Lola Young has scored the biggest single of Q1 in the UK with her global smash Messy (Island).
Music Week first reported on the result for Lola Young earlier this week in our market data for the quarter.
Now we can reveal that her label, Island EMI, was the No.1 label group for the quarter.
Island EMI, headed by label president Louis Bloom, finished on top with a 16% share of combined music consumption (All Music – All Albums). It is the first quarter in which the combined Island EMI operation’s market share performance has been tracked by the Official Charts Company.
Island EMI finished ahead of fellow Universal Music company Polydor Label Group (No.2, 13% share), Sony Music’s RCA (No.3, 10.4%), Warner-Parlophone (No.4, 6.8%), Columbia (No.5, 6.3%) and Atlantic (No.6, 5.9%).
Island EMI was also on top of the market shares for Track Streams (16.5% share) and for compilation albums (21.6%) thanks to the success of the Wicked soundtrack (which had consumption of 72,143 units in the quarter).
Polydor was No.1 on Artist Album Sales (14.1%) and All Album Sales (13%), following a run of chart-topping albums and big physical sales for Sam Fender, Lady Gaga and Sabrina Carpenter. The label had the No.1 album of Q1 (Short N' Sweet by Carpenter), while Fender's People Watching was at No.2.
As well as the overall No.1 single in Q1 for Lola Young (596,657 units in the quarter), Island EMI had two entries in the Top 10 for Chappell Roan (No.7, Good Luck, Babe! – 351,796 units and No.9, Pink Pony Club – 343,474 units) as well as Gigi Perez’s Sailor Song (No.8, 347862 units). A little further down, long-term Island artist Hozier is at No.21 in Q1 with Too Sweet (244,839 units) followed by Noah Kahan’s Stick Season at No.23 (235,282 units).
In the Q1 albums Top 10, Island EMI has Chappell Roan’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess (No.5, 95,510 units in Q1), The Weeknd’s The Highlights at No.7 (90,271 units) and Elton John’s Diamonds – which reached No.1 for the first time in January – at No.8 (85,587 units).
The Weeknd’s new album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, is at No.15 (68,691 units), just behind Noah Kahan’s Stick Season (No.14, 69,544 units).
Hozier’s catalogue has made an impact with his self-titled debut album at No.48 (36,329 units), alongside the single Take Me To Church at No.59 (134,853). There are also seven Taylor Swift albums in the Top 100.
Lola’s breakthrough has been particularly sweet for us, we knew she was a special artist
Louis Bloom
Island EMI could be on course for another No.1 album this week with UK band Mumford & Sons’ Rushmere, while Ariana Grande’s deluxe edition of Eternal Sunshine is also making a Top 3 push.
“It may sound overly simplistic but I’ d say our success is down to 1) incredible artists, 2) having the best team in the business and 3) an unwavering belief in what we are trying to achieve,” Louis Bloom told Music Week.
The power of US stars with Island EMI has been combined with the label’s A&R success stories, including BRITs 2025 performers Lola Young and The Last Dinner Party, along with Mercury Prize winners English Teacher.
“Q1 has been fantastic for us at Island EMI and is the result of several years of focused roster curation, A&R being central to everything we do, and long-term artist development,” said Bloom. “When you have new artists like Lola Young, The Last Dinner Party, English Teacher, FLO, Nia Archives breaking through and long-standing superstars like Hozier, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande delivering amazing records and huge numbers, it’s the perfect combination.”
In February, Island EMI became the first record label group since digital records began to have the No.1 position simultaneously across the UK’s singles, albums and compilations charts for two consecutive weeks. In addition to those Official Charts Company results, they added a fourth No.1 with Messy on top of the radio airplay charts.
The global success for Lola Young follows long-term artist development by Island. She spent four weeks at No.1 earlier this year.
Later this month, Young will perform at Coachella in the US.
“Lola’s breakthrough has been particularly sweet for us,” said Bloom. “We knew she was a special artist. She was signed to Island over six years ago and the deep belief in her as an artist has seen her grow into a remarkable new talent on the international scene. The next stage is helping Lola become the global star that her talent deserves. She has made a great start!
“Messy was the highest-charting single from any British artist globally, she has topped charts all across Europe and holds Top 20 on the Global Spotify Chart,” he added.
I have every confidence in Island EMI continuing this great run
Louis Bloom
Lola Young’s manager Nick Shymansky recently spoke about plans for new music. Bloom confirmed that plans are taking shape and “it’s the most exciting music Lola has made to date”.
As well as the huge impact for Messy, another track, Conceited, has made inroads in the UK Top 100 and current album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway has entered the Top 20.
“Island and EMI have a longstanding legacy of championing pioneering artists who occupy unique spaces in British culture and that’s always at the core of what we do,” said Bloom. “Alongside that the UK team have done an incredible job supporting and delivering huge impact for our international artists like Chappell Roan, Noah Kahan and Ariana [Grande, who appears on the Wicked soundtrack].”
Bloom acknowledged the “time for adjustment” required following the combining of EMI and Island last year as part of a wider Universal Music restructure.
“But I have been absolutely thrilled at how everyone has responded and the results speak for themselves,” he told Music Week. “We have started the year on fire but the great thing is everyone wants more, it’s all about what’s next. When I look around the floor and see the levels of creativity, dedication and the wonderful camaraderie, I have every confidence in Island EMI continuing this great run.”
PHOTO: BRITS 2025 Lola Young (John Marshall – JM Enternational)
FOLLOW 
