It took on average half a person less to make the UK’s biggest hits last year, as the seemingly irreversible co-writing trend finally showed signs of subsiding.

The average number of credited songwriters needed to write the 100 biggest UK hits of 2019 was 4.77, according to new Music Week research. That’s 0.57 down on 2018’s average of 5.34, and the first decline since our survey began in 2016. 

“I never thought that half a person was contributing much ...