Adele and Coldplay boost record UK music sales

Adele's 25 sold 2.4 million copies around the world in 2016

Adele, Coldplay and David Bowie helped British music enjoy record success overseas last year, new figures show.

British musicians earned £365m around the globe for record labels in 2016 - up 11% on the previous year, according to trade body the BPI.

And it's a rise of 72% compared with the 2010 figure.

The most popular albums included Adele's 25, Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams, David Bowie's Blackstar and The Rolling Stones' Blue & Lonesome.

David Bowie's Blackstar sold 1.9 million copies around the world

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said the success of the UK music industry would help the economy as Britain prepares to leave the EU.

"Music by brilliant British artists such as Ed Sheeran, Adele, David Bowie, Coldplay and Sam Smith is streamed and purchased the world over, boosting the UK's balance of payments," he said.

"The global digital streaming market represents a huge new opportunity. Government can help to seize that opportunity by making sure our artists can tour freely post-Brexit and that third countries [countries outside the EU] robustly protect music rights."

The top five countries for British music sales in 2016 were the US, Germany, France, Australia and Canada.

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