.
“With Charli, it's just sheer force of will. It’s almost as if the polar axis of the pop world has finally tipped in her favour after years of hard graft. We’re super-proud of our relationship.”
Charli XCX headlined the New Music Stage at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend on the May Bank Holiday weekend.
“If I was having that conversation about booking Charli for the event probably three months later, I'd have been talking to her about headlining the Main Stage,” said Price. “It's an incredible story for Charli.”
Subscribers can read the full report on 2024 chart trends.
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