Brits Fly The Flag

The research carried out for the IFPI’s annual yearbook also shows that eight of the UK’s top 10 bestselling artist albums were by a British act.

Leading the charge was One Direction, which proved that last year it was the biggest act in the world. The boy band’s third studio album, Midnight Memories, was not only the UK’s biggest seller, but it also topped the year-end global albums chart, selling 4 million copies around the world in just six weeks.

Michael Bublé’s To Be Loved was the third-bestselling album in the UK and the bestselling album by an international artist. U.S. influence on the UK market fell marginally, with American acts’ market share of British sales dropping from 34.2 percent to 33.8 percent.

“For homegrown talent to have recorded the world’s biggest-selling album six out of the last seven years is a phenomenal achievement that says a great deal about the popularity of British music around the world,” said BPI spokesman Gennaro Castaldo.