Olivia Rodrigo made her return this week with Vampire, as her UK label Polydor gears up for a big campaign for the second half of the year.
But Polydor has also proven its strength with domestic repertoire this week as five of its acts make the singles Top 10.
As well as Olivia Rodrigo debuting at No.2 with Vampire (55,614 sales), Ellie Goulding is at No.4 with Calvin Harris collaboration Miracle (29,821 sales), Irish star Jazzy (who's signed in the UK) is at No.5 with Giving Me (27,978 sales), Hannah Laing (with RoRo) is at No.8 with Good Love (24,838 sales) and Clavish is at No.10 with D-Block Europe on their single Pakistan (23,842 sales).
“Having five Polydor artists in the Top 10 feels very special for us, and it’s important to recognise these moments,” Polydor president Ben Mortimer told Music Week. “There’s an incredible energy around the label right now.”
The performance has helped Polydor take No.1 on the Top 75 singles market share this week with 14.6%. For the total market this week, Polydor is No.3 with 9.5% of singles streams.
Rising UK rap star Clavish (pictured) has scored his second Top 10 single, following the No.9 peak for Rocket Science, another D-Block Europe collaboration, in December 2022.
Clavish’s debut mixtape, Rap Game Awful, peaked at No.4 in January and has sales to date of 49,014. He is the biggest breakthrough artist of the first six months.
“It’s a true development story,” said Ben Mortimer. “For three years we’ve been steady, consistent and confident, while listening to him and his great management team. He’s closest to his fans, and knows exactly what they want. We’ve added strategy when needed, but consciously never taking him away from what he is. I wholeheartedly believe he’s the next breakout UK rap artist.”
We are very lucky to get to work with such a generational talent
Ben Mortimer
Following Top 5 success with Jazzy, Polydor now has a second dance act in the Top 10 with Hannah Laing. Good Love is released via the WUGD label, which was launched by Jax Jones and manager Dan Stacey.
“I have a very close relationship with Dan Stacey, that goes back to us promoting parties together in the late ’90s,” said Mortimer. “And in another life Timz [Jax Jones] would have made an exceptional label executive. He’s so smart musically, and in business. I have complete faith in them both creatively. It can be chaotic sometimes (laughs), but we can never fault their creative. Hannah Laing, who is so, so brilliant, is the label’s breakout moment. And I envisage many more to come.”
Jax Jones almost had a presence in the Top 10 this week as he has remixed Kylie Minogue’s Padam Padam. The single dipped to No.12.
Mortimer also looked ahead to Olivia Rodrigo’s album, Guts, released in September.
“It’s a brilliant return for Olivia, across the board,” he said. “The love is there for her. Vampire is such an incredible song, and I’ve been lucky enough to hear what’s coming. We are very lucky to get to work with such a generational talent.”
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