great topic...i actuallywould like to chat online with u about this as oppose to posting in a newsgroup....there are also quite a few folks on this board that could give an american insight on bands like artic monkeys, bloc party, the rakes, maximo park, etc. vs. green day, the strokes, death cab, my chemical romance, etc....

The reason american music/movies/etc is so popular is b/c they're all made to target the lowest common denominator and we're not afraid to use blackmail and thuggish tactics to impose our will on other countrys and our own citizens.
you really should be looking into the differences between how the american and british market, use PR, target audiences, promote/cross-promote/whore themselves out to everyone.
In the mainstream, the music doesn't matter at all, sales are what matters :(

If your talking about about Hip-hop its because it was created in America so american MCs have more "cred". If your talking about Indi-rock bands Uk has more progressive evolving bands that are not as easy to label/market to masses.

Who cares?

i didn't choose the topic.
i was assigned it, but thanks for your caring post anyway.
What was the point in you replying if you don't care?
Thanks everyone else

America.........America hasn't made good music in 20 years. When it comes to electronic and alternative music Europe Ownz

Europe, yes, but I haven't heard much good music coming out of England... And then we have that repulsive thing called "Britpop"... Gag. But All-in-all, being a huge fan of punk and ska as well, England has bested America in the past.

-John K.

keep in mind when posting, the topic is north america vs britain, not europe. and my two cents? america created coldwave, fucking coldwave ughguhghugh.

It depends on genre alot. British contempory acts seem to have a hard time on the american side of the pond..I think european acts in general do. Often when they do fine success over here, they are though as of something of a novelty almost. Although I must say alot of my favorate acts, particularly in the "rock" world are definitly British or at least British influenced. Although most of the acts are still kinda left "to people in the know" I guess you could say, as the average listener in America will have probably no knowledge of many household names from Britain, or most anywhere in Europe for that matter.
Also I'd imagine Europeans are probably more open to acts on an international level, so when combined with the marketing american acts do get, and compared to the almost non existance marketing of many outside acts on a American level(with a couple exceptions), in that you probably have your anwser.
However do remember that's more of a description of mainstream music, in the more "underground" genre's you will probably find its varies quite a bit.

My opinion would be that the question is wrong or, at least, missing the point. It'd be far more interesting to consider "America-and-Britain vs The Rest of The World". My favourite tunes of the moment include stuff from Iceland, Norway, Germany, Japan and New Zealand...stuff that is far more exciting than the majority of American (and, to a lesser degree, British) music.

However, if you've been set the question then you can't really avoid it so I'll tackle your questions specifically and then add any comments I can think of...

"So do you think that the Americans rule over the music industry?" - Depends on what you mean by "music industry"... Do American artists (and, more importantly, record labels) have an overly-large influence on the status of the mainstream of global music? Probably. If you're talking about the underground music scene (or, indeed, all of music) then the quality of the music is FAR more important than the geographic origin of that music. I think it would possibly be fair to say that Americans rule over the advertising of the music industry.

"Are your favourite bands wholly British or wholly American?" - Neither, all that I can say is that my favourite bands are wholly Terran. You're falling into a trap by intimating that American and British music is all there is. What about "African" music? The entire continent of Africa contains (and influences) more music than I care to imagine. Where would modern hip hip/R&B be without the ragga/toasting of West Indian music or the more fluid rhythms of bhangra?

"Do you think that British bands are catching up and producing more exciting tracks?" - "Catching up" implies that British music has fallen behind and I would refute this on many levels. Firstly it implies some kind of contest which I think is manufactured at best. If bands are thinking "I need to be successful in America" or "I've got to do better than British bands" then they're probably not very good. Also, British music has always been exciting, it just depends on where you look (the same stands true for American music). If you hold up the British Top 10 and the US Billboard chart next to each other then I think you'd be hard pressed to find more than a handful of truly exciting and inventive tracks. However, if you've been listening to British underground radio or the late John Peel's shows on Radio 1 (the national radio station, lest we forget) then you'll have been hearing a flood of exciting, inventive music.

"Who’s making the best music at the moment?" - For me? Tujiko Noriko, Black Boned Angel, Axis of Perdition, Boards of Canada, 1349, Bjork, MOSS, Sigur Ros, Bong Ra, The White Stripes, Sunn0)))... I can't say that I like more American music or more British music.

"Why do you think UK bands find it tougher to crack America, then US bands do to the UK?" - Americans are programmed to prefer American culture. The rest of the world is programmed to prefer American culture. It's as simple as that. American culture is more directly marketed than any other and shown to be something more aspirational. If you were a young lad in Manchester's Moss Side would you prefer to be Oasis or 50Cent? If you were a young girl in Toxteth would you prefer to be J-Lo or one of the dreadful harridans from Girls Aloud? I don't think it has anything to do with the relative merits of the music, more the fact that the culture that surrounds American music (in the mainstream at least) is more attractive to younger people both in and outside of America.

I think that if you're going to analyse the differences between the British and American scenes then you have to confront this fundamental, culture difference. Americans are (generally) more outgoing, more ambitious and more (for want of a better word) pushy. This kind of attitude is often regarded with suspicion in Britain. Sadly, it's this kind of attitude that gets you places.

However you approach the question then you have to remember that success does not equal quality. If a band is good then it doesn't matter whether they come from Britain or American, Bhutan or Angola.

@ wasted_youth138 - "Europe, yes, but I haven't heard much good music coming out of England..." : And there's the point, you haven't heard it. There is a lot of good music in Britain but it isn't well advertised as we currently have a woeful gap in (Government) sponsored promotion (of the arts in general, it has to be said).

PS - Can we also please remember that Britain DOESN'T equal England? Thanks.

Dan H, thank you very much. I understand the whole advertising side of it, i had to reword things easier for the younger message boards so they could reply and give their opinions. Even though i just received a 'they're both good' or a 'British' with no explanation whatsoever.

So thank you everybody for your in-depth answers.

@ Abzy. No problem. I do like to ramble on...=)

First off..... i don't think anyone really pays attention to what America is puting out unless it's in the mainstream. Just living in one city... ONE CITY.... i can tell you that there is just as much talent here than what i've heard come out of an entire country..... Be it the UK, Germany, Sweden..... etc. That's saying alot when half of my CDs are International acts. I'll admit that the US knows how to market and target audiences well.... even if it is crap. People need to dig harder when it comes to alot of American music because there is so much.... I'll bet it's only 10 percent that the rest of the world ever hears about. The rest goes unnoticed because it's not profitable for the music markets out here. We send it to another country and get a stuck up response from labels that frown on Americans... thinking that whatever we do... someone from a different country can do it better. I think it's plain Ignorance that plays a key role in the music markets of every country. Every country is out to prove that they're better than one another. Dozens of countries have given us great music and as much as some of you hate to admit it.... America along with the UK has thrown in more than their share of excellent acts. One will always be a step ahead of the other in some way or another when it comes to genres. I think alot of peoples judgement on music clashes with their politics... and in a way... discriminates against the US. We are a growing Corporate run society.... we no this.... we can't help it if our leaders are war mongering fascist crooks. Hitler killed his own people too and they probably never saw that coming. Put the bigotry aside and get your hands dirty.... if some of you people look hard enough.... you'll find a whole new world of music in America other than the Top 40's Bling Bling and EMO crap that the country's music labels know they can bank on.

mhh... i haven´t read the long answers in this thread , but think honestly and no i´m not anti british ( in fact i love the UK for other reasons than music )...but what good electronic and/or indus acts are at the moment there coming from britain ?

i guess aphex twin and prodigy could count ? vnv nation are british also, but i think they settled over to germany ? or am i confusing something. fields of the nephilim are british i guess, they release a new record now but i haven´t heard it, so can´t say if it is good enough...

i have not much knowledge about "normal" pop and rock music so i can´t comment on this....but it seems there are some known alternative and "emo"
bands from britain ? i don´t like emo at all, so it doesn´t count in my book though.

well britain has good metal bands, like one of my faves boltthrower for example. but US much more...or scandinavia or germany.

overall US/north america ( incl. canada ) wins with music that is "on topic" on this board IMHO. but still the rest of europe wins over north america ( esp. scandinavia, germany and france )-.....

I have more German music then British and more British music then American music, so that might answer your question a bit.

ooohh, American music Vs. British music????? Thats a toughy alright.




hummmmmmm, Psyclon Nine Vs. Tactical Sekt????


hummmmmmm, do I prefer my left nut or my right nut????

@ fluid: america hasn´t made good music in 20 years ??????

tell that to the hundreds of thousands skinny puppy, frontline assembly, delirium and numb fans in the word :p

as long i remember canada is also in america, or am i wrong there ?

The question is to broad. If you're talking about all music in general, America wins hands down. If you go by different genres, that's a whole nother, much more complicated, enchilada.

while i just remembered that bill leeb is an austrian, so canada can get only half of the credits for FLA + delirium + the other leeb projects :p

i would definitely say more of the bands that i prefer to listen to regularly are from the UK.

but on more commercial grounds:

wire, joy division, gang of four and to a lesser extent, my bloody valentine sure do all seem to get namechecked in interviews with some of the major american rock bands of today with pretty serious regularity. then again, we handed out grunge like there was no tomorrow a decade ago.

don't even get me started on the wealth of british synthpop from the 80's. we had talking heads, devo, and b-52s. england had gary numan, soft cell, human league, duran duran.

we have the UK beat on country and hiphop. but they have mastered techno in most of its variants. aphex twin practically created his own genre. boards of canada have written at least a chapter in their own. and UK hiphop/grime seems to be making some more interesting waves than G-Unit or whatever we have going on at the moment.

we have the ramones. they have the sex pistols.
we have henry rollins. they have david bowie.

i dunno. it's hard to pick a winner.

Some excellent UK Dark Electronic - Industrial Bands that I can think of...

Attrition
Coil
Depeche Mode
Empirion
Empire State Human
Inertia
Killing Joke
Krusafix
Mechanical Cabaret
Mesh
Nitzer Ebb
Gary Numan
Panzer
Red Sekta
Sheep On Drugs
VNV Nation
Visage

@ sedusa: i think the question was about the actual state not the past. much of the bands you wrote down aren´t active anymore or at least very calm.

@ AlpaQuadrant

Almost all of those bands mentioned are active, even if some have returned in 2005 after a while out of the scene. There are many more, look and you will find them.

@ The American Music VS British Music.

Abzy who posted the thread mentioned mainstream pop acts.

There are many new and old bands still active on both sides, I would not say America is making better music than British counterparts in any field or genre.

The Country, R n B genres are American homegrown genres. Rock still is pretty much the main focus of US music, with its Death Metal, Doom Metal hyrids following it.

It very rare you talk to a US based Goth and they listen to EBM bands or even mention electronic bands part of the Goth scene, they see NIN as Industrial, guitar based, etc.

And mainstream record label's with their mainstream genre's rule the TV and Commercial Radio Stations in all nations.

Anything trully innovative is deep in the dark side, and with little exposure to the masses.

There are many great electronic bands coming from England, working in all the various sub-genres of electronic music from industrial to dance to synth pop to dark electro genres.

UK band trying to break the USA with mainstream success would need to sound mainstream or rock based to have a success in general.

Again, the majors seem to rule the waves, so not many alternative electronic bands get any real exposure at all to the masses.

Depeche Mode are the main alternative pop act and maybe the last band to get transatlantic success and media coverage in all or most nations to the masses via TV and Radio.

Skinny Puppy and Ministry have influenced many of the Industrial Artists out there.... These 2 acts are hitting it hard and still carry the flag on the North American side. Underground Industrial artists are ignored just as much in the US as any international act is in ignored of the same genre when they market to or tour the US. The music is still alive with fresh material in the US. The problem is that no major labels want to market it. It's a dead scene here. Not many people want to watch a couple of people dance around on stage and push buttons on their keyboards and computers. I hate to say it.... but over half of the industrial/ebm music out there consists of acts that do just that. This doesn't mean that there aren't artists here that make that genre of music. There are thousands..... and they get ignored just as much as the next band. Most of them get ignored from labels in other countries aswell.

Devo are Americans.

Devo aren't that good.

i find that there is really no difference in american & european electronic music when it comes to the underground.... it seems like everyone is on the same page and has the same desire to make the best bangin stuff they can that pulls from as many genre's as possible so that at a end result it totally blows the listeners mind.

the difference i do find is in the outlets by which artists on each side of the pond have to get their music out to a audience

europe is way more open when it comes to all the different styles of electronic music etc. and allowing a place in the culture that it rightly deserves and earned.

In america however there is not that open a acceptance for the entire culture unless your in certain major metropolitan areas that have huge to moderate under ground followings.

i figure america is going to blow up in a major way in the next 5 to 10 years when it comes to electronic based music, we have a more & more tech savy crowd embracing the internet and online downloads & we have more and more indie little by little popping up that are embracing the online world and the outlets they provide to find a way to connect people and get the culture out there.

not to mention we have 2 generations of people since the early 80's that have grown up on electro , got , trance ,rave , industrial , drum n bass, techno, house , & a million other sub genre's of electronic music to build off of.

right now the american market looks bleek but the the seeds have been sown.... a summary example in closing is as follows


in the early 80's the video game market peaked & crashed ... noone took games seriously or even thought the market had any staying power, everyone thought it had been milked .....but a few pioneers stepped out and now 20 years later look at the nintendo's , atari's, sony's , microsofts , and 1000's of other game manufacturers , pc companies , hand helds etc. etc. etc. that are running like a wild river throughout america and the rest of the world.

america has had the same thing happen in the late 90's early 00's .... electronic music , rave , got , industrial etc. peaked for a moment , crashed in many ways , & was even beat down by law enforcement.... but new technology , experimentation , a multi-genre electronic underground fan base has been established worldwide and connected by the net has opened the doors for a whole new generation to do what others have only dreamed of ........

the seeds have been sown and the future is going to be mind boggeling

I have to say The UK. just look at acts like Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, VNV Nation, Depeche Mode, Ladytron, Client, Franz Ferdinand, Mesh etc. The list can be endless. But this is off course only imho

Dan_h - Americans are programmed to prefer American culture. The rest of the world is programmed to prefer American culture.

hahaha thats so true, man that is a great quote!!! :D

Just on the overall topic, I do like a lot of brittish music.

A lot of 70's music I liked was brittish. I can't say I know anything recent other than Mesh though.

In general I like their accents and I think I'd like some of their elektroclash/indie/alternative stuff... but I have like zero way of finding out who I would like, what the exact style names are, etc.

I don't know about comparing america vs Brittain... in the 70's I would have awarded brittain. Maybe even the 80's.

But I do know that brittish chicks are hot... something about that accent. And gothic brittish chicks... ::melts::

i think good music has less to do with country of origin & more to do with having a soul. & most of it is never recorded, put in a slick package & shoved down the throats of the masses.

as far as who is better at shoving shit down peoples throats? us americans pretty much have everybody whipped. though people appear to be losing their taste for it.

Of some reason most of my fav bands are from the UK.
It seems most of American music is more assembly line style, just throwing out products that sell, of course the same situation all over, but US is big, so it might have bigger impact.

Not to hijack the thread, but aren't VNV Nation essentially Irish, living in Germany via Canada?

Back to the thread...I've always thought a very special musical "something" is present in British genes that is conspicuously lacking, in general, on this side of the pond. But that is a gross generalization and I hate making those. Nothing to see here, move along......

I'm going to just assume that by America you mean the whole Americas.

I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure America rules over the industry. Unlike a lot of other people I'm not gonna lie and say I know anything about American music advertisement vs British music advertisement. I've heard from people that are British that American music is fairly popular over there, but I gotta say, British music is not that popular over hear. Though one thing that's very popular in the US right now is alternative or underground bands. A good amount of those are British. Many of my favorite rock bands are American because rock was invented in the US, but Britain rules the industrial scene.

My music taste is not wholly American or wholly British. I like a variety. I'm an absolute fan of Imogen Heap with her unique voice and music. I'll listen to another favorite of mine , Eisley, any day though. The music I like spans from Europe to countries in the Americas. Most are American however. A few of my favorites A Fine Frenzy, GnR, Regina Spektor, Delirium, Tegan and Sarah, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Van Halen are American. I'm still a huge Led Zep and Billy Idol fan though. I love techno music...none of the DJs a like are British, but most of the are either AMerican or from another European country.

I think British music has always been very nice. ACDC and many other classic rock bands are popular beyond belief in the US and have been for a long time. Even most kids these days listen to many of the British rock bands as well as the American. At least at my highschool.

The reason why British bands are having a hard time getting into mainstream America (or atleast the US) is because the US is capitalist. Nothing will be advertised unless it's sure to make money!

TO Sedusa:
Nothing has to be totally underground to be innovative. You're most likely only saying that to because it's what you listen to. It's a bit close minded to say that. Just because the normal Brit doesn't listen to the same music as a typical American doesn't mean the British music is better. It's difference of styles. Try listening to some undergrounds American music rather than some undergrounds British music for once. And if by Goth you mean black, black, and more black, then yes rock dominates in that social group in America, but if you look at the whole picture the genres you call "dark" and "innovative" are listened to in the US as much as in Britain.

Bottom line: Britain produces as much good music as America, but since companies may not find it profitable, it's not advertised in the US.

One thing people should realize is that America has just as many undergrounds bands as Britain. They are also listened to just as much. There are many awesome alternative and Indie bands over hear also. Seriously try listening to them. Many of the Indie and Alternative bands over hear just happen to be making hits that get big. Like Regina Spektor. She recently made some hits. I still love her music. She's been Indie for a long time. Many Americans listen to British underground music as well. I just wanted people to know that there many undergrounds musicians and bands in all of AMerica, and since it's bigger than Britain, it's possible there's more variety.

I'd say that the British are not so great musically as far as innovation, but great at incorporating external influences and putting their own slant on it. For example, British Invasion bands, British techno artists who heard Detroit techno and took it to another level, etc.

Of course, there's exceptions, but that's my overall impression.

AC/DC are from Australia. Sorry to nitpick.

Oops, I guess we're both right. According to their bio, their parents moved from Scotland to Australia when they were kids.

UK:
Porcupine Tree
Radiohead
Pineapple Thief
Anathema

US:
Agalloch


Probably a tie, but just because Agalloch is THAT DAMNED GOOD!

most of my all time faves are brits. it just worked out that way. im a big fan of death rock, shoegaze, brit pop, early punk, and early electronic music (fad gadget, gary newman).

Both rock and techno originated in the US and industrial has origins in the US. I know for a fact that the pop music in Britain is much the same as in the US. There are also underground bands who play unique styles of rock, techno, and industrial in the US just like in Britain.

Led Zep still rocks and they are British.

The US has awesome alternative bands. If you can say that Britain ownz alternative and electronic music, you need to listen to more foreign music.

And just because something is popular doesn't mean it's neccessarily bad. I always hear people talking about popular music vs underground music taking pride in not liking pop bands. I'm tired of people doing that because they just listen to music for looks not joy. I listen to many underground and alternative bands, but I'm not going to say I hate all artists I hear on my local popular music station. Sure most of it sucks, but some is good.

It's just kind of dumb how people's reply to the question about why Britain hasn't made a bigger impact on America has to do with their underground and techno bands. First of all those styles considered underground have origins in the US. Second of all is something I wanna state again, Britain has basically the same kind of popular music as the US. And again the US probably has more underground musicians and bands as well as alternative, but it doesn't seem many Brits listen to them. Besides this there are countless numbers of indie bands also.

Americans definitely rule the industry. My favorite bands are from all over...Mexico, Canada, the US, Greenland, wherever. British bands have always been good, I cannot say for sure why they haven't made a larger impact on AMerica.

Throbbing Gristle , UK

If not them, blah blah blah the rest is history...

America may have come up with many kinds of music, but Europe does it better. And by Europe I mean:



`michael

Here's what I think:

The British oldies kick the American's ass, that goes for both old American songs and new ones.
But I do think at the minute America is churning out a particularly heavy load of good artists!

The reason I believe US artists have better luck in britain than vice versa is because America is a HUGE place (how many times bigger than the UK?) its easier to make it big in a place where there's far less competition. Just my thoughts.

Generally, I prefer British music but I am British. Maybe taste in music comes into it a lot. Things such as British comedy are often only 'got' by the British, I think that with some artists/music it can be the same; I find that many of the bands I adore never made it big in the USA.

If you're talking about the Music "Industry", it doesn't really matter because that bloated dinosaur is dying a slow death at the hands of self released musicians and people that are sick of paying for a CD with one or two halfway decent songs on them.

The only mainstream music that gets any attention is middle of the road Top-40 stuff.

Any fringe genre bands that have success in the mainstream quickly fade from the public eye within a year or two. Especially if they are part of a current fad (the recent Post-Punk revival thing is a good example of this). Hell look at Gnarl's Barkley. They have a somewhat interesting sound, and they were a total flash in the pan one hit wonder.

Wait.. what am I doing. This post was from 05'... wow talk about irrelevant. I'm sure this persons project is over and done with by now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38173Xi4TZc

is there even much of a difference between the two now? ascie from americas chart weighting towards hip hop and country and the UK's seemingley endless stream of talent tv show drop out one-hit wonders (usually a cover)... the actual busines end of music, rock, indi, proper hip hop, has become really quit pleasingly balenced.

Abdominal and DJ Format's colabrative work (though a few years old) is a good example of this erosion of national boundaries; is this homoginisiation or some positive steps towards international harmony.

Industrial music wise, well im bias, but i can name almost all the up-and-comming noise acts in the uk, i couldent even start to make a list of all the quality bang which is comming out of the US at the moment thanks in not small part to a bunch of top labels who just dont seem to stop working.

`michael

Britain has no national media outlets for proper alternative music. I really dont listen to the Radio as its just plays mind dumbing Indie Rock and R&B 24/7. Only scene which sometimes breaks through to the Top 40 is Alt Dance & Dance. There's probaly 10 great releases a year then the rest are just Bland Cheesy summer club hits.

I think historically both countries have influenced each other. If you take punk for example, it was started in the states with the Ramones and other bands(I forget the names). witch was then exported to England who gave us the Clash & the Sex Pistols. When that came back to America, It led to hardcore Punk.

A similar trend can be seen looking at 60's psychedelic, Rock music, Progressive rock, etc..

Its probably less prevalent now, what with globalization, the internet, and pretty much everyone having access to everything.

Hey Abzy,

I'm glad to see people taking an interest in British and English music.

There is one thing I always think of when these types of comparison with America crop up.

Take this as an example; the physical size of England fits into California 7 times and the Californian population fits in to England 3 times.
What I am trying to say is that it is not ever a fair comparison between America and Britain and/or England.

If Britain and England can make a big impact on America, doesn't that show something? It's the same with sports, science, inventions and literature, just to name a few. With such a small population compared to America, Britain and England have not done badly at all.

A bit of a sweeping statement but here goes. It would be considered similar to the Isle of Wight making an impact on England. I didn't want to use the Isle of Mann as a comparison because they have actually already made an impact.

I'm an Englishman at heart. I would defend this country and support it for whatever it takes. This is reflected in my post.

I hope this encourages your mind to open and explore different pospective.

Okay im sick of this.. im usually the guy who runs for the underdog on things but this is gettin rediculous..
On the American Billboard chart TODAY!!!:
1. Black Eyed Peas - American
2. Lady Gaga - American
3. Flo Rida - American
4. Soulja Boy (Tell 'em) - American
5. Jamie Foxx - American
6. T.I. - American
7. Kid Cudi - American
8. Miley Cyrus - American
9. The Fray - American
10. All American Rejects - American

Now thats pretty self-explainatory.. but to be fair thats a good week for English music on the Billboard chart and now for good measure ill do the official UK Chart:

1. Calvin Harris - Scottish
2. Lady GaGa - American
3. AR Rahman - Indian (But with PCD, but ill give it to India)
4. La Roux - England
5. Noisettes - England
6. Ciara - American
7. Beyonce - American
8. Metro Station - American
9. Flo Rida - American
10. Taylor Swift - American

Im not gonna like bash british music or anything in fact alot of scottish artists are really good...welsh and english nya..bits are alright i guess. But ya cant deny the facts, american music dominates cos its the best and ill admit there was a time that english music was above anything american.. but those times are well gone..

Im just stating the obvious..

Celtrox

It basically boils down to population. The US and UK are arguably the big 2 countries in western pop, having been at theforefront of everything from the beginning. The US has the money and the people though, law of averages gives them a higher standard of artist, producer, engineer, PR, money gives them better equipment, more media outlets, more advertising...inevitably the US will be more successful, before you even begin to look at the cultural reasons. Generally successful pop music is very posturey and very good at telling you through song how talented/rich/womanising the artist is. The US is generally more like that than the UK, which is generally more austere.

Celtrox, sometimes the "obvious" is only part of the picture... The reason why you see American artists in the British Billboard chart and no British artists on the American Billboard chart has more to do with the greater awareness of British listeners than the quality of American artists.

The British public in general, like most people around the world, have a more global perspective on things where Americans by comparison tend to be very self-absorbed. This also explains why American TV shows are also more accepted in Britain than the other way around. No where is this more obvious than in sports where unlike the rest of the developed world Americans focus almost exclusively on sports that are only played in our own country. Education is another example. Most British students can name each state in the US and their capital cities, most American students can't even find Britain on the map.

It's not the fault of American individuals per se, it's just that our society in general tends to cultivate this form of self-absorption, through highly nationalistic education and media.

So much for your "proof". ;)