UK annual recorded music exports top £800 million for the first time

• UK recorded music exports reached £800.3m in 2025 – the highest annual total since BPI began measuring the value of music exports in 2020
• While this represents a rise of more than 50% in the last five years, the figure also shows a slowing in the rate of growth to just 0.8% year-on-year in 2025 as competition in the global market intensifies.
• Recorded music exports were boosted in part by a new wave of British talent, the full impact of which is likely to come through even more strongly in 2026’s figures.
• The US was the UK’s biggest recorded music exports market, contributing around 40% of the annual total, followed by Germany, France, Australia and Canada.
• 67 UK artists each generated over more than 1 billion audio streams globally in 2025 with Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa claiming the biggest totals.

The breakthrough success of a new wave of UK artists helped recorded music exports surpass £800 million annually for the first time in 2025.

According to the BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world-leading record companies and label businesses, British recorded music exports totalled £800.3 million in 2025, an increase of 0.8% on the previous year. The BPI began tracking the value of music exports in 2020, and today’s figure represents an increase of 50% on 2020’s £533m figure. The full contribution of several new and rising artists will only be realised in 2026’s figures.

Unprecedented competition from long-established players such as the US and Canada, as well as from the likes of South Korea and territories across Asia and Latin America, has made it increasingly more difficult for British music artists to compete around the world. At the same time, streaming has created a more competitive market in which catalogue music is as easy to discover as new music. But 2025 shows signs of a sustained fightback, with fresh UK names including Olivia Dean, Lola Young, YUNGBLUD, PinkPantheress and Sleep Token achieving success in a number of leading music markets around the world.

Underpinning these and other artist breakthroughs is the long-term support and investment of the UK’s record labels. A key part of their focus is achieving success in international markets, a point highlighted in February this year when Spotify revealed that more than 75% of the revenue generated on its streaming platform by UK artists last year occurred overseas.

Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI Chief Executive, said:  

“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. 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 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.”

British music breakthroughs gathered pace in closing stages of 2025

Typified by Olivia Dean, the growing presence of new UK music artists on the world’s charts in 2025 was weighted towards the latter stages of the year. In the fourth quarter of 2025, she scored her first US Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hit with Man I Need, which followed her second album The Art Of Loving debuting at No.8 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart. The album peaked at No.3 in the US in January this year. During the closing few months of 2025, Dean’s music was also growing in popularity in other markets, including Australia, where Man I Need reached No.1 on the ARIA Singles Chart in November. By May this year the track had spent 21 weeks at No.1 in Australia, the second-longest chart-topping run of all time behind only Dance Monkey by Australian artist Tones and I (No.1 for 24 weeks).

As well as Dean, the 2025 international success of a number of other UK artists has accelerated since the beginning of this year, including in the US where Dave (Raindance with Tems), EsDeeKid (4 Raws), Sam Fender (Rein Me In with Olivia Dean) and Sienna Spiro (Die On This Hill) all charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time. At the same time RAYE scored her biggest US hit to date (Where Is My Husband!) and was joined on the chart by the likes of Myles Smith (Nice To Meet You) and PinkPantheress (Stateside).

This all suggests the international momentum that began building for UK talent last year and has carried into this year will have a positive impact on 2026’s recorded music export numbers. As further evidence, a report issued by Luminate in June revealed UK artists’ share of the US streaming market grew by 0.8% in the first quarter of 2026, helped by Dean and other artist breakthroughs, alongside the return of global superstar Harry Styles.

Coldplay led the charge of 67 British artists topping 1 billion streams globally

In total, 67 British artists each accumulated over 1 billion audio streams globally during 2025, according to Luminate. A quarter of a century after the release of their debut album Parachutes, Coldplay were the most-streamed UK act around the world last year, followed by Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Arctic Monkeys and Calvin Harris. Alongside long-established artists and legends such as The Beatles, Elton John and Oasis, the 20 most-streamed UK artists in 2025 also included Charli XCX, Olivia Dean and Central Cee, who last year achieved a new international milestone for UK rap when his release Can’t Rush Greatness became the first by a British hip-hop artist to reach the Top 10 of the US Billboard 200 chart. Other UK artists with a billion plus worldwide streams in 2025 include beabadoobee, Fred again.., Lola Young and RAYE.

A full market breakdown can be found in the appendix below.

Slowing rate of growth highlights continued need for music export initiatives

With UK music exports’ growth slowing to 0.8% in 2025 in the face of intensifying global competition, the figures also highlight the continued importance of proactive trade missions and export initiatives like the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS).

MEGS is developed and administered by the BPI with joint funding from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), as well as from the music industry itself. It provides grants to small-to-medium-sized independent UK companies who are looking to build the profiles and careers of their artists in international music markets. The latest round of funding was announced in March with £1.4 million being distributed among 68 artists.

Over 24 rounds, MEGS has invested over £9.2 million in British music, leading to an estimated £81.5 million financial return to the UK economy and a return on investment from completed rounds of nearly £14 for every £1 received from Government.