For a lot of years now at it was the US acts that were dominating the music scene in the UK, US and around the world with the likes of Britney Spears, Rihanna, Beyonce, JT, Bruno Mars,Lady Gaga having huge success with smash singles,albums and also touring, where UK acts had success but it wasn't to the same extent as American acts. But when you look at the music scene now the biggest and popular acts in the world right now seem to be Ed Sheeran 1D and Sam Smith. Ed has been huge this year in the UK,US and around the world with hit singles like Thinking out Loud and a huge album. It can't be denied 1D are a phenomenon with huge ticket sales and album sales worldwide. Then there is Sam Smith with huge selling singles like Stay with Me and a hugely successful album. Ed and Sam also jave critical acclaim with grammy nods. Also other acts like Coldplay are selling very well with albums. Also other acts like Calvin Harris has hit after hit single and Mark Ronson has Uptown Funk smashing everywhere Noe. But the only really American act that that is really successful now is Taylor Swift but a lot of her success is concentrated in the US. British acts are hugely successful and popular right now in the music landscape compared to the US who always seemed to have the proper huge artists(excluding Adele)

Hmmm not really...That's still only about 5 acts. The US artists still dominate imo. One Direction are probably the biggest boyband....but that's like being the biggets turd in the bowl. Their success just absolutely baffles me, like I literally do NOT get it. I don't consider what they do music, just 5 lads taking the piss. But then again who wouldn't grab that opportunity at that age so fair play to them, but I don't see them as artists. However, I don't get the hype about Taylor Swift either..

As for Sam Smith, I'd wait and see how the second album does before we find out if he is a male Adele or a Male Duffy. Coldplay have been around for a while now with consistent success...they've almost morphed into U2 successors if that makes sense. Jessie J is doing Ok I suppose, but her career path reminds me of Natasha Bedingfield....

The real big stars are all American imo. Taylor swift, Rhianna, Eminem, Beyoncé, Perry, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Gaga. And as much as I loathe them, Miley Cyrus and the grande thing are probably considered "bigger". It's probably the best in sheer amount that British acts have done in a while though. Let's just hope they are paying their British Taxes!

I don't think so either.

It may seem that way but remember that Rihanna, Katy Perry etc all seem to be working on their albums/touring at the moment so are a bit quieter. When they release their next albums I'm sure they'll be back on top. And arguably the biggest pop star st the moment is Taylor Swift, who is as American as they come.

British acts are doing very well these days though!

People always overlook Iron Maiden are still one of the biggests UK exports.

Arguably one of Britain's biggest global acts of the last 30 years and yet if you read, listen, or watch, the British mainstream media.... It is as if they never existed.

Yup. To be fair that's probably just the way Maiden like it.

OP, Rihanna is NOT American!

Wel she's as American as Rita Ora is British..even on some award show I was watching a while ago..they were going through the nominations for best american act, and she was on the list..most people believe she's American anyways..

Rita Ora is british perhaps not by birth but she had lived her since the age of 3. Rihanna on the other hand resides in the US for work but very much considers herself Bajun.

Rihanna is Bajan. She resides in the US but her nationality isn't american.

Rita wasn't born in the UK but has lived pretty much her whole life in the UK. She has lived in the UK since the age of 1. Her nationality is British.

I think her accent and singing voice are a dead giveaway she isn't american.

The pop establishment are still US but the up and coming artists seem to come from everywhere. Sia, Lorde, Tove Lo, Blonde, Sam Smith, George Ezra, Martin Tungevaag .. none of them American

I wouldn't class Gaga as a big star anymore, she's doing well still, but the Brits are doing a lot better, I'd agree Cyrus is a big deal unfortunately, although I wouldn't say Grande is as big as the rest of the people you've stated from Britain, plus release wise Rihanna, Perry and Timberlake haven't released anything, if you count artists that are releasing music at the moment, I'd say Brits are more prominent, Beyonce and Kanye are great ticket and album sellers, but they haven't made much of an impact with their latest singles. (although I'm a big Beyonce fan)

I'd say between Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, One Direction, Calvin Harris, Sam Smith, Coldplay etc at the minute Brits are bigger, but when Perry, Rihanna and to some extent Timberlake, Pink and Kelly Clarkson return with new albums next year, I suspect it's gonna swap back (although Adele will probably help even it out a bit)

Nope, she's Bajan

I think it looks impressive because if you go back about 10 years ago to the dark days of British pop music, hardly any of those "big in Britain" acts were able to crack Europe, yet alone America.

Blazin' Squad, Brian McFaddon, V, VS, 3 Of A Kind and Rachel Stevens. I mean, these pop acts were literally the best Britain had to offer at one point. It spoke volumes about the state British music was in and thank fork it significantly improved around 2008.

I emphasise on the term "pop" because we also had excellent rock/indie acts like Franz Ferdinand, Keane, Goldfrapp and Kasabian making their debuts but none of these even managed to crack the US.

We also had Robbie Williams and Coldplay but they were well and truly established by 2004.

I must have missed the memo that we're out of the dark days - most of it still sounds like garbage to me.

She always gets lumped in with Americans for some reason, even on music channel countdown shows. It's strange.

You'd think the OP would get his facts right about Rihanna before launching that initial tirade. It's not hard to find out things these days.

One thing the Americans have to be congratulated about, as RW never has made an impact there in the slightest

I think it is fair to say that Britain is contributing to the music scene and is gaining credibility in a way that was not the case 15 years ago. Since the talent of Amy Winehouse, Adele and Rita Ora, Britain can now boast performers that gain both critical and commercial success. Even artists like Leona Lewis has had chart topping hits in the States. I always thought Craig David came at the wrong time. Had he been around now, I think he would have had better production and more financial backing to tailor his music to the taste of the American market.

Well it might be because her initial success and recording career has been in the U.S. Not strange at all.

Also was the OP's point not that British artists were big at the moment?

Rita Ora's had one hit single in the US, and that was only because she featured on a dire Iggy Azalea track. Rita Ora has yet to achieve critical acclaim. PopSugar, ATRL and PopMatters hardly count.


Chart-topping hits? She's had one, and she's never come close to getting another.

A lot of the UK acts just sound like a pale clone of American acts.

There is no orginality.