For the first time since the era when Thunderbirds were go, Beyoncé was still in Destiny’s Child, and The Tortured Poets Department was just a twinkle in Taylor Swift’s diary, British pop stars have flatlined on the year’s global bestseller charts. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) dropped its 2024 report this week, and the numbers are brutal: Not a single UK act cracked the Top 10 in either the worldwide singles or albums tally. The Britpop empire has left the building—at least for now.
Let’s set the scene: For decades, British artists have been as unavoidable in global pop as rain at Glastonbury. The Beatles, Adele, Ed Sheeran, One Direction, Spice Girls, Elton John, Queen, Coldplay, Dua Lipa—the UK export office doesn’t mess around. But 2024 belongs to Taylor Swift (obviously) and a 21-year-old American TikTok heartthrob named Benson Boone, whose Beautiful Things became the year’s most-streamed song. Boone’s piano-slam power ballad—a song so overwrought it makes Lewis Capaldi sound like elevator jazz—conquered charts from Oslo to Sydney, peaking at No. 2 in the U.S. (blocked, inevitably, by Swift). Meanwhile, The Tortured Poets Department became Swift’s seventh IFPI Global Album Chart topper, breaking her own record. The album’s release—timed to her Eras Tour’s billion-dollar hot streak—sparked forensic analysis of which tracks roasted which ex (Matty Healy truthers, rise).
So where were the Brits? The highest-ranking UK entry came from Artemas, a 24-year-old singer-producer whose I Like the Way You Kiss Me landed at No. 15. Not bad for a debut, but hardly a Someone Like You-sized moment. Even more jarring: For the first time in over 20 years, the UK’s own singles chart lacked homegrown Top 10 entries. Coldplay’s orchestral Moon Music era? Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism disco pivot? Charli XCX’s Brat-titude (she’s the Brit Awards’ most-nominated act next week)? All MIA.
Industry analysts are calling it a “cultural Brexit” hangover, but the truth is messier. Streaming’s globalized algorithms favor viral novelties (see: Boone’s 2.3 billion streams) and Taylor’s fan-army mobilization. Meanwhile, UK stars are chasing TikTok clout or concept albums instead of chart-busting bangers. “British artists are experimenting, not pandering,” says BBC Radio 1’s Clara Amfo. “But experimentation doesn’t always translate to Billboard.”
Yet if history’s any guide, betting against British pop is a fool’s errand. The Spice Girls rebooted girl power from a Heathrow hangar. Amy Winehouse resurrected soul in rehab-chic eyeliner. Stormzy grime’d his way to Glasto’s Pyramid Stage. The UK doesn’t stay down for long—it just reloads. So while 2024’s charts feel like a Love Actually sequel where Hugh Grant’s PM gets booed offstage, 2025 could bring a new Blur vs. Oasis, a post-punk poet, or a Gen Z diva screaming “I’m here, mate!” into the void.
As Swift sings on Tortured Poets: “You don’t get to tell me about sad.” British pop’s next chapter? It’s gonna be biblical.
