British breakthrough artists are making a global streaming impact this year – but they face intense competition from US stars and international acts.
Lola Young continues to fly the flag around the world with Messy, while Myles Smith, Central Cee and Charli XCX are building on global success they achieved in 2024.
Based on Music Week analysis of Spotify’s Global Charts, UK artists are establishing a Top 100 presence with current single releases. But it is proving challenging to break into the Top 20 this year.
Ed Sheeran has cracked the Top 20 again recently, while Raye made No.13 on Spotify’s Global rankings alongside Lisa and Doja Cat on Born Again. Another successful UK export, Dua Lipa, was not far off the Top 20 with her feature on Handlebars by Jennie.
However, concerns were raised after UK talent was absent from the Spotify Wrapped Top 10 results for 2024. US superstars continue to dominate the DSP’s rankings this year, along with K-pop artists and Latin tracks.
The current Spotify Global Chart is topped by Alex Warren's Ordinary, slightly ahead of Sabrina Carpenter's Manchild. There are also long-running hits for US acts Sombr (who has two Top 10 entries), Billie Eilish, Ravyn Lenae and Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, who has a second Top 10 entry with Rosé on Apt. A second K-pop artist, Jin, has also become a presence in the upper echelons of the chart. Meanwhile, W Sound's La Plena – currently No.5 on that global ranking – is the top Latin song in the world right now.
Lola Young is the only UK act to have made Spotify’s Top 10 so far this year with Messy peaking at No.7 during its six-month run.
“I would simply say that Lola is the reason for the enduring success of Messy globally,” said Nickie Owen, president, international marketing at Universal Music. “Her authenticity as an artist has enabled her to connect and speak to fans around the world – and if you combine that with her work ethic then you get the level of results we’ve seen on Messy.”
Owen highlighted Young’s promotional push in France in the run-up to her European tour’s Paris launch in February.
“This work resulted in Messy being No.1 on the French airplay chart for 11 weeks, which is exceptional in a market dominated by domestic music at radio,” said Owen.
Results in the US, including on the Hot 100, have also been strong. Lola Young made her debut appearance at Coachella in April.
“In the US, where Lola has really invested her time and energy, we’ve seen Messy hit No.1 across three airplay charts,” said Owen. “This is just the second song by a solo woman to have a No.1 on pop radio, adult pop radio and alternative airplay in nearly 30 years.”
Her authenticity as an artist has enabled her to connect and speak to fans around the world
Nickie Owen
Young will visit Latin America for the first time this year with confirmed dates in Mexico in November.
“Lola is also travelling into new markets, which gives us even more opportunities to expand her audience and build her globally,” added Owen.
Young has over a billion combined streams on Spotify alone for Messy and her feature on Like Him by Tyler, The Creator.
The last British artist to go higher on Spotify’s Global Chart with a non-catalogue track was Charli XCX (and Billie Eilish) with Guess in August 2024. For a UK-only non-catalogue track in the Top 10, you need to go back to Artemas in June 2024 with I Like The Way You Kiss Me, which peaked at No.1.
“The foundation for Charli’s continued streaming success is having such an amazingly strong album in Brat and exceptional back catalogue, coupled with consistently brilliant creative output,” said Atlantic co-president Ed Howard. “It is really gratifying to see new fans who came into Charli via Brat discover the amazing wealth of music she has released over the last 15 years, and seeing them fall in love with it as much as her original fans did at the time.
“A core learning from this campaign is that there are some things you can’t plan for, and you just have to be nimble, and ready to pounce on any opportunity that arises,” added Howard. “Charli’s strong identity and ability to express herself have underpinned each moment of the campaign, meaning we’ve been able to work alongside her to amplify, while also being able to move at a moment's notice.
“The mainstream, international breakthrough at this stage of her career is thanks to consistent and world-class creativity over the course of the last 15 months through live moments, cultural conversation, the aesthetic of the campaign and every fan interaction and experience.”
While Brat secured a global breakthrough for Charli XCX, she also has a rich catalogue that’s being newly discovered. As well as ongoing success for Brat, 2020 track Party 4 U recently entered Spotify’s Global Top 50 and has enjoyed a nine-week run on the DSP’s global rundown.
“After Charli led the resurgence of Party 4 U during her Brat UK arena run last year, there was a continued organic build on the track this year,” said Howard. “We saw social media pick-up of the track increase, with numerous TikTok trends blowing up earlier this year. In response, we worked with Charli’s team to create a plan to continue to build the track, both online and within the cultural conversation. This included incorporating the song into Charli’s Coachella set and into the recent Brat tour run in the US, as well as leaning into the organic trends on socials.
“We backed this up with a number of global influencer campaigns, and in the true spirit of reactivity, the team turned around a music video from shoot to launch in four days to launch in line with the five-year anniversary of [parent album] How I’m Feeling Now.”
The mainstream, international breakthrough at this stage of her career is thanks to consistent and world-class creativity over the course of the last 15 months
Ed Howard
Charli XCX’s streaming success will be fueled by this summer’s run of festival dates, particularly in Europe.
“As is the nature with Charli now, there are numerous other tracks starting to see bubbling success which we’re monitoring, including Track 10, Girl, So Confusing featuring Lorde and I Think About It All The Time featuring Bon Iver, which will surely continue to grow as she plays around the globe,” said Howard.
Fellow Atlantic artist Ed Sheeran cracked Spotify’s Top 50 with Azizam, the lead single from upcoming album Play. It has so far spent 11 weeks on the Spotify Global Chart.
“This far into his career, and at the scale he has reached, we are in pretty uncharted territory so it has been gratifying to see Azizam, which is a bold musical statement, be so well received around the world, and kick off the Play era,” said Howard. “Our ambitions for the track are that it sticks around and beds in throughout the whole summer, and that people continue to fall in love with it and recognise what an unusual and brilliant artistic statement it is.”
Sheeran has gone even better with new track Sapphire, which cracked the Spotify Global Top 20.
The Play album is confirmed for release on September 12.
“For the Play campaign there were lots of themes Ed wanted to bring to the forefront in this return to pop music: his fun-loving side, his creative side, the way he has always brought musicians and creatives from different cultures together through his career, his care and support for young people, and his belief in the power of music to uplift people,” said Howard.
“As part of the new Play era you can expect to see Ed doing the unexpected – he’s already kicked this off by building a pub from scratch in the middle of a small town in America and taking it on tour to Coachella with him. His superpower is that he manages to do these things in ways that feel relatable and maintain a level of accessibility with his fans. Ed is the only artist that can go seamlessly from playing stadium stage to pub lock-in with just his guitar.”
Along with catalogue by Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay and more, there has been a presence in 2025 on Spotify’s Global Top 100 for new and recent hits by Chrystal, Central Cee, Artemas and Myles Smith, who peaked at No.16 with Stargazing last year.
“Hits rely on the quality of songwriting first and foremost and Myles wrote an incredible song,” said RCA co-president Stacey Tang. “Stargazing has topped airplay charts worldwide.”
As well as acknowledging the promotional effort that has gone into the campaign, Tang said that Smith has “toured his heart out” with four months on the road so far this year playing sold-out shows including in North America and Australia.
“That live experience has been such an important exchange between Myles and his fans,” she added. “It’s delivered positive new memories for all, and the foundations of those memories are based in engagement with music.”
Hits rely on the quality of songwriting first and foremost and Myles wrote an incredible song
Stacey Tang
RCA has also made a global impact with UK metal act Sleep Token, including a No.1 album in the US with Even In Arcadia.
Sleep Token secured two Top 100 entries in the Spotify Global tracks chart. Meanwhile, the album is one of three Top 10 entries in the Spotify LP Global rankings by UK acts so far this year, along with Central Cee and Ed Sheeran.
“Even In Arcadia has delivered the biggest streaming numbers for a record in its genre in both the UK and the USA,” said Tang. “That’s a huge result and Sleep Token deserve recognition as well as massive congratulations for it. It’s been a pleasure to be part of such a creatively exciting campaign. Great music has no geographical borders.”
While there have been encouraging results, it remains to be seen how UK artists fare in the year-end rankings. As things stand, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran are the only UK acts to have made Spotify’s weekly Top 20 of the biggest acts on the platform in 2025.
For Britain’s highest-charting streaming export of 2025 so far, Lola Young, the focus is shifting to new material. A new album, I’m Only F***ing Myself, is confirmed for September 19.
“We’ve seen from the start of [new single] One Thing that the international appetite for Lola Young is higher than ever and we’re extremely excited for her global journey to continue building on the incredible results of Messy,” said Owen.
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