P
op is a young person’s game,
they say. Well they used to.
Now, though, pop — or at least
its upper echelons — is a parade
of pensioners who won’t stop
working. Paul McCartney, Elton
John, Sting and the Rolling
Stones — all in their seventies
and touring somewhere near you
soon — continue to dominate
the Music Rich List.
It is not only sales figures and streams
that keep McCartney right at the top, with
a fortune of £865 million, £45 million up
on last year. It is also the ticket sales for his
Covid-delayed Got Back tour. Not to
mention the brilliant The Beatles: Get
Back documentary, which had the world
gawping at the Fab Four eating white toast
in the studio.
Ed Sheeran (£260 million, in tenth
position) is a relative spring chicken at 31
— but he has been going for more than a
decade, which means there is a whole
generation of pop fans out there who
now consider him old — the music theirmum listens to. Same for Calvin Harris
(£220 million, 11th), who is 38, and
33-year-old Adele (£150 million, 23rd=).
Even 28-year-old Harry Styles, who
creeps into the top 40 in 37th place with
£100 million, has been a household name
for more than ten years.
There are plenty of reasons why younger
artists are finding it harder to break through.
The most obvious one is that people buy
far fewer records than they did. But it is
also a result of how streaming works. Paul
Epworth, the producer of some of Adele’s
biggest hits, told me the system is like an
oligarchy — it backs, through its algorithms
and ads, only a tiny handful of acts, who
keep on reaping those promotional benefits
in a self-fulfilling cycle.
“Statistics are so accurate in pointing
towards what the sure bets are that
everyone backs those sure bets,” Epworth
said. “It makes it harder for [lesser-known]
acts to get their heads above the parapet.”It’s a shame because — from rap stars such
as Dave and Little Simz to rock bands and
singer-songwriters like Wolf Alice and Self
Esteem — British music is on a creative roll.
Of course streaming can also make it
easier than ever for listeners to experiment
with new sounds (if you’re prepared to look
beyond the megastars being pushed by the
big listening services, that is). Fancy trying
out Latin pop or African rap? Push a button.
If you like what you hear, push that button
again. Perversely this adventurous zeal has
thrown up a whole other problem for new
British artists. They’re now competing for
fans’ attention with acts from all around the
world, such as the South Korean boy band
BTS, the Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny
and the Spanish flamenco star Rosalia.
While English-speaking artists used to have
a monopoly on the global charts, this is no
longer the case. Many international markets
have instead embraced music in their
native tongue. Last year Italy didn’t have a
single non-Italian artist in its Top 20 singles
and album charts.
So are there any new stars set to bother
the Music Rich List in future years? Dua
Lipa is a good bet. The London singer
became a global star during the pandemic,
thanks in part to timing (her Future
Nostalgia album was released in late March
2020 to a captive audience in lockdown)
and a smart social media strategy. Now she
is taking her much delayed tour live to
arenas around the world, which means she
has an excellent chance of dislodging one
of the veterans from the main list next year.
She managed to increase her wealth from
£24 million to £60 million in the past
12 months without really touring, so
imagine what she will do with ticket sales.
Also on the rise are Stormzy (£26 million),
Lewis Capaldi (£19 million) and George
Ezra (£16 million). All are due to release
new records before next year’s Rich List and
have big venues and festivals to play too nWhen it comes to making money through music, the oldest swingers
in town are still top of the pops. Blame the algorithm, says Jonathan Dean
THE GENERATION GAME
A lesser-spotted young person, Dua Lipa,
26, should make next year’s Music Rich List