BPI and Brit Awards chief executive, Geoff Taylor, said the figures showed the UK is a “creative powerhouse” & he is absolutely correct. British acts account for 1 in 7 albums sold worldwide with 13.7% of worldwide sales. Sales of albums by British artists rose in Canada, Australia, Italy and Sweden, as well as the US.

Kings of A&R recently featured new acts from the UK including Flight Brigade who released their new track Housefire.

Flight Brigade almost completed their debut album, co-produced by Gavin Monaghan (The Editors, Kings of Leon, Robert Plant) and mixed by Donald Clark (The Knife, Noah & The Whale, Muse) at Artillery Studios. The album is due for release in early Autumn. Flight Brigade have released the official music video for their upcoming single ‘Housefire’ which is set in the Welsh mountains and follows the story of a girl fleeing the haunting influence of her past. They have been confirmed for Bestival and Glastonbury Festival. Housefire has a haunting atmospheric vibe with a singable anthem.
clare@ccmusicpromotion.com, info@flightbrigade.com CONTINUE READING

1 Wiz Khalifa See You Again 32,665 (paid downloads)
2 WALK THE MOON Shut Up and Dance 18,593
3 Jason Derulo Want to Want Me 14,458
4 The Weeknd Earned It 14,351
5 Fetty Wap Trap Queen 13,131
6 Andy Grammer Honey, I’m Good. 13,023
7 David Guetta Hey Mama 12,608
8 T-Wayne Nasty Freestyle 12,528
9 Britney Spears Pretty Girls 10,630
10 Little Big Town Girl Crush 10,180
11 Tove Lo Talking Body 9,414
12 Meghan Trainor Dear Future Husband 8,856
13 Mark Ronson Uptown Funk 8,816
14 Fifth Harmony Worth It 8,625
15 Maroon 5 Sugar 8,162
16 DJ Snake You Know You Like It 7,883
17 Ellie Goulding Love Me Like You Do 7,859
18 Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud 7,720
19 Flo Rida GDFR 7,716
20 Rachel Platten Fight Song 7,385
21 Skrillex Where Are Ü Now 7,133
22 Natalie La Rose Somebody 6,735
23 Blake Shelton Sangria 6,735
24 Nick Jonas Chains 6,256
25 Sam Hunt Take Your Time 6,236

1 Wiz Khalifa See You Again 40,722 paid downloads
2 WALK THE MOON Shut Up and Dance 19,024
3 Fetty Wap Trap Queen 14,933
4 Little Big Town Girl Crush 14,247
5 Jason Derulo Want to Want Me 13,695
6 The Weeknd Earned It 13,596
7 David Guetta Hey Mama 12,348
8 Mark Ronson Uptown Funk 11,075
9 Andy Grammer Honey, I’m Good 10,404
10 Twayne Nasty Freestyle 10,195
11 Ellie Goulding Love Me Like You Do 10,146
12 Flo Rida GDFR 9291
13 Natalie La Rose Somebody 8,694
14 Maroon 5 Sugar 8,649
15 Nick Jonas Chains 8,331
16 Sam Hunt Take Your Time 8,306
17 Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud 8,232
18 Tove Lo Talking Body 7,750
19 Meghan Trainor Dear Future Husband 7,461
20 Nashville Cast Shotgun 7,173
21 Panic! At the Disco Hallelujah 6,994
22 Rihanna Better Have My Money 6,437

1. Wiz Khalifa See You Again 46,097 (paid downloads)
2. WALK THE MOON Shut Up and Dance 20,291
3. Mark Ronson Uptown Funk 16,352
4. Fetty Wap Trap Queen 15,840
5. The Weeknd Earned It 14,675
6. Jason Derulo Want to Want Me 12,385
7. Ellie Goulding Love Me Like You Do 11,316
8. David Guetta Hey Mama 11,147
9. Maroon 5 Sugar 10,224
10 Little Big Town Girl Crush 10,162
11 Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud 9,988
12 Andy Grammer Honey, I’m Good. 9,690
13 Nick Jonas Chains 9,515
14 Natalie La Rose Somebody 8,846
15 Flo Rida GDFR 7,850
16 Meghan Trainor Dear Future Husband 7,490
17 Rihanna FourFiveSeconds 7,394
18 Tove Lo Talking Body 7,321
19 Sam Hunt Take Your Time 7,158
20 Rihanna Better Have My Money 7,107
21 Fifth Harmony Worth It 6,550
22 Taylor Swift Style 6,409

Kevin Lyman is best known as the producer and creator of the extremely successful Vans Warped Tour, the longest running traveling music festival in the world today. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the tour has played to over millions of fans. Kevin has founded many other highly successful tours including the Rockstar Mayhem Festival and Down from the Mountain Tour. When not curating giant festivals, he sits on the Board of Directors for Saint Archer Brewery and the LA County Fairplex. He also has his hand in the record industry as co-owner of Side One Dummy.

A trendsetter for youth branding, Kevin has established creative partnerships with brands such as Vans, Kia, Journeys, Fuse, Ernie Ball, and Monster Energy Drink. Kevin was an honoree at the Grammy/MusiCares MAP Fund 2011 and received the Billboard Touring Awards Humanitarian of the Year in 2009. Recently he has founded The Entertainment Institute to revolutionize music business education utilizing his 35 years of experience.

You are best known as the creator of the Vans Warped tour, the longest running traveling musical festival in the world today, as well as the Rockstar Mayhem Festival. Are you content with your achievements or do you feel there is unfinished business?.

KL: No there is always stuff out there to do. I’ve always felt there is more out there to be done. People have asked me what was the best Warped Tour. I say “it’s the one that is going to happen, I hope.” You can’t live on status quo. I think what we are doing now , especially with The Entertainment Institute (TEI), some of the other branding things like speaking engagements, are pushing in the direction I want to go. I thought that education was going to be my calling and maybe the music thing was going to be a passing thing and I would get on with my life.

When you founded The Entertainment Institute, what sparked that idea? KL: A few reasons are that I speak at colleges and universities quite a bit. I firmly believe in the education process but sometimes kids come out of school not quite up with everything that is going on. They are not keeping current. I thought that maybe we could create a supplemental education program to teach them real time. Not to replace anything that one is doing in education, but to keep it in real time. CONTINUE READING