Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic On a bright, chilly afternoon on the banks of the Thames, more than 100 senior music executives file into a small studio with a simple but formidable challenge: to take four of today’s most promising British acts and make them global superstars.There are no cameras and no fans or other journalists present as Lola Young, the chaotically confessional singer behind breakout hit “Messy”, and the blue-collar rocker Sam Fender take the stage. Slinky soul singer Olivia Dean and art-rock band The Last Dinner Party join the gathering convened by Universal Music Group boss Lucian Grainge of the label’s global chiefs, summoned to take a new wave of acts from the UK back to their regions to break and build.Talking as the artists anxiously await their turns, Grainge gives a rallying cry to “open up the UK in what I believe is the next great cycle” and references artists from the Beatles to Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse to Ed Sheeran. “The UK has been the microcosm of so many trends, so many influences,” he says. “And this is where we are: the beginning of the next cycle.”But behind the handshakes and head nods in the room, there are concerns — expressed mostly privately and quietly — about the recent lack of new British talent achieving breakthrough success in the large US market in particular. “It’s been quiet for a few years,” Grainge acknowledges. “We’re not quite sure why.”Popular artists such as Charli XCX, whose Brat album was a cultural wrecking ball last summer, Little Simz and Dua Lipa are far from new kids on the block. Even more established artists such as Adele, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Harry Styles continue to capture some of the biggest sales, raising questions about not just who will be at the vanguard of the next British wave, but whether it is even possible in today’s global streaming market. In the digital age, all streams are equal, and the advantages that the UK once enjoyed in terms of language, industry and heritage have been eroded by algorithms that simply promote the most popular, giving countries with larger populations a new edge. In 2024, artists from Mexico, Brazil and India made the largest global streaming gains, according to Luminate, the data provider, while artists from the UK were among those that saw the largest decline.Music body the IFPI showed only a single British artist in the global top 20 songs last year: Oxfordshire-born, TikTok-popular star Artemas. For the first time in more than 20 years, there were no British performers among the top 10 best selling albums or singles; two years ago, UK artists took seven of the 20 spots in the singles and albums lists.The UK is still the second-largest exporter of recorded music after the US. But the rate of growth in the value of music exports more than halved last year, with UK stars vying for listeners against intensifying global competition not just from the US, but also from South Korea, Latin America and Africa. The BPI says UK artists now cumulatively account for less than a tenth of global audio streams, down from 17 per cent as recently as 2015.Simon Robson, president of recorded music EMEA for Warner Music Group, says that “the UK has punched above our weight for many years”, but adds that “music is becoming truly global, with K-pop, Afrobeats. Large population countries around the world are having more of an influence.”At the Universal showcase, Young is the nearest to a breakout star — and she recognises how hard it is to make the next step to the global stage. “At one point in my career I did not think this was going to happen,” she says, talking backstage. “Things click and it feels like the right time. That’s amazing. I want things now to go even further.” Young has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the US, and her song “Messy” — boosted by a TikTok dance craze — is in the top 10 in close to a dozen countries. It has amassed 600mn streams globally. She observes that in the US it is easier for her to stand out. “In America, I have a point of difference. I am funnier. Less polished. I am not going to rock up with shiny skin and a dress that fits perfectly. I am not putting it on . . . I mean, I look like I rolled out of bed.”One executive expresses the hope that Young could become as popular as Adele, her fellow Brit School alumnus with whom she shares a powerful voice, a south London heritage and a love of the F-word. The other three acts have also had success beyond the UK, and are working towards the next stage. In February, Sam Fender’s album People Watching had the biggest UK opening week for a British solo act since Harry Styles’ Harry’s House in 2022, outselling the rest of the UK top 10 combined on its way to number one. Executives are banking on his brand of Springsteen-style rock playing well in the US. And it is not just Universal pinning its hopes on British artists. UK rap has not made as much impact abroad as some expected, but executives hope that the recent success of Central Cee — whose debut album Can’t Rush Greatness rose high in the US charts — will continue to build. Chrystal, PinkPantheress and Raye have also shown promise.Sony’s money is on Luton-born singer-songwriter Myles Smith, who has attracted more than 1.8bn streams to date, largely with his hit “Stargazing”.Stacey Tang and Glyn Aikins, co-presidents of RCA UK, Smith’s Sony label, have little doubt that he is cutting through.“He’s got a really broad audience”, says Tang. “Before he was number one [on the UK Radio Airplay Chart], he was number one in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. America is a huge territory for anybody. But there’s also other places that we look at to build an audience, to impact global streaming.”In some respects, worldwide success has never been easier to achieve, with streaming offering access to the ears of billions. But these platforms are bombarded by thousands of tracks uploaded every hour; according to Luminate, more than 120,000 tracks are posted every day.Streamers and social media are now the gatekeepers for the world’s music, but snaring prominence is harder than getting playlisted on BBC’s Radio 1. One senior music executive says: “The algorithm doesn’t favour UK artists [and] obviously old media does not have anything like the influence it once did. There’s been a seismic shift.”Labels have needed to adapt strategies to help break artists globally, with some executives pointing to the need for “trade routes” to sell to other regions. Robson describes “trigger cities” such as Mexico City, Manila and Jakarta, which are passionate about music and “also happen to have a very large population. These fans can generate so many more streams, which then starts to impact the algorithm.”Tang agrees, pointing as an example to the importance of Italy, where a high number of free Spotify accounts means a large listening audience that can influence global charts.Like many of the artists, Smith has a large following on social media, and has benefited from an innovative tie-up with online game Fortnite. But, for Tang, it is important that social media success is the result of the music, rather than the other way round. With breaking music harder than ever, what makes executives most confident about the new wave of young British artists is their work rate.“Even though everyone else sees the success as overnight or very quick, there is an artist who has been working their ass off to be in the position that they’re in,” says Young, who has been signed to UMG’s Island Records for six years.The Last Dinner Party are heading to Brazil next. Olivia Dean has just come back from a long tour in Asia. Fender is in Europe this week. Smith has been touring since January 2024 and has sold 115,000 tickets, Tang says. “You have to have great songs, you have to have an artist who’s really, really driven, and you have to have a team that’s able to activate globally.”Robson adds that every artist who has the chance to make it big globally also has a “moment” when the label needs to start heavily investing. Having already struck gold with Charli XCX and Dua Lipa, Warner is now hopeful of building up the global reach of newer artists such as PinkPantheress, Jordan Adetunji and Fred Again.For Universal, that moment has come for the four artists on stage in London, with several then going on to play at the Brit Awards the following evening. The atmosphere in the 02 Arena is more confident than in recent years, according to music industry executives, who said that the combination of Smith, Young, Fender, Jade and The Last Dinner Party was strong enough to allow US star Sabrina Carpenter to open rather than close the show.Grainge — who cut his teeth as a talent scout in the late 1970s and ’80s — did not pull his punches when he told his executives what he wanted next. “All of you who know me know I do like a big hit,” he told the crowd. “And we heard several of them this afternoon from a completely different array of artists.”Find out about our latest stories first — follow FT Weekend on Instagram and X, and sign up to receive the FT Weekend newsletter every Saturday morning
