The breakthrough success of a new generation of UK artists helped recorded music exports exceed £800 million annually for the first time in 2025.
According to the BPI, British recorded music exports totalled £800.3m in 2025 – up 0.8% on the previous year's £794.2m – boosted by international breakthroughs such as Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Yungblud, PinkPantheress and Sleep Token.
The total represents a 50% increase on the £533m achieved in 2020, the year the trade body began tracking the value of music exports.
“What was notable about last year’s record-breaking recorded music export figures was not just the contribution of a new generation of UK stars, but also the long journey they often had to undertake to build and connect with audiences," said BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE. "It is harder than ever to break an artist internationally, and it now takes longer for the mainstream to embrace new artists."
While these figures are impressive, the slowing rate of growth highlights the need for continued international trade and export initiatives
Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI
The 0.8% uptick was down on the 1.9% growth in value recorded in 2024, which was itself a marked slowdown from the 7.6% growth recorded in 2023. The figures continue a multi-year pattern of decelerating export growth even as the total value of exports keeps hitting new highs.
"While these figures are impressive, the slowing rate of growth highlights the need for continued international trade and export initiatives like the Music Export Growth Scheme, and for a supportive business environment in the UK to enable label businesses to continue to invest in British talent," added Twist.
Olivia Dean scored her first US Hot 100 Top 10 hit with Man I Need in Q4 2025, which followed her second album The Art Of Loving debuting at No.8. In Australia, Man I Need reached No.1 on the ARIA Singles Chart in November and went on to spend 21 weeks at the summit – the country's second-longest chart-topping run of all time.
Meanwhile, in the US, Dave (Raindance with Tems), EsDeeKid (4 Raws), Sam Fender (Rein Me In with Olivia Dean) and Sienna Spiro (Die On This Hill) all charted in the Top 100 for the first time, while Raye (Where Is My Husband!), Myles Smith (Nice To Meet You) and PinkPantheress (Stateside) also made an impact.
The US remained the biggest overseas destination for UK recorded music, accounting for around £328m of revenue, more than 40% of the annual exports total.
Asia was the fastest-growing region for UK recorded music exports with revenue of £61.2m (+7.7%). There were also increases in Europe (+2.7% to £282.6m), Latin America (+4.6% to £35.6m) and Africa (+ 2.2% to £2.8m).
However, not all regions shared in the growth. North America dipped 1.0% to £355.2m, while Oceania fell 3.3% to £39.6m and the Middle East dropped 20.0% to £4.9m. Among individual markets, several of the UK's biggest destinations also declined year-on-year, including the US (-1.0%), Germany (-0.7%), Australia (-3.0%) and Canada (-0.7%), with growth instead concentrated in smaller markets such as Italy (+12.5%), Japan (+11.3%) and Brazil (+3.2%).
Back in February, Spotify revealed that more than 75% of the revenue generated on its platform by UK artists last year occurred overseas.
Underpinning that success, amid increased competition from established and emerging markets, is long-term support and investment from UK record labels.
A total of 67 British artists each accumulated over 1 billion audio streams globally during 2025, according to Luminate. Coldplay were the most-streamed UK act around the world last year, followed by Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Arctic Monkeys and Calvin Harris.
The 20 most-streamed UK artists in 2025 also included The Beatles, Elton John, Oasis, Charli XCX, Olivia Dean and Central Cee, whose release Can’t Rush Greatness became the first by a British hip-hop artist to reach the Top 10 of the US 200 chart. Other UK artists with a billion plus worldwide streams in 2025 include Beabadoobee, Fred Again, Lola Young and Raye.
The BPI says the slowdown in growth highlights the continued importance of trade missions and export initiatives like the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS), the BPI-administered fund — jointly financed with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) — that provides grants to help small-to-medium-sized independent UK companies build their artists' profiles in international markets.
Over 24 rounds, MEGS has invested more than £9.2m in British music, generating an estimated £81.5m return to the UK economy. Its latest round of funding, announced in March, saw £1.4m distributed among 68 artists.
Separately, a report issued by Luminate in June revealed UK artists’ share of the US streaming market grew by 0.8% in Q1 2026, helped by Dean and other artist breakthroughs, alongside the return of Harry Styles.
