April 15, 2010 – Scottish superstar Susan Boyle’s multi-platinum selling album ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ and the release of The Beatles’ remastered back catalogue by EMI helped the UK maintain a strong share of the North American market for recorded music during 2009.
New figures released today by UK recorded music body the BPI showed that one in ten artist albums sold in the USA and Canada are by British acts.
Breakthrough act Jay Sean also enjoyed unprecedented success in the US singles market, becoming the first British urban artist to top the charts when ‘Down’ reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. ‘Down’ sold more than 3m copies in the US in 2009.
The sustained market share – 9.6%, only fractionally down from 10% in 2008 – was delivered in part due to the impressive sales performance of SuBo’s extraordinary debut album. ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ sold more than 700,000 in the first week of release - securing Susan Boyle the title of Best Selling Female Artist Debut - and eventually totalled a staggering 3.4m sales in America and Canada in just six weeks.
The UK’s presence in the album charts received a further boost from the release of the remastered Beatles catalogue. A total of 21 album titles enjoyed chart success with collective sales reaching 3.2m in the US, including 200,000 sales of the must-have collector’s items, The Beatles stereo and mono box sets.
2009 also saw an increase in the number of new young performers breaking through in North America. British urban artist Jay Sean became the biggest selling UK act in the singles download market bringing an end to The Black Eyed Peas’ record-breaking six-month reign at the top of The Billboard Hot 100. Alongside top five albums positions for Lily Allen, Depeche Mode, Imogen Heap, Muse and Rod Stewart, other acts performing strongly Stateside included The Ting Tings, Adele and Sting.
2010 is already shaping up well with Sade’s ‘Soldier Of Love’ making No.1 in the album charts in February, Gorillaz’ ‘Plastic Beach’ No.2 in March, and a Top 10 for Corinne Bailey Rae’s ‘The Sea’. Dominating the singles downloads chart lately was Taio Cruz’s ‘Break Your Heart’ which hit the No.1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 last month.
BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said:
“The continued success of UK artists in major international markets like the US highlights not only the strength and depth of UK talent, but also the skill and investment by UK record companies in marketing and promoting British music overseas.
“The revenue this generates helps to fund new British music that fans at home and abroad can enjoy.”
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS
For further information on BPI
Adam Liversage on 020 7803 1326 / 0780 1179032 or email adam.liversage@bpi.co.uk.
Lynne McDowell on 020 7803 1395 / 0776 3619709 or email lynne.mcdowell@bpi.co.uk.
About BPI
The BPI is the representative voice of the UK recorded music business. We are a trade organisation funded by our members - which include the UK's four major record labels and hundreds of independent music companies. BPI members account for approximately 90% of all recorded music sold in the UK, and globally the UK's recorded music market is the third biggest.
The BPI also organises the annual BRIT Awards show as well as the Classical BRIT Awards show. The organising company BRIT Awards Limited, is a fully owned subsidiary of the BPI. Substantial proceeds from both shows go to the BRIT Trust, the charitable arm of the BPI that has donated almost £15m to charitable causes nationwide, since its foundation in 1989.