Polydor Label Group is officially on a hot streak.
That’s the verdict from label group president Ben Mortimer, as the Universal Music company marks a run of success for artists new and established.
The latest chart result for the label is the No.1 comeback for Lewis Capaldi (previously with EMI), who debuted at the singles summit with Survive on consumption of 68,414 units (including a whopping 25,415 physical copies).
Following Capaldi’s surprise Glastonbury performance, his new partnership with Polydor has delivered his fastest-selling single to date as well as the biggest opening week for any single this year. In fact, Polydor has achieved both the biggest opening week of the year on the singles chart (Survive) and on the albums chart with Sam Fender’s People Watching, which opened with 107,124 units in February.
Fender’s highest-selling week one album result (the only one to break 100,000 in a week so far) has yet to be surpassed. It also had the biggest vinyl sales of any release week and was the fastest-selling vinyl release by any British act this century.
With consumption of 191,724 units so far, People Watching is the biggest-selling album released in 2025 and No.3 overall. The album was further boosted by Fender’s record-breaking stadium shows in London and Newcastle. He recently secured a Top 10 single with Rein Me In, which features PLG artist Olivia Dean.
Richard O’Donovan, head of A&R, Polydor, said: “I couldn’t be more proud of everything Sam and the team have achieved here in the UK. It’s been such an exciting journey so far, and we’re now looking forward to taking Sam’s story to the rest of the world. There’s so much more to come, plenty of exciting plans in the works and new music on the way later this year.”
We’re on an exhilarating run at Polydor Label Group
Ben Mortimer
Another returning artist, Olivia Dean, has reached a new peak this week with her latest single, Nice To Each Other, moving 18-15 (22,608 units – up 4.2% week-on-week). Dean, who is signed to Capitol (part of Polydor Label Group), has a simultaneous Top 20 single with Sam Fender collaboration Rein Me In at No.12 (26,001 units in the past week).
Dean has also made her first appearance in the Spotify Global chart. Her second album, The Art of Loving, lands on September 26.
Capitol’s Sammy Virji is also breaking new ground, with his latest single Cops & Robbers (featuring Skepta) becoming his first Top 40 single. Virji’s global rise includes headlining at the 13,000-capacity Forest Hills Stadium in Brooklyn last month, as well as immediately selling out a show at Manchester’s Warehouse Project in October this year.
Jo Charrington, president, Capitol UK, said: “This is an immensely exciting time for Capitol. The rise of Olivia and Sammy from different worlds but both with huge global momentum is testament to the talent and drive from the artists and their teams. With albums coming from each artist later this year, we are very ambitious about the heights they can reach.”
PLG’s dance label imprint Chaos is thriving, too, with a catalogue of over 1.5 billion streams in just over two years since inception. Music Week reported on the launch of Chaos at the time.
Chaos has made an impact with two Top 5 singles, a Top 10 album, a nomination for Best Label at the Radio 1 Dance Awards 2024, two BRIT Award nominations and four artists featured across the Glastonbury 2025 line-up.
Chrystal’s The Days charted on the US Hot 100 and broke into the Global Spotify Top 50, and is the seventh biggest-selling song of 2025 in the UK. Meanwhile, the collaboration between Jazzy and Rossi, High On Me, has secured a new peak of No.28 (13,909 units – up 15.6% week-on-week).
This is an immensely exciting time for Capitol
Jo Charrington
Across the label’s international roster, Olivia Rodrigo closed Glastonbury Festival and has seen a 60.2% consumption boost for current album, Guts, which has moved 24-8 (6,374 units). It has consumption to date of 601,278. There was a similar gain for debut album, Sour, (up 48.1%), which climbed 25-11 (5,849 units). Sour has consumption to date of 1,155,725.
Doechii and Gracie Abrams both had significant breakout performances at the festival too.
Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter has spent two weeks at No.1 with new single Manchild, and her Short N’ Sweet album stands as the UK’s top-selling album of the year to date (728,884 sales to date) .
As it secures 45 consecutive weeks in the Top 5, Short N’ Sweet breaks a chart record with the longest Top 5 run ever for a solo artist.
Polydor-signed Lana Del Rey is also set for a consumption boost. She is currently on a stadium tour, including sold-out concerts at Wembley Stadium (July 3-4). While the chart impact of those will be seen in the next week, the Born To Die album has already had a 10.3% week-on-week consumption increase, climbing six places to No.32.
Ben Mortimer, president, Polydor Label Group, said: “We’re on an exhilarating run at Polydor Label Group. We have domestic success stories from across the group, in multiple genres, and from brilliant artists at all stages of their careers. This isn’t a case of one week at No.1, then done. This is real, sticky artist development in action. Plus, our international roster continues to go from strength to strength. PLG is on a hot streak, and, thankfully, it feels like just the start.”
PHOTO: Hannah Daisy Braid