Music charts in 2023 will be dominated by female artists, but new artists are being shut out

Female artists have had a record year on the UK Singles Chart, spending the most weeks at number one since records began in 1952.

Female artists topped the charts 31 out of 52 weeks, either as solo artists or in collaboration with other musicians.

Miley Cyrus’ biggest song of the year was her breakup anthem “Flowers,” which garnered 198 million streams.

However, there were almost no new songs in the top 10 best-selling albums of that year.

The Weeknd’s best album from two years ago, “The Highlights,” took first place, followed by Taylor Swift’s 2022 album “Midnight.”

New albums by Lewis Capaldi, Olivia Rodrigo and Ed Sheeran all outsold the ‘best of’ collections by Elton John, Eminem, Fleetwood Mac and Abba.

The only new release in the top 10 was Taylor Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” but even that was a re-recorded and repackaged version of her 2014 album.

This pattern was repeated, to a lesser extent, on the singles chart, with nostalgic hits such as The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and Tom Odell’s “Another Love”, as well as songs by Calvin Harris, SZA and Harry Styles. It was lined up next to “Z”’s new song.

The reason is simple. People gravitate toward classical because they have decades of music available at the touch of a button.

But that makes it difficult for new music to make an impact, and the question arises: where will tomorrow’s classics come from?

According to data from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” was the only song released in 2023 to be certified double platinum.

This means it recorded 1.2 million “charting units,” a metric that combines streaming, downloads, and physical sales.

No other record has reached this milestone.

In the album market, none of the new releases that year were popular enough to earn a platinum disc, which represents sales of 300,000 copies.

Ten years ago, 14 albums achieved that goal. In 2003 she was 51.

Music writer Patrick Clifton recently pointed out that such statistics pose a “crisis” for the UK music industry.

“The new generation of artists aren’t building the kind of fan bases that will buy tickets to gigs and festivals in two, five, or 10 years, and this generation of music fans is getting older. We haven’t popularized songs that would later become ubiquitous in our culture.” he wrote on Medium.

He says successful artists are able to have a “two-way” relationship with fans on social media and “don’t mind revisiting songs in their repertoire if that song sells like crazy. ” claimed to be an artist.

Year-end charts partially reflect this shift, with artists like the Pink Panther and David Kushner turning viral success into real-world accomplishments.

Meanwhile, superstars like Miguel and The Weeknd charted overlooked album songs for the first time after resurfacing on TiKTok.

The so-called “long tail” effect means that older songs continue to generate streams after their initial chart appearance.

As a result, 2022 releases include Eliza Rose’s dance anthem “BOTA (Baddest Of Them All),” George Ezra’s “Green, Green Grass,” and Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ duet “Unholy.” Nine hit songs will reach their one millionth “sales” in 2023.

One interesting side effect of changing musical habits is that record charts, once a repository of collectible classics, now seem more up-to-date than the main album countdown.

Seven of the top 10 vinyl albums were new releases. Taylor Swift’s 1989 was a bestseller, followed by The Rolling Stones’ acclaimed comeback, Hackney Diamonds.

New songs from Olivia Rodrigo, Blur and Lewis Capaldi also rank at the top, along with perennial bestsellers Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. Entered 10.

Overall demand for music continues to rise, with a record 179.6 billion songs streamed in the UK.

More than 6 million vinyl records were sold, the highest since 1990. Ten million CD albums were sold, and cassette sales exceeded 100,000 for the fourth consecutive year.

However, streaming continues to dominate British music habits, with streaming now accounting for 87.7% of the market, up from 63.6% five years ago.

BPI said 2023 will be a “groundbreaking” year for women, with seven of the top 10 best-selling songs featuring female artists.

Joe Twist, the group’s chief executive, said: “This should be celebrated, but we should not be complacent.”

“Our work in the music industry continues to ensure this becomes the norm.”