Rock music claimed its highest share of the UK singles market in nearly a decade in 2025 as well as strengthened its position as the top albums genre.
That’s according to the BPI, which has reported the findings in its All About The Music 2026 yearbook.
The rock genre saw its highest singles music consumption in nine years last year with a 22.2% share, placing it second to pop (33.3%). This is up from 21.4% in 2024, and is its second-highest share since 2016 (22.6%).
Artists including Sam Fender, Sleep Token and Sombr helped propel the genre into the weekly Top 10 last year.
Six tracks classified as rock made the weekly Official Singles Chart Top 10 across 2025, compared to only one in 2020. Among those were Caramel by Sleep Token, Rein Me In by Sam Fender & Olivia Dean, Back To Friends by Sombr, and Sailor Song by Gigi Perez.
The singles revival in rock is highlighted in the BPI’s report alongside the genre’s continued domination of the albums market.
In 2025, rock took 36.0% of album consumption, up from 35.3% the year previous, and ahead of pop (28.9%) in second place. Hip-hop/rap was third with 11.0% of consumption, followed by R&B (8.6%) and dance (3.8%).
Four of the year’s Top 10 albums were classified as rock: Oasis’ Time Flies - 1994-2009, and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory; the Fleetwood Mac retrospective, 50 Years – Don’t Stop; and Sam Fender’s People Watching.
Fender’s third album secured the highest first-week sales for a UK album with an opening tally of more than 107,000 chart units.
For decades, rock has played a critical role in maintaining and enhancing the UK’s status as a global music superpower
Dr Jo Twist OBE
Additionally, rock music claimed more than half (54.9%) of all UK vinyl album sales in 2025, with its biggest artist sellers including Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines DC and Radiohead. Pop was second with 23.4%, followed by hip-hop/rap (6.1%), dance (3.7%) and R&B (3.4%).
Dr Jo Twist OBE, chief executive, BPI, said: “For decades, rock has played a critical role in maintaining and enhancing the UK’s status as a global music superpower. This was truer than ever in 2025. Rock has long flourished thanks to its incredible foundations built on a deep, exceptional and still-cherished back catalogue.
“We can now add to that contemporary stars such as Sam Fender, Sleep Token, Wolf Alice, and Yungblud, who hail from across the UK and who are breathing new life into this much-loved genre both at home and around the world.”
BPI, in association with Bowers & Wilkins, will explore the success and appeal of the rock genre through an Insight Session, The Long Play: UK Rock in the Age of Streaming, held on April 30 in collaboration with Liverpool Sound City.
