You might have already suspected it, but it's true. Coldplay are the most played British group of the 21st century, at least in the UK - a fact confirmed today by music licensing company PPL. Thought you’d been hearing a lot of the band while getting your highlights done or picking up the houmous? Now you know why.
PPL licenses the use of recorded music on radio and TV and therefore out in the real world in shops, workplaces, public spaces and more all across the UK. All media outlets playing music have to report to the PPL what they played, allowing the service to build a unique picture of what media outlets think that we want to hear (if not our actual favourite bands).
And so far this century the winner in the airplay charts – and arguably the UK’s number one band – is… Coldplay, holding Queen and Take That at numbers two and three.
Disappointingly the service doesn’t reveal the total numbers of plays per artist but has leaked that Coldplay obtained 40,000 more plays on UK radio and TV than Queen in second place, which sounds like quite the margin.
The band’s UK number one Viva La Vida, released in 2008, has proven their most played track, averaging 27 plays per day on UK TV and radio since its release.
The next ranking Coldplay hits in PPL’s data are Paradise, Clocks, Something Just Like This, and Adventure of a Lifetime. In fact, in total the band have amassed 400 million seconds of UK airplay this century – the equivalent of 13 years of listening to non-stop Coldplay.
This sobering news comes as part of the PPL’s ramp up for National Album Day 2024 which takes place on October 19th and this year is specifically celebrating British groups. The annual event is ran jointly by labels, the BPI and digital entertainment and retail association ERA in partnership with BBC Radio 2.
Coldplay will be contributing further to their catalogue on October 4th with the release of their 10th album, Moon Music. The stars are also aligned for the band to break the record for consecutive appearances at Wembley Stadium in summer of 2025 with (so far) ten dates confirmed at the venue, beating both Taylor Swift and Take That who have performed eight.
The full top 20 of most played songs in the UK since 2000 reads as follows:
1 Coldplay
2 Queen
3 Take That
4 Little Mix
5 The Beatles
6 Oasis
7 The Bee Gees
8 The Stereophonics
9 The Eurythmics
10 The Rolling Stones
11 Clean Bandit
12 Duran Duran
13 Sugababes
14 The Police
15 Simply Red
16 Snow Patrol
17 Electric Light Orchestra
18 Keane
19 Wham!
20 Texas
Commenting on the new chart, PPL's CEO, Peter Leathem OBE said: “This country has produced some of the most iconic and successful bands of all time, so documenting them is a perfect way to mark this year’s National Album Day. Including groups from across the last 60 years, this list is a reminder of the strength and depth of British music through the decades. Coldplay are fitting owners of the No.1 spot – few artists can claim to have had such a presence on UK radio and TV since 2000.”
