I suppose in reality its the impossible question to give a definite answer to, but was just wondering what people thoughts are about it.

It will be all down to personal taste, as I am a massive fan of Paul Weller, Oasis, Stone Roses, The Smiths, The Stones, The Beatles and Elton John to name a few. I will say its the British that has made the best over the years.

On the state side my favorites are Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Beastie Boys, Beach Boys to name a few.

Also over the years I would say British music has had a lot more edge to it

Thoughts and opinions please, look forward to reading them

British music has been far more creative and influential.. i'll be back with a better answer later

Neither--- Ireland all the way for me, we have produced some great artists ................ but to get back to your question, your country has produced some great musicians. The Stones, Bowie, Queen, The Jam and definitely would agree with your choices. I mean the beatles are incredible and just about changed the face of music....... so definitely the british for me

For the genres I'm into.........UK

Interestingly, when I've holidayed in the US nearly all I've heard is British music, 90% of the time.

I'm nearly 40, and it's only struck me in the last year or two that, in general, I really don't like American bands and never have done. I can't put my finger on why, I just don't!

For virtually every genre, the UK wins hands down.

Although (IMO) the US is better at R n B nd Hip Hop. Although we had Soul ll Soul so not quite.


As someone else has posted, the creativity over the years/decades in the UK is incredible when you think about it.

We also take an American concept like House and Disco, turn it on its head, pull it apart and create something new.

The UK is generally more embarcing of new musical ideas as well.

It depends on the genre

I would say British wins overall except for Pop and R&B

Firstly, I've always found "who's best?" keeps on changing year-to-year. And secondly, it entirely depends on the genre.

For example, I'm a dance-pop junkie, and at the moment for me, America is producing the best music in that genre. From David Guetta's work, to RedOne, to B.E.P./Will-i-am, it's all very strong imo. But if you asked me 3 years ago, I'd have said UK/Europe was stronger at dance-pop.

I agree

UK/Europe had dance pop in their pocket .. USA took it in the last two years to the next level

I can only really speak about the type of music I prefer, much of which is from the 60s/70s, so I'm only talking rock here.

There have been some brilliant American bands/acts - Beach Boys, Foo Fighters, Bob Dylan, The Doors, Santana, Green Day, Tom Petty, Alice Cooper, Guns 'N' Roses, CSN&Y, Love, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix etc.

And in the UK we have had - The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Stones, Free, Queen, Deep Purple, Yes, Muse, The Who, The Kinks, Wishbone Ash, The Small Faces, The Smiths, Cream, Jeff Beck etc.

All brilliant, as are many, many more from each side.

On the whole I'd say my preference would be for the UK, simply because I prefer prog/classic rock of the type our bands excel at.

There are many bands I love that are neither from the UK or USA, but are from The Netherlands, France and Germany.

In terms of rnb and hip hop its always america for me

UK Rnb is just no.

it used to be america for me, but now i have totally changed my mind and love the current british urban scene

I think since the mid 80's the balance has tilted towards the USA. Acts like Madonna, Prince, even Michael Jackson set the template for the Lady Gagas of today. And the influence of bands such as Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Pixies, Guns and Roses can be seen in bands such as Blonde Redhead, LCD Soundsystem, The Flaming Lips... Hip Hop and Rap also are done much better over the water with acts from Outkast to Atmosphere that blow Dizzee Rascal and co out of the water.

uk has better music

For my personal taste it has to be UK music. We are really good at alternative pop/indie/rock music. Favourites of mine include Skunk Anansie, Bat For Lashes, Maximo Park, Prodigy, Massive Attack and MIA but I also like some of the same kind of stuff from America, such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gossip and MGMT (incidentally who all have much of their success in the UK).

I also like quite a lot of "international" acts, such as Bjork, Sigur Rós, CSS and Peaches (well, she's Canadian )

However, it depends on what music you are talking about.

I think it depends on the scene. Undoubtedly we are better at traditional rock, such as Queen, The Beatles, Pink Floyd etc etc etc. I guess America followed where we started here?

America are much better at soul and R&B* music than we are. *in the proper sense, not this crap we hear on Galaxy Radio today.

Overall, I think for a small island we've had much more impact in the international music scene over history, but America own much of the world's music scene at the moment with it's throwaway pop and R&B music.

I'd say that both are equal as we have had the likes of Queen, The Beatles, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Madness, Muse.

But America has provided us with the likes of Metallica, Guns n Roses, Green Day, Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence, Marylin Manson, The Killers, Bon Jovi.

We do have some great Rock bands but still have a fair way to go before we catch up with the yanks for metal.

hmmm.... possibly american, why? because thats where it all came from. its ok citing the beatles etc as 'the best group ever', and they were, but their influence was american music.

i think what us brits have done over the years, is take american music and developed it into our own. the 60's groups like the beatles, stones, yardbirds, kinks, etc all cite american rock n roll, blues. jazz, r and b as their motivation to create music.... similarly 'we' took the punk sound and made it our own...

personally i prefer british music, but without america wouldnt we still be singing 'hey nonny no'?...

UK for me, although there is some good stuff stateside or should I say was some good stuff. But the majority of my music library consists of British music!

As the question is in the past tense seems to cover the entire spectrum, my answer is unarguably USA.

If it wasn't for the USA, all the British acts mentioned in this thread wouldn't event exist. USA is the origin of practically all modern western music, whether people know or want admit to it or not.

but that doesn't really mean its better. I'm aware that people like Chuck Berry and Elvis influenced the Beatles but at the end of the day its the Beatles that are on my ipod.

I don't think any are "better" than the other, it's not really a question that can be properly answered. What's on my Zune is neither here nor there. Which is why rather than comparing individual musicians, i've compared the influence of the countries and the styles they've popularised.

For me, the UK, and for centuries.

It's hard to say who has produced the best music, but I think it's certain that the US has been the most influential. Blues, Jazz, Rock'n'Roll, Soul, Hip Hop, Techno, House. All (black) american inventions. The history of 20th Century music was the story of american music. The British bands have just taken what the Americans invented and put their own spin on it, and been very good at it.

Personally I think the only genre of music that America has really out shone us over the past 20 years in wrap/hip hop