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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories for this weekly newsletter.
When Paul McCartney was joined on stage in London by Ringo Starr for the final concert of his Got Back tour last week, they easily breezed through songs, including “Helter Skelter” and “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club”. They've had time to practice: it's been 64 years since since they started playing as the Beatles with John Lennon and George Harrison.
McCartney is 82 years old, more than four times the age of the then 18-year-old. However the remaining members of the Beatles played, long after the deaths of Harrison and Lennon. They made half of the best-selling music of all time and who stripped rock and roll of its American roots to liberate the British music industry of today.
The latter is also still going strong, putting to shame some of the local businesses that have languished since the 1960s. The growth of UK recorded music exports it slowed down last year but it has already reached record levels and the industry is predicted to contribute £7.6bn to the economy by 2023. Singers like Adele and Ed Sheeran have followed the Beatles' path to world fame.
There is a lot of competition, with South Korean bands such as Stray Kids becoming a global success, but the distinct benefits of British music have been passed down through the generations, from the Beatles to the Arctic Monkeys, Dua Lipa and Lewis Capaldi. As the year comes to an end, it is important to reflect on these achievements.
The English language always helped, of course. The fact that the Beatles wrote and sang songs in English not only helped them conquer the US, but was also part of their marketing. It would have been difficult to attract an audience to The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 if they needed a translator.
But behind language is creativity. Rock and Roll was American but the Beatles and subsequent bands took the genre and gave it a British twist. Lennon and McCartney were as familiar with musical forms and conventions as the Rolling Stones were with the blues. They added native play and wit.
The distance was helpful. Ian Leslie, author of John and PaulThe upcoming biography of Lennon and McCartney, argues that their simultaneous dedication, and independence, to the US allowed them creative freedom. “They took American music and sold it back to Americans. . . They liked to turn it around, change it, mess it up,” he said.
They come from a tradition of puns and jokes going back to Shakespeare. It is also a product of education, particularly the art schools through which many songwriters passed, from Lennon to Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd, David Bowie and Joe Strummer of the Clash. Adele and Amy Winehouse both attended a British art school in Croydon.
The UK music industry benefited from the agglomeration effect: when it became clear that one brilliant quartet of Liverpudlians could advance on the world stage, others naturally wished to follow. Once a stable group of players formed the base of the industry, the UK became a band.
That group was helped by immigrants after the war. Ska originated in Jamaica but was revived by groups such as the Specials in the 1970s while grime, a London amalgam of different styles, produced artists including Stormzy. Immigration was also an important factor in the British jazz revival, and has helped to maintain the industry's level of social mobility.
UK music faces challenges today. The careers of top music artists have incredible longevity during world tours and extended stays, such as Adele's Las Vegas residency that ended in November. But McCartney is getting old and so is Matye and Elton John, his farewell tour grossed $939 million. UK has a great back catalog but needs to keep updating it.
Global competition is fierce. America's Taylor Swift is the top artist in the world and no UK group is found in the 2023 top 10 compiled by the trade group IFPI. A new musical attack is coming from South Korea, with Seventeen, Lost Children, Tomorrow X and NewJeans all on the chart. There are other difficulties, including post-Brexit constraints on European tourism.
But the UK remains the third largest music market and the fact that others are competing effectively for fans' attention (now especially in their own languages) is no indication of failure. It just means that they have learned something that can be implemented. The Beatles and others showed that music was not an art school distraction: it was a global business.
Britain still has that creative and creative spirit, although its economic future is less clear than it was in the early 1960s. If the government values this creative asset and helps it succeed, the team will play.