Lewis Capaldi and The Weeknd among best-selling artists in the UK as streaming and physical music sales soar in 2020

Editor Stephen Hill 04/01/21

Global stars  Lewis Capaldi and The Weeknd have been named among the best-selling artists of 2020 in the UK.  

New data published by the Official  British Phonographic Industry (BPI) today (January 4) sheds light on what the UK listened to and bought in 2020, with the findings also revealing that recorded music consumption in the UK rose by 8.2% last year. 

 The BPI stated that that while the pandemic has had a “devastating effect on the live sector”, demand for record music “initially dipped around the start of the first lockdown, but listening rebounded across streaming and physical formats and grew throughout the year”. 

 The BPI have also announced that streaming now accounts for four-fifths (80.6%) of the UK’s overall music consumption. Physical formats still enjoyed strong sales in 2020, however, with vinyl sales increasing by over a tenth (11.5%) as almost 4.8 million copies were purchased – a 13th year of consecutive growth for vinyl in the UK – and cassette sales doubling to rack up 156,542 copies, their highest total since 2003.  16 million CDs were also bought in 2020, representing 10.3% of the UK’s recorded music consumption.    

 Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent’ continues to be the album to beat as it was crowned the UK’s best-selling album in 2020, as it was in 2019. Harry Styles’ ‘Fine Line’ was the second best-selling album of 2020 in the UK, with Dua Lipa‘s ‘Future Nostalgia’ rounding off the podium.  

Billie Eilish, Stormzy and the late Pop Smoke also feature in the top 10 best-selling albums of 2020 in the UK.