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After a strong 2025, there’s more opportunities ahead in the coming 12 months.
Harry Styles performs during night 11 of his 15 consecutive shows at Madison Square Garden on September 8, 2022.
Lloyd Wakefield
The U.K. music industry is famed for its tardy return to the office following the festive period, but you sense that the workforce might be keen to get 2026 up and running. Ask around and the mood is quietly confident and that the coming 12 months could be another bumper period for a market that many had written off.
Last week, the BPI announced that in 2025 the U.K. recorded music market had grown by 5% in the latest encouraging sign that things are progressing in the right direction. While Oasis’ mammoth reunion tour and Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl led the way, mixed in the end-of-year report were signs that new stars were establishing themselves: Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Sam Fender, Yungblud and more had all taken creative leaps in 2025 and reaped commercial rewards.
From a cultural standpoint, 2026 is now finely poised for the Brits. Next month Charli xcx will release her first full collection since brat with a soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation, a taster of where the next phase of her artistry will take her. Dean looks poised to build on her stunning breakout moment with a massive world tour, and RAYE – who just earned the U.K.’s first No. 1 single of 2026 – is readying a sophomore studio album. Rumous are swirling that Harry Styles – one of the industry’s most bankable stars – is readying a comeback in the coming months, and Lily Allen is readying her return to the live arena.
There’s also set to be upheaval in the industry, too. The Labour government is working through its manifesto pledges to upend the secondary market for tickets, and look set to provide a major boost for local grassroots venues. The industry’s response to artificial intelligence will also be keenly followed, while The BRIT Awards leave London for the first time in a major shake-up. They’re all on the agenda for a potentially massive 2026 in the U.K. music industry; these are the burning questions set to be answered.
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Are we due a Harry Styles comeback?
The return of one of Britain’s biggest solo stars feels like a case of when, not if. Over the festive period, Styles broke cover to share a live clip of “Forever Forever” from the final show of his previous world tour in 2023, signalling to fans that the cogs are starting to turn on a potential comeback. Industry chatter also indicates that a world tour – with several dates at London’s Wembley Stadium – could be on the cards for this summer. It’s been nearly four years since his last studio album, 2022’s Harry’s House, his longest gap as a solo recording artist, though it could be time for that to come to an end.
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Will an AI track top the U.K. Charts?
Music which utilises artificial intelligence hit Billboard charts in a major way in 2025, and it looks to be replicated on this side of the pond imminently. HAVEN.’s “I Run” track has come under fire following claims from Jorja Smith’s record label, who claimed that her vocals and likeness were used to train an A.I. model that generated vocals with a similar tone and register.
The duo – made up of Harrison Walker and Jacob Donaghue – deny the claims that Smith’s vocals were involved in the process (though they confirmed that Suno’s AI-assisted vocal processing was used), and the Official Charts Company deemed the track ineligible for the Official Singles Chart. A new version of the track has since been recorded, released and is currently up to No. 10 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart. This is the canary down the coal mine, and the industry will be watching closely.
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Will The BRIT Awards find a new permanent home?
On Feb. 28, The BRIT Awards will leave the capital for the first time and head to Manchester’s Co-op Live arena in a huge coup for the city. Overseen by Sony Music’s Stacey Tang, the ceremony is the latest to shun London, following the Mercury Prize’s move to Newcastle upon Tyne, and the MOBO’s roving ceremony which rotates through major cities (2026 ceremony’s will also take place in Manchester). Viewing figures for the ceremony have stabilized in recent years and Manchester’s heritage and passion for music could help sway the organizing committee that the Northern city could host multiple years.
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What is Oasis up to?
After a triumphant comeback in 2025, Oasis’ status moving forward remains unresolved. The band’s Live 25 reunion tour ran from July until late November and took on shows worldwide – but there’s still some meat left on the bone. Rumors of a return to Knebworth House on the 30th anniversary of their mega 1996 shows won’t dissipate, and mainland Europe was snubbed entirely on last year’s run.
Liam Gallagher has fanned the flames several times by suggesting (then denying) that shows are on the agenda for 2026. But nothing has been confirmed as of yet, and a 2027 run could be the more-favored option.
A documentary helmed by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) on the Gallagher brothers’ comeback is due in 2026, and fans are clamoring for a live LP from the momentous shows. Who knows, perhaps a return to the studio is on the horizon…
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Will the U.K.’s star-making hot streak continue?
2025 felt like a comeback year for British and Irish music with a vast array of fresh characters coming to the fore: Olivia Dean broke out into a global star; Central Cee achieved greatness with his debut LP; and CMAT became a household name after a stellar festival run. Can it happen again in 2026? Elusive Scouse rapper EsDeeKid continues to leverage internet rumors into chart success, and Skye Newman is poised for a strong 2026. KEO, Kwn and Nectar Woode also show potential heading into a fresh year.
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Are we still waiting for a major tour announcement?
Massive tours from Oasis, Beyoncé, Coldplay and Taylor Swift have passed through stadiums in the past two summers, but 2026’s slate looks light in comparison. At Wembley Stadium, for example, only 14 shows are planned between July to September (My Chemical Romance, Luke Combs, The Weeknd and Bon Jovi), a downturn on the huge residencies held in the past two summers; in 2025, Oasis and Coldplay combined for 16 nights total. Bad Bunny, Take That and Lewis Capaldi will all hit the road this summer, but a BTS or Harry Styles-sized hole is yet to be filled. Olivia Dean, RAYE, Lily Allen and Ariana Grande‘s indoor arena tours will also help plug the gap should it remain vacant.
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What’s next for grassroots music venues?
Progress to protecting the U.K.’s grassroots music scene was made in 2025 with Coldplay, Sam Fender, Katy Perry and more making donations to the Music Venue Trust and the LIVE Fund via a voluntary ticket levy for their arena shows. Major venues such as The O2 in London are also getting involved by setting up regular donations to the scene. The Labour government is under serious pressure to make a proposed ticket levy on major arena shows mandatory, and to safeguard grassroots venues’ future amidst rising costs and slow economic growth. Whether that will be enough to shield these crucial spaces is yet to be seen.
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With Glastonbury off, which festivals will capitalise?
Traditionally a fixture of the British summer, Glastonbury Festival will take its traditional fallow year this June with no event taking place. Initiated once every five years to allow Worthy Farm – a working dairy farm – and its ground to recover, it provides new opportunities for rival festivals. Reading & Leeds, BST Hyde Park, All Points East, and AEG’s new Roundhay Festival and more have stepped up to provide some of their strongest lineups in years. It’s here that new long-term connections with punters and artists are forged, and they’ve responded to the opportunity.
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Could British acts dominate the Grammys?
U.K. artists could make a major statement at the 2026 Grammys. Olivia Dean and Lola Young will juke it out in the coveted best new artist category, while Yungblud, FLO, Fred again.., FKA twigs, PinkPantheress, and Wet Leg are among the names up for statues in the genre categories. Flying back from L.A. with a handful of prizes could give the U.K. majors and indie scene further encouragement that they’re very much on the right track with the talent they’ve backed.
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Will the ticket resale market be transformed?
In 2025, Labour came good on a manifesto promise to legally cap the value of resale tickets to protect fans from touts. Viagogo has said that fans will be worse off because of the new laws, saying it will push the resellers to less regulated spaces and fraud will be widespread. Large parts of the live industry – particularly fan-to-fan exchange platforms – have welcomed the news as have a number of major artists. The law is set to come into effect in 2026 following parliamentary approval, though its impact will only truly be felt at the next major ticket on-sale event.
