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Pop named most popular genre in the UK (please do not all shout ‘Duh!’ at once)

By | Published on Tuesday 31 March 2015

BPI

Pop music maintained its position as the UK’s most popular genre across albums, singles and compilations in 2014, record label trade group the BPI announced this morning. In the albums market, this puts pop back at the top with 34.5% share of the market, having been pushed down to number two in 2013.

What does all this mean though? Well, it’s hard to tell. As ever, how genres are defined is slightly confusing. I mean, according to the stats, rock music enjoyed its biggest share of the singles market for four years, with 23.4%. However, it was apparently ‘Budapest’ by George Ezra that created this boost. Is George Ezra rock? You decide. Actually, no you don’t, someone has already decided on your behalf. He has a guitar, so shut up.

The third most popular genre, after pop and rock, was dance, which came in at 7.7%, down from 8.3%. It was apparently propped up by Calvin Harris and Avicii, both of whom you could argue should be categorised under pop these days, couldn’t you?

Less ambiguous is Dolly Parton, whose much talked about appearance at Glastonbury, alongside a new best of album release, helped country move up to 2.3% of the market, compared to 1.7% in 2013.

The BPI’s outgoing Head Of PR, Lynne McDowell, said: “Be it pop hits, rock classics, dance anthems, classical compositions or country collaborations, British artists and labels continue to work together to make music loved by fans across the nation. The UK has a rich and diverse cultural heritage and we can be proud of the cross-genre music royalty that we have produced down through the decades to this very day”.

And, yes, I’ll keep you in suspense no longer. The stat I know you’re all waiting for is this: ‘new age’ music maintained it’s five year run of taking 0.1 of the market.



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