BRIT Billion Award Honorees: Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Whitney Houston, More!

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has recognized various artists' success across multiple projects as they achieved 1 billion music streams in the United Kingdom.

Coined as the "BRIT Billion Award," a few strings of artists received the very first award from the distinguished organization.

BRIT Billion Award

As streaming takes over television and music, institutions and organizations have also shifted to recognizing its impact of it in many ways.

In this case, the British Phonographic Industry, the music trade association in the United Kingdom, introduced its BRIT Billion Awards, powered by the Official Charts data, a counterpart of the Billboard charts in the said country.

According to Billboard, this was the first time in 50 years that the BPI would recognize the artist's combined efforts across multiple projects or albums. Usually, certifications or recognitions were only given to each record or album. The publication also noted that the BRIT Billion Award encompasses the artists' impact as a lead artist and as a featured artist, as credited by the Official Charts data.

According to recent findings, more than 85% of the United Kingdom's recorded music consumption is now taking place on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, among many others.

According to BPI Chief Strategy Officer Sophie Jones, she believed that we needed a "new and additional way to recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievement in recorded music." Hence, the BRIT Billion Award.

BRIT Billion Awardees

Among the inaugural class who received the BRIT Billion Awards were Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and even Lewis Capaldi.

In a statement, Houston's estate thanked the organization for the newly-minted honor given posthumously to the late music icon.

"Whitney would be very proud of this award, and the first thing she would say is, 'is this for me'?" the representative said in a statement as quoted by Billboard.

Carey also expressed her gratitude after receiving the award, even teasing that she "cannot wait" to come back to the UK to make more moments together with them.

Apart from Carey, Capaldi, and Houston, several artists were also honored too. Coldplay, Sam Smith, Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding, Anne-Marie, and ABBA also surpassed the Billion streams threshold. Meanwhile, George Ezra, Headie One, RAYE, and AJ Tracey were also recognized.