30 h. ago Oasis reunion and Taylor Swift vinyls fuel boom year for UK music industry

BPI figures show music lovers listened to equivalent of 210.3m albums by UK artists in 2025 in 11th consecutive year of growthNostalgia surrounding the Oasis reunion tour, alongside Taylor Swift fans’ clamour for vinyl, contributed to another boom year for the UK music industry, as physical formats continued their comeback.Music lovers listened to the equivalent of 210.3m albums by UK artists during 2025, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) annual report, up 4.9% on 2024 and the 11th year of growth in a row. Continue reading...

Politics

30 h. ago UK recorded music market grows for an 11th consecutive year in 2025

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said British artists such as Olivia Dean and Lola Young led a British music revival over the past 12 months.

Politics

4 d. ago Aston Villa lodge complaint after bottle thrown at their bench at end of Chelsea win

Chelsea intend to cooperate with the investigationEmery plays down title talk after 11th consecutive winAston Villa lodged a complaint to Chelsea after a bottle of water was thrown at their bench at the end of their 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.There were jubilant scenes at full time after a stunning comeback moved Villa three points off Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. However, the celebrations also featured the away dugout being showered with water when the final whistle was blown. It was not clear if the bottle was thrown by someone from the Chelsea bench or whether it came from the crowd. Chelsea intend to cooperate with the investigation. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago From Central Cee to Adolescence: in 2025 British culture had a global moment – but can it last?

Despite funding cuts and shuttered venues, homegrown music, TV, film and, yes, memes have dominated the global zeitgeist over the past 12 years. Now this culture must be future-proofed from the forces of globalisationOn the face of it, British culture looks doomed. Our music industry is now borderline untenable, with grassroots venues shuttering at speed (125 in 2023 alone) and artists unable to afford to play the few that are left; touring has become a loss leader that even established acts must subsidise with other work. Meanwhile, streaming has gutted the value of recorded music, leading to industry contraction at the highest level: earlier this year the UK divisions of Warners and Atlantic – two of our biggest record labels – were effectively subsumed into the US business.In comedy, the Edinburgh fringe – the crucible of modern British standup, sketch and sitcom – is in existential crisis thanks to a dearth of sponsorship and prohibitively high costs for performers. Our film ind...

Politics

6 d. ago Radu Lupu: The Unreleased Recordings album review – treasures from the vaults are a wonderful surprise

(Decca, six CDs)This six-disc collection to mark the late pianist’s 80th birthday is full of treats and includes rare ventures into Chopin and Copland, along with Lupu’s legendary rendition of Bartók at Leeds in 1969First, a personal declaration. Of the many hundreds of pianists I must have heard in more than 50 years of recital going, a multitude that has included many of the greatest names of the 20th century, none gave me more consistent pleasure or a greater sense of wonder than Radu Lupu. If ever a pianist’s appearance, especially in his later years, belied the character of his playing it was Lupu: that the intensely serious, heavily bearded figure who hunched over the keyboard in a way more appropriate to a seance than a recital could produce playing of such velvety tonal beauty was extraordinary enough; that such a beguiling sound world was allied to a mind of such penetrating musical intelligence sometimes seemed miraculous.Lupu died in 2022, at the age of 76. He had retired...

Politics

6 d. ago China isn’t just dumping cheap goods anymore — it’s sending caviar

The country is taking a huge bite out of the European and US market with ever-growing production of luxury foods

Politics

9 d. ago Inside £4.5m house with slide down to living room where Stormzy and Sabrina Carpenter recorded hits

The three-bedroom property was once a recording studio used by some of the world's biggest music artists

Events

2 w. ago Even Happy Birthday has a dark side: my quest to tell the history of the world in 50 pieces of music

The Nazis adopted Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Happy Birthday hides a tale of corporate greed. And Putin uses Shostakovich’s Leningrad symphony as a call to arms. That’s why I put them in my soundtrack to the complexities of human existenceThe idea was always a ludicrous one: to reduce millennia of human musical history – not to mention billennia of the Earth’s sonic geology – into a book of 50 pieces of music. And yet that’s the challenge I decided to take on. The most pressing question was: why? To which my answer was: the inevitable failures and gaps of the project are precisely where its interest lies.The next concern was how. Called A History of the World in 50 Pieces, the book is not a digested history of music, nor a list of my favourite songs, performances or recordings. Instead, it’s centred on the definition of a “piece of music”. This is a democratic principle – a belief that works don’t belong only to their creators but are shared and reinterpreted by generations of musicians...

Culture

2 w. ago FTSE 100 Live 16 December: Rate cut seen as jobs market weakens, Brent Crude below $60

The rate of unemployment has risen to its highest level in almost a decade outside the pandemic as employers continue to shed jobs.

Society

2 w. ago FTSE 100 Live 16 December: Rate cut seen as jobs market weakens, index holds firm

The rate of unemployment has risen to its highest level in almost a decade outside the pandemic as employers continue to shed jobs.

Society

2 w. ago FTSE 100 Live 16 December: Rate cut seen as jobless rate rises, index holds firm

The rate of unemployment has risen to its highest level in almost a decade outside the pandemic as employers continue to shed jobs.

Society

2 w. ago Best Albums of 2025: These are the 13 records that had the critics raving this year

How many of these have you heard in 2025?

Culture

2 w. ago WH Smith plots board cull after blunder sparked £600m share bloodbath

WH Smith has promised to strengthen its board by hiring one or more directors with experience of the key US market, which is its main focus for growth.

Economics

3 w. ago Simon Cowell reveals his VERY normal job before becoming record

The 66-year-old is returning to our screens very soon to star in his own documentary, Simon Cowell: The Next Act, which will follow the record executive find the next successful boyband.

Politics

3 w. ago New electric car market suffers smallest growth since December 2023

The overall new car market fell by 1.6% last month, with 151,154 new cars registered.

Politics

3 w. ago Modernisation and liquidity needs of a growing ILS market: Artemis London 2025 video

Modernisation and liquidity needs of a growing ILS market: Artemis London 2025 video  Artemis.bm

Politics

4 w. ago Steve Cropper, legendary guitarist for Booker T & the MGs, dies aged 84

Prolific musician was known for work on songs like Green Onions and Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the BaySteve Cropper, the legendary guitarist whose work as an instrumentalist, producer and songwriter at Stax Records left an indelible impression on Memphis soul music, has died at the age of 84.Hs son Cameron confirmed his death to Variety. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Ellie Goulding forced to make major change to sixth album after shock pregnancy

ELLIE Goulding has two very special arrivals coming early next year. As well as having her second baby, I hear the Destiny singer is now releasing her sixth album in the first quarter of 2026. My music moles tell me Ellie had planned to release the record, the follow-up to her 2023 No1 album Higher...

Events

4 w. ago 'I tried the perfect record player to give the music fan in your life this Christmas'

Daily Star Assistant Editor Richard Brown tried out the MIXX Analog System 5, a bundle of record player and wireless speakers, which really offers a punch for under £300

Sport