The uk has been described as a "cultural superpower"

Popular music[edit]

The Beatles are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in popular music, with estimated sales of over one billion.^[32]
Popular commercial music in Britain can be traced back at least as far as the seventeenth-century broadside ballad, and also encompasses brass band music and music hall. Popular music in the modern sense began to emerge in the 1950s, as the American styles of jazz and rock and roll became popular. The skiffle revival was an early attempt to create a British form of American music, but it was the emergence of British rock and roll by the early 1960s that established a viable British popular music industry. Genres such as beat and British blues were re-exported to America by bands such as the Beatles and Rolling Stones, in a move that came to be called the British Invasion. In the 1960s saw the development of heavy metal out of Birmingham and the wider area. The development of blues rock helped differentiate rock and pop music, leading to the emergence of several sub-genres of rock in the 1970s. Glam rock was a particularly British genre that emphasised outrageous costumes, while the end of the decade saw the rise of punk, new wave, and post-punk bands. The influence of immigration could also be seen in the increased prominence of World music, particularly Jamaican music. The 1980s were a successful decade in British pop, as a second British Invasion was witnessed and new technology enabled genres such as synthpop to form. Jazz saw a resurgence as black British musicians created new fusions such as Acid Jazz. Indie rock was a reaction to the perceived saturation of the music industry by pop, exemplified by Stock Aitken Waterman's domination of the charts. This continued in the 1990s, as boy bands, all-female and mixed groups dominated the singles chart, while the Madchester scene helped drive alternative rock and Britpop to the mainstream. British soul saw a rise that continued into the 2000s, including the global success of Adele. Dance music also saw innovation, with genres such as dubstep and new rave emerging.