Entertainment
U.K. Recorded Music Revenue Hit Record High in 2024 on Continued Streaming Growth
The U.K. streaming market rose to record levels in 2024 as it crossed the £1 billion ($1.28 billion) revenue barrier for the first time, according to annual figures from labels trade body BPI published Wednesday (March 12).
Subscription, ad-supported and video-streaming revenue totaled £1.02 billion ($1.3 billion) to make up 68.1% of the country’s recorded music revenue, a rise of 5.7% compared to the previous year. In an accompanying statement, the BPI suggested that the increase is in part the result of multiple streaming platforms raising their subscription prices.
Combined with sales of physical music and digital downloads, along with synch and public performance revenue, the U.K. recorded music market saw total revenue rise 4.8% to £1.49 billion ($1.9 billion), marking a decade of continuous growth. The report notes that since 2014, annual streaming revenue has increased by more than 800% to become the dominant format for recorded music in the U.K.
The 2024 revenue figure is the highest ever achieved in the U.K. in one year. However, after adjusting for inflation, annual revenue is still hundreds of millions of pounds lower compared to where the music industry should have been in real terms since 2006, the first year when public performance and synch were included in the annual total, reports the BPI.
Breaking down streaming revenue, ad-supported streams enjoyed the biggest annual growth in the market last year with an 8.9% increase to £77.9 million ($100 million). However, paid subscriptions to services such as Amazon, Apple, Spotify and YouTube continue to make up the vast majority of total streaming revenue, bringing in £875.5 million ($1.13 billion) in 2024.
Although the physical market generated more revenue in the U.K. than in any year since 2017, growth slowed last year despite high vinyl and CD sales of new albums by artists including Coldplay (Moon Music), Sabrina Carpenter (Short n’ Sweet) and Taylor Swift (The Tortured Poets Department). Total revenue from vinyl, CD and other physical music formats increased by 1.3% in 2024 to £246.5 million ($317.9 million) after climbing 12.8% the year before. Within this, revenue generated by vinyl LPs rose by 2.9% to £145.7 million ($188.2 million), while CD revenue fell by 0.5% in 2024 to £96.7 million ($124 million).
Despite slowing growth in physical formats, the BPI attributed the continued strength in vinyl partially to the enthusiasm of new generations of music fans. In 2024, eight of the year-end top 10 across vinyl were current records, led by Chappell Roan (The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess), Charli XCX (Brat) and Fontaines D.C. (Romance). In 2014, half of the top 10 sellers were catalogue titles.
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At the start of the decade, CD revenue in the U.K. suffered from a series of year-on-year double-digit percentage declines, but over the last three years, it has stabilized. Like vinyl, the CD market is led by new releases.
Elsewhere, public performance revenue climbed 5.6% year-on-year to £161.7 million ($206.5 million), while synch revenue ended the year with a new annual high of £43.9 million ($56.7 million).
In terms of individual songs, four singles generated more than 200 million audio and video streams last year: Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” with 233.1 million streams, Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” with 219.3 million streams, Carpenter’s “Espresso” with 202.8 million streams and Teddy Swims‘ “Lose Control” with 201.6 million streams. Kahan and Carpenter’s tracks each spent seven weeks atop the Official U.K. Singles Chart, while Boone enjoyed two weeks atop the summit. Swims, meanwhile, peaked at No. 2 but earned the most-downloaded single of 2024 in the U.K., with 67,000 units sold.
More than a dozen other tracks scored over 100 million audio and video streams in the U.K. in 2024. These included “Stargazing”, the breakthrough hit by BRITs Rising Star 2025 winner Myles Smith, as well as releases by fellow British artists Cassö, RAYE, D-Block Europe (“Prada”), and Artemas (“I Like The Way You Kiss Me”).
Despite gains in each area of the U.K. recorded music market, Dr. Jo Twist, BPI’s CEO, stressed the importance of raising awareness around the government’s potential future approach to generative artificial intelligence training. At present, a data mining exception to copyright law is being discussed, meaning that AI developers could use songs for AI training in instances where artists have not “opted out” of their work being included.
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Last month, over 1,000 artists, including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Annie Lennox and Hans Zimmer, contributed to a new “silent” album to protest this proposal. Titled Is This What We Want?, the album featured recordings of empty studios. In an accompanying statement, the use of silence was said to represent “the impact on artists’ and music professionals’ livelihoods that is expected if the government does not change course.”
“After a decade of growth, it is all too easy to take for granted the success of UK recorded music and the vital role record businesses play in this, underpinned by copyright, by investing billions to nurture and promote diverse talent from across the UK,” said Twist in a statement. “But in the face of intensifying global competition, it’s essential they’re empowered by a supportive policy environment to keep British artists on the world’s top step.
“Crucially, this requires the exciting potential of AI to be realised by the government safeguarding the UK’s gold-standard copyright framework and not siding with global big tech at the expense of human artistry and our world-leading creative industries,” Twist continued.
Myke Towers and Quevedo propel “Soleo” to the top of Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart as the song jumps a spot to No. 1 on the list dated Aug. 9.
Their first collab, “Soleao” (which translates to “sunny” in English), was released May 20 on One World International/Warner Records/Warner Latina. It leads the way in its ninth chart week, after an 11% growth in audience impressions, to 9.1 million, across U.S. panel-contributing Latin radio stations in the tracking week of July 25-31, according to Luminate.
Towers claims his 15th Latin Airplay champ, and third consecutively of 2025, after one-week rulers “Otra Noche,” featuring Darell (February), and “Degenere,” featuring Benny Blanco (May).
Further, Towers adds to his satchel of wins as he accomplishes a third trio of No. 1s in a single year. Rewind to 2021, when (after landing two early chart-toppers, for that matter) the Puerto Rican delivered a streak of three straight No. 1s: “Bandido,” with Juhn; “Pareja del Año,” with Sebastián Yatra; and “Bésame,” with Luis Fonsi, that June, August and November, respectively. In 2024, Towers replicated the success with another trio of consecutive No. 1s: “Borracho y Loco,” with Yandel; “La Falda”; and “La Capi,” between that February and May.
Meanwhile, Quevedo makes a comeback to No. 1 on Latin Airplay. He previously led, for four weeks, with “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52,” with Bizarrap, in 2022.
Beyond its Latin Airplay coronation, “Soleao” likewise lifts 2-1 on Latin Pop Airplay. There, Towers tallies a third No. 1 and Quevedo, his first. Further, the song adds a second week atop Latin Rhythm Airplay.
Banda Carnaval Ignites Regional Mexican Airplay: Elsewhere on the Latin charts, Banda Carnaval secures its eighth No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay, and second of the year, as “Ya La Hice” bounds 9-1 with 6.6 million audience impressions, up 47%, in the tracking week. The act’s “Pude” led for a week in March.
“We are deeply grateful to our fans for taking ‘Ya La Hice’ to No. 1 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart,” Banda Carnaval tells Billboard. “This song represents a very special moment for us, and seeing it connect with people in this way fills us with pride and emotion. Thank you to everyone who has made it their own, to the composers for this great story, and to our team who continues to believe in our music. Let’s go all the way with Síganme Tirando!”
“Ya La Hice” earns Greatest Gainer honors, awarded to the song with the largest week-over-week increase in impressions at the format. Leading the charge during the tracking period are Univision stations, with standout support from KSCA-FM Los Angeles, KLNO-FM Dallas, and WOJO-FM Chicago.
Entertainment
Ice Cube’s ‘War of the Worlds’ Film Has a 0% Rating on ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ & Cube’s Son Is Weighing In
Ice Cube‘s latest movie is off to a slow start on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. According to 15 critics (and counting), War of the Worlds so far has a zero percent rating on the Tomatometer scale, while thousands of moviegoers have given it at 14 percent rating on the Popcornmeter.
One review in particular, from Variety‘s Peter Debruge knocked the film for essentially doubling as a commercial for Amazon, writing, “Even with a Prime subscription, you have to sit through two minutes of ads to watch 90 more of what amounts to a feature-length commercial for all things Amazon,” while another from The Telegraph‘s Ed Power wasn’t really into all the screen time Cube got, saying, “It is silly, shoddy and features far too much of rapper-turned-leading man Ice Cube staring at a computer screen while looking as if he’s working through a reasonably urgent digestive ailment.”
An adaptation of H. G. Wells’ classic 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, this version is an Amazon Prime production directed by Rich Lee and also starring Eva Longoria. Cube plays Will Radford, a surveillance expert at the Department of Homeland Security, and most of the movie takes place on his computer screen as he deals with a hacker and an alien invasion while trying to keep his family out of harm’s way.
The synopsis on Prime Video reads as follows: “A gargantuan invasion is coming with this fresh take on the legendary novel of the same name. Renowned actress Eva Longoria is joined by iconic rapper and actor Ice Cube, along with Michael O’Neill and Iman Benson, for a thrilling out-of-this-world adventure that is filled with present-day themes of technology, surveillance, and privacy.”
Cube’s son, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr., replied to a tweet on X of a video clip from the movie in which an Amazon Prime delivery person tells Cube’s character to cop a USB from Amazon, so he can deliver it via Prime Air with a drone. “I truly can’t believe this adaptation of War Of The Worlds is actually a real film with a real budget and Ice Cube is actually in it,” a fan posted, with Jackson replying that the movie was “Shot during the pandemic. Released 5 years later.”
Billboard has reached out to Ice Cube’s team for comment.
Entertainment
Cara Lewis Group Hires Ashley Ventura, Who Will Bring Bhad Bhabie & More to the Agency
Cara Lewis Group (CLG) has hired agent Ashley Ventura, who will bring her clients to the independent agency.
“CLG is an obvious fit for her talents,” said founder/CEO Cara Lewis in a statement. “The entire Cara Lewis Group team is thrilled to have her as a valued addition. We look forward to continuing our mantra of artist development, creating stars and long lasting careers.”
Ventura has worked as an agent in the hip-hop and R&B space for more than five years, previously working at MAC Agency. A press release announcing her hire described her as a “proven” leader and “one of the newest, most exciting agents in the industry.”
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Cara Lewis Group and to continue pushing culture forward alongside such a respected team,” added Ventura. “This new chapter marks an exciting step in my journey, and I’m looking forward to building with incredible artists and creating what’s next.”
Ventura will be bringing a number of talented artists to the CLG roster, including hip-hop icon French Montana and reality TV star and rapper Bhad Bhabie. Her other clients include Atlanta rapper Anycia, Bay Swag, Bktherula, Gashi, K Camp and Kentheman, all of whom are following her to CLG.
CLG’s roster currently includes Eminem, Travis Scott, Khalid, Don Toliver, Clipse, The Roots, Russ, Jill Scott, Ludacris, Ice Spice, BIA and Erykah Badu. Lewis is one of the most successful independent agents in hip-hop, having spent more than 20 years at William Morris as a partner, where she built the urban-pop division before joining CAA’s music department.
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