The BRIT Awards, the UK’s foremost celebration of our music industry, have announced their shortlist for this year’s edition. The event, which has run from 1977, will be held in Manchester’s Co-Op Live arena on Saturday the 28th of February.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The BRIT Awards (@brits)

This year marks the first time that the ceremony has been held outside London in its 48-year history. The BRITs, organised by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the biggest event in the British music calendar, a party rife with live performances, drama, and most importantly the coveted awards.

The categories on offer range from best acts within various genres, best song, best album, and the pinnacle – Artist of the Year. In addition, while the spotlight is mainly on British talent, they offer accolades for international acts. Last year’s ceremony saw performances from Sam Fender, Teddy Swims and Sabrina Carpenter. Charli XCX took a clean sweep of the top three awards, claiming British Album, Single and Artist of the Year titles with her summer-sensation album ‘BRAT’.

For this year’s batch of nominees, there are a few familiar faces, mixed with an overwhelming number of new ones. For the sound of 2025, two names are synonymous with it – Olivia Dean and Lola Young. The pair are both nominated for best artist and single honours among others, with Dean having an album nomination for ‘The Art Of Loving’, and an extra song nomination for her contribution to Sam Fender’s hit ‘Rein Me In’, while Young is competing for the best breakthrough and rock/alternative brackets. Both artists attended the BRIT school, an institution for the creative arts with no attendance fees.    

Sam Fender himself is up for four categories, with high odds on for best album following his achievement of the Mercury Prize for 2025 album ‘People Watching’. Another of last year’s triumphs was the dramatic return of Lily Allen, whose empowered release ‘West End Girl’ has earned her three nominations.

The statement from the BRITs also highlighted a few of the curveballs in this years awards, namely the two tracks that kicked off cultural obsessions from film, now receiving recognition in the Best Song categories. ‘Defying Gravity’ performed by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, was the standout song from the Hollywood adaptation of The Wizard Of Oz stage-show ‘Wicked’, which released in 2024. Running for the International Song Of The Year is ‘Golden’, taken from the Netflix animation ‘KPop Demon Hunters’, which was a pop-culture phenomenon for all of last year.

Other notable cameos in the list include Turnstile and Geese picking up debut nominations under international group, Chappell Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club’ aiming for best international song six years after its original release, and Jarvis Cocker’s band Pulp receiving their first nomination since 1996. This year’s roster is also the most progressive one since the BRITs began. Their announcement claims “Nearly 70% (69.2%) of the nominations feature women and non-binary people combined as solo artists or in mixed gender groups. This is the highest representation of women and non-binary people yet.”    

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

A post shared by The BRIT Awards (@brits)

The ceremony can be viewed on British TV on the 28th of February, with ITV broadcasting it, and with comedian Jack Whitehall taking hosting duties. So far the list of live performances is a mystery, aside from nominee Olivia Dean who has been confirmed to play. Fans at home can cast their vote on Song of the Year and International Song of the Year via Whatsapp from the 30th of January, closing on the 13th of February. The full list of awards and nominees can be found on the BRIT Awards’ website.

Patrick Wolf teased the release of his new EP on Instagram, playing a rendition of the title song ‘Better or Worse’ on the octave lyre. He also states in the Instagram post that he has had a five string electric viola made especially for his current tour, showcasing his creativity. Early in Wolf’s career, he made his own instruments whilst part of London’s underground art and music scenes. Wolf also studied French and lived in Malaga, Spain allowing him to speak both Spanish and French in his music.

His latest EP is a perfect example of this, the third track ‘Hymne Des Étrangers’ is a slow ballad sang in French while the 4th song ‘Mejora O Empeorar’ is a electronic-folk song sang in Spanish. On Instagram, Wolf wrote “I guess this a good time to tell you a “better or worse” e.p will be yours on Monday, with my first song I’ve written in the French language “Hymne Des Étrangers” and the Spanish language reworking and summer of 2025 re-production of Better or Worse called “Mejora O Empeorar””.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PATRICK WOLF (@patrickwolf)

Patrick wolf released his debut album ‘Lycanthropy’ in 2004, first showcasing his unique blend of folk, electronica and baroque pop. In this album, he struggles with themes of isolation and addiction. These themes continue through his next releases, ‘Wind in the Wires’, released in 2005, through to ‘Lupercalia’, released in 2011. After the release of ‘Lupercalia’, Wolf took a long hiatus to focus on personal growth, sobriety and creativity. When he returned in 2023 with the ‘Night Safari EP’, it marked the beginning of a new chapter – one shaped by sobriety, reflection, and a deepening interest in language and cultural expression. ‘Better Or Worse’ continues that journey.  

Wolf is currently touring his latest full-length album “Crying the Neck’ , fan honest and intimate album that includes highlights such as ‘Limbo’ featuring Zola Jesus, and ‘The Last of England’ a single Wolf calls “his national anthem”. Here is the music video to his latest single.

Patrick Wolf is playing a show at the beautiful open air Minack Theatre in Penzance, Cornwall on September 5 2025, where he will play his 2005 seminal album ‘Wind in the Wires’ to celebrate it’s 20 year anniversary, before heading over to the USA and Canada to begin his tour there. Tickets for his show at Penzance are available here

Tracklist:

• Better Or Worse
• Hymne Des Étrangers
• She Didn’t Dance
• Mejora O Empeorar
• Better Or Worse (Instrumental)
• Better Or Worse (El Lobo Remix)

He is clearly very serious about this, and has created a new website dedicated to finding the perfect male artists to create his dream. Auditions are set to begin in Newcastle on the 4th July, and after that will move on to Liverpool, Dublin and London. Cowell has expressed his belief that “Every generation deserves a megastar boyband and I don’t think there has been one to have the success of One Direction in over 14 years.” leading to this desperate attempt to expand the British music industry and move away from the focus on solo artists, and instead embrace a boyband. This campaign carries a “high degree of risk” but Cowell believes that “nothing beats the fun of being in a group, touring the world and performing for thousands.”

However, even Cowell’s hope is limited, as he has also discussed the high probability of a successful solo career branching from this venture for a megastar boyband, and in his pitch noted the success of Harry Styles after the disbandment of One Direction.

Whilst Simon Cowell has a clear eye for success, proven through the omnipresence of One Direction, even after their split back in 2015, however his last few attempts have been less successful. His last X-factor winners, Rak-Su, had a short lived success after reaching number 2 in the UK charts with their debut single “I’m Feeling You”, but their fame quickly fizzled afterwards. Nonetheless, he has high hopes that on his trek around the UK he will find exactly what he’s looking for, and that Britain will soon be treated to another musical success.

Our NEW EP is out today!! “Home Soon” everybody!! AND with it a new single Gamma Rays!! Give it a listen or ten and let us know what’s your fave!! Big love, cassia x

➡️ https://t.co/dmXOGdRVEZ pic.twitter.com/dLHFgD5l3Y

— Cassia (@wearecassia) February 9, 2024

Cassia is composed of vocalist Rob Ellis, bassist Lou Cotterill, and drummer Jacob Leff. Collectively, the group have cited World Music as a shared inspiration, with frontman Ellis saying: “Speaking personally I think the thing that interests me the most is the unpredictability of the music. It’s cool knowing that there’s an endless vat of unexplored approaches ideas out there to take influence from.” Having spent part of his childhood in Zambia, lead singer Ellis was exposed to West African music and has brought this mastery into Cassia’s sound. Their Home Soon… EP was constructed all over the world, taking influence from every corner of the globe. The band commented on their recent writing style, claiming: “we felt that gave us a new lease of life creatively.”

Moreover, when asked about the EP in general, the band said: “Summed up the EP is based around life cycles. I feel that l always struggle to cope with chapters drawing to a natural close because it forces me to change what is comfortable, it is just a natural response of mine and so these songs act as an outlet for me, some tracks reminded me of the positive outcomes that come off the back of change, whilst some songs were jotted down during a painful switch of reality.”

In honour of the release of their new EP, Cassia will be performing a one off intimate show in London this March. For more information and tickets, click here.

We have a NEW EP dropping 9th Feb!It’s called ‘Home Soon’ and you can now preorder it on vinyl as well as new merch! we’re also doing a one off intimate show in LONDON!! General sale is Monday but you can grab one early with a vinyl + ticket bundle

➡️ https://t.co/e97u4bet1H pic.twitter.com/RwIQqi4REO

— Cassia (@wearecassia) November 10, 2023

Tour dates:

04/03/2024 – Omeara – London
14/03 – Flux FM Bergfest – Berlin
04/11 – New Century – Manchester
05/11 – HERE At Outernet – London
06/11 – HERE At Outernet – London

The advert, as well as two posters that featured Kendall Jenner for the same brand, received complaints that the imagery was “offensive and irresponsible, because they objectified women; and” was “inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium.”  Whilst the ASA concluded that the posters featuring Kendall Jenner were found to be within regulatory standards since she is covered to a degree that the ASA considers “no more than mildly sexual”, the ASA deemed the poster featuring FKA Twigs to be “overtly sexual and… not suitable for display in an untargeted medium.”

The key contention held by the ASA is that Barnett’s poster relies upon nudity to draw the viewer’s attention instead of the advertised clothing. In this regard, the ASA ruled that the poster “used nudity and centred on FKA Twig’s physical features rather than the clothing, to the extent that it presented her as a stereotypical sexual object”.

Despite a response from Calvin Klein that argued that the “Images were not vulgar and were of two confident and empowered women who had chosen to identify with the Calvin Klein brand”, the ASA ruled that the advertisement “must not appear again in the form complained of”.

In response to the ASA, FKA Twigs took to Instagram to say: “I do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me.” She added “in light of reviewing other campaigns past and current of this nature, I can’t help but feel there are some double standards here.” What makes this ruling especially contentious, to many online, is the use of male models in equally suggestive marketing, receiving no criticism.

Although the ASA may have a technical case for pulling the FKA Twigs poster, it is hard to ignore that the singer openly endorses the poster and feels that she was able to “express myself exactly how I wanted to”. FKA Twigs cited women of colour like “Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt and Grace Jones” who pushed boundaries in art and performance as inspiration for her work. Within this context, FKA Twigs’ feature has been deemed by many online to be entirely uncontroversial, with American indie-rock artists Mattiel commenting: “I see discipline in this photo. Many many years of discipline and thoughtful caretaking of the self.” 

Miley Cyrus led the way with her hit single “Flowers,” spending ten weeks at No 1. Other talented artists such as Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding, Kenya Grace, Raye, Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift also enjoyed time at the top spot.

In fact, Goulding, Cyrus, Swift, Raye, SZA, PinkPantheress, and Libianca dominated seven out of the top 10 most popular tracks of the year. This achievement is the highest number of female-led tracks in the history of the Official Singles Chart, which spans over 70 years.

Goulding’s collaboration with Calvin Harris, “Miracle,” was particularly notable, and the rest of the top 10 featured artists like Dave, Central Cee, and Rema.

Dr Jo Twist, the chief executive of BPI, expressed her delight at this significant shift but also stressed the importance of not becoming complacent. She emphasised the need for continued efforts in the music industry, she said,“Our work in the music industry continues to ensure that this becomes the norm.” 

Furthermore, an impressive 48.5% of all songs that reached the Top 10 this year were either solo efforts or collaborations by female artists. This represents the highest annual share of Top 10 hits by female musicians in this century.

In 2023, the British music industry saw its ninth consecutive year of growth, with album sales and streams increasing by 10% to a total of 182.8 million. Streaming reached a record high with 179.6 billion audio streams, a 12.8% increase from the previous year. However, no new releases achieved platinum status, indicating a“crisis” in the industry according to music writer Patrick Clifton. He added,“A new generation of artists is not building fanbases that will buy gig and festival tickets in two, five, or 10-years’ time, and is not popularising songs that will have ubiquity in our culture once this generation of music fans reaches old age. The artists who succeed, he argued, are those who are able to cultivate a “two-way” relationship with fans on social media, and “don’t mind revisiting songs from their repertoire if those songs blow up”.

Vinyl records sales reached a remarkable milestone, surpassing 6 million units, marking the highest total since 1990. Additionally, CD sales remained strong with a staggering 10 million albums sold. Furthermore, cassette sales maintained their steady performance, exceeding 100,000 units for the fourth consecutive year.

However, it is undeniable that streaming has become the dominant force in the UK’s music landscape. Accounting for a remarkable 87.7% of the market share, streaming has experienced a substantial growth compared to 63.6% five years ago.

The V&A East shared, “This landmark exhibition will reveal how Black British music has shaped British culture. Spanning four continents and 12 decades, this is a story of excellence and struggle, resilience and joy,” with it focusing on “125 years of Black music-making in Britain.”

We’re excited to announce our first exhibition, The Music Is Black: A British Story, opening at V&A East Museum, East Bank, in 2025.
You can read more about it here: https://t.co/mIhqroEiE9 #vameast #TMIB

— V&A East (@vam_east) November 1, 2023

The Music Is Black will celebrate pioneers of black music including icons such as Janet Kay, Winifred Atwell and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, as well as modern day stars including Stormzy, Little Simz and Jorja Smith. The exhibition will also explore how musical greats including The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac were influenced by black music, drawing on its rich history to produce their now iconic works.

Promising an immersive experience, V&A East will draw on BBC archives, playbills, films, paintings and prints, amongst much more to provide an expansive walk-through of eras and stories. The curators are putting together “immersive AV and large-scale installations” to create a multi-sensory exhibition that will celebrate black music in all its glory.

Jaqueline Springer, curator of The Music Is Black, shared, “Music is the soundtrack to our lives, and one of the most powerful tools of unification. It brings collective and individual joy as we recite song lyrics at festivals and gigs, recall dance moves perfected in childhood bedrooms, and mime to guitar breaks, bassline drops and instrumental flourishes with glee.”

Springer continued, “Set against a backdrop of British colonialism and evolving social, political, and cultural landscapes, we will celebrate the richness and versatility of Black and Black British music as instruments of protest, affirmation, and creativity, and reveal the untold stories behind some of the world’s most popular music of all time.”

Hear more from Springer and her thoughts on music here:  

Continuing the BPI’s #BlackHistoryMonth ‘Saluting our Sisters’ project is Jacqueline Springer, Curator of Africa & Diaspora: Performance at @V_and_A, speaking about her experience of and hopes for the future of our industry. pic.twitter.com/2X1VkiCqM8

— BPI (@bpi_music) November 1, 2023

The Music Is Black will also delve into the impact that migration has had on music, highlighting the importance of the Windrush movement bringing new sounds from the Caribbean to the UK. The exhibition will take us on a journey from the Windrush era all the way through to the current chart-topping tracks that hold Afr0-Caribbean influence.

The exhibition is set to open in Spring 2025.

Tickets will be available to purchase here.

Label investment through A&R is driving success for new UK artists

A&R and marketing spend represented 39% of label revenues last year

Labels A&R spending grew nearly 2 and-a-half times faster than their revenue over the past 5 years

A&R spend was 106.6% more in 2021 than 2016 pic.twitter.com/NO7mGHMBo8

— BPI (@bpi_music) August 11, 2022

106.6% more money was spent on A&R in 2021 than it was in 2016 (£173.3 million), which includes artist advances, the cost of new recordings, video production, and tour support. UK labels’ total revenue income climbed by 42.9% over the same five-year period to 2021, mostly due to a 51.3% increase in streaming revenue. This indicates that labels’ A&R investment accounted for 28.4% of their overall revenues and that labels’ A&R spending increased at a rate that was roughly 2.5 times faster than their revenue growth.

The BPI states that “The almost half a billion pound annual investment record labels make in A&R and artist marketing is crucial in enabling them to discover, sign, develop and break new artists, create new music, fund and provide artistic and creative support and direction, organise tour support and provide other supporting services such as marketing, promotion and PR.”

They go on to say that the investment has been crucial “in developing the international careers of British talent such as Arlo Parks, Dua Lipa, George Ezra, Glass Animals, Griff, Joel Corry, Joy Crookes, Lewis Capaldi, Mabel, PinkPantheress, Rag’n’Bone Man, Sam Fender, Tom Grennan and Wolf Alice, to name just a few”. Making the UK number two in the world in music export after the US.

According to a BPI review of data from Luminate, over 120 UK musicians with debut albums released after 2015 earned more than 100 million global audio streams last year. They go on to state that “This represents nearly one-third of all the artists from the UK who attained this level of streaming success in 2021”. Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize, summed it all up in a statement released on the BPI website:

“The UK has been one of the world’s music superpowers since the advent of pop culture, thanks to the combination of our many incredible artists drawn from all regions and nations, and the passion, financial backing and expertise of our record labels. During a time when music has returned to growth after years of decline, labels have continued to prioritise investment in artists. Spending on A&R reached a record £358 million last year and is significantly outpacing revenue increases. It is fuelling success for a new generation of UK artists who are embracing the opportunities of this truly connected world, underpinning our leading position on the global music stage.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The1975 (@the1975)

Most of the teasing in the leadup for the album began over a month ago, In true 1975 spirit, June 1^st continues to be a bit of an in-joke amongst the fandom. After deriving their name from an inscription in a poetry book that read “1st June, The 1975″, June 1^st just seems to be the date where things happen. This time around, the posters started popping up and they also started sharing new images on their socials with the caption “Your new album. Your new era. Your old friends. The 1975”. A handful of other cryptic images and captions later, we come to the present, with the promise of a new album set for release in… October. That’s right, October 14^th. You can pre-order the record here. You’ll have forgotten you’d even ordered it by the time the release date actually comes around. Treat yourself. You can watch the video for single 1, “Part of the Band” below.

The 11-track album may come as a warm surprise to some fans as their previous 2 records – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships and Notes On A Conditional Form – were well received by critics and fans, have been described as a little bloated, and a few too many unnecessary interludes and throw away tracks. Aside from the recurring “The 1975” intro, there’s hardly any space for filler. If the lead single is anything to go by, their now practically trademarked blend of slick and shiny pop-production meets Beach Boys-esque instrumentals has very much been adhered to. You can see the album’s tracklist, as shown on the band’s twitter, below.

Being funny in a foreign language track list #the1975 pic.twitter.com/XCVAx18yCk

— The 1975 (@The1975Updates) June 29, 2022

As of yet, the band are only scheduled to make 2 appearances in the foreseeable future. This August, both Tokyo and Osaka will be hosting Japan’s own Summer Sonic Festivals. But, that being said, traditional marketing would suggest that they’ll probably announce a few smaller dates, probably around the UK, quite soon. Before embarking on the usual world tour situation… you know the drill. Watch this space.

Photo Credit: Mara Palena

The UK music industry is no stranger to producing record-breaking artists. Leading the way are chart-dominating artists Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran and Adele along with heritage artists like Queen and Elton John. Adele alone is the only artist to exceed 1 million album sales last year and her album, 30, sold twice as many copies as any other. But it wasn’t just the super-established that made waves in British music in 2021. This substantial growth was also down to the work of breakthrough acts such as Glass Animals, Rex Orange County and BBC Sound of 2022 winner, PinkPantheress. In fact, Glass Animals song “Heat Waves” was Australia’s No. 1 single of the year

Last year, nearly 400 UK artists accrued over 100 million audio streams worldwide, compared to around 300 artists in 2020. The figures also revealed that there were notable artists who gained over 250 million streams yet did not achieve a UK Top 40 single, proving that despite moderate success in the UK, some of these artists will be extremely established overseas. Such artists included Grammy-nominated Ella Mai, metalcore band Asking Alexandria, and Scottish-American singer Bishop Briggs. Ella Mai’s single “Boo’d Up” hit the top five of  The Billboard Hot 100 and was an R&B No. 1 in the US, but peaked at 52 on the UK chart.

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize said, “These record-breaking figures once again highlight the extraordinary popularity of British music internationally. This is not just about our much-loved superstars, but new artists and bands from all over the UK who, with their label’s investment and expertise, are able to successfully navigate the competitive streaming landscape.”

The BPI also predict that, if this growth continues, British music exports could rise to £1 billion or more by the end of the decade. However, they do take note of the intensifying global competition and urge the Government to support artists to achieve this growth. “Continued success isn’t guaranteed,” states Taylor, he continues “with sustained support from Government, British music will continue to thrive all around the world.”

Read more here: www.bpi.co.uk