Brit Beat: UK singer-songwriter Myles Smith goes from ‘stargazing’ to global star

Glastonbury: It’s been a tough year for the U.K. music industry when it comes to breaking new acts internationally but, finally, there might be some light at the end of the tunnel.

It comes in the form of singer-songwriter Myles Smith, whose “Stargazing” single has not just cracked the Top 5 in Britain, but is now taking the world by storm. The song has over 270 million streams on Spotify and is climbing the Billboard Hot 100, while Smith is also gaining traction across Europe and in territories as far away as South Africa, Australia and Indonesia.

But the success comes as no surprise to his label bosses – RCA U.K. co-presidents Stacey Tang and Glyn Aikins – who first heard “Stargazing” on Boxing Day, just a few days after Smith signed to the label, when the singer played it to them over FaceTime.

“I was like, ‘Is this the Christmas gift that keeps on giving?’” quips Aikins. “You can’t help but get sucked into Myles’ enthusiasm and his energy. It meant we could walk into the New Year brimming with confidence, and it’s become quite meteoric.”

Smith first came to RCA’s attention via his viral online cover of the Neighbourhood’s “Sweater Weather,” while another earlier Smith single, “Solo,” has over 110 million Spotify streams. And Tang is confident that there are plenty more hits where those came from.

“He’s going so fast, but it’s about us turning him into an albums artist,” she tells Variety. “He’s got the music, he’s driven, the fans are coming to see him in droves. He’s a voracious songwriter and when he says he has the next song, he’s really got the next one!”

Tang says the changing pop landscape, with recent hits from the likes of Noah Kahan and Benson Boone, has helped facilitate Smith’s rapid breakthrough, especially in America, where he is released via RCA’s U.S. arm.

“All of a sudden, there were people releasing things that were singer-songwriter, but also blues-tinged or had their roots in country,” she says. “Myles’ honest performances and all the live shows going well helped us capture an American audience really quickly.”

“It’s tough to export artists globally,” adds Aikins. “But where America’s concerned, we’ve worked out how to work in a more joined-up fashion from the start. We’re really aligned on it.”

Smith is currently on tour in America and will return for further U.S. dates in September, October and November. He is now working on his debut album with songwriters including Steph Jones, Amy Allen, Peter Fenn and Jesse Fink, but Tang and Aikins note his success is far from a one-off for RCA’s U.K. company.

Little Mix star Jade [Thirlwall] has made a strong start to her solo career, with “Angel of My Dreams” debuting at No. 7 in the U.K. (“We knew the music was brilliant and she’s an amazing artist, but the way it’s landed and the pieces that have been written about her have been phenomenal,” says Tang.) Meanwhile, the likes of Mercury Prize nominee Cat Burns and Bring Me the Horizon are also flying the flag for British music on the label, also home to U.S. superstars such as Pink and Beyoncé. And Tang and Aikins, who took over the leadership of the label in February 2023, say their vision is just starting to take shape.

“We’ve both been in Sony for a while,” says Tang. “Neither of us are shirkers when it comes to driving things forward. We’re not this distant, hierarchical duo; we’re involved in records all of the time, so it’s nice the 14 months of work that we’ve all been doing collectively is now showing up in public.

“While you’re getting everything right behind the scenes it’s hard to measure,” she adds. “You think the vibe’s good but other people’s reactions are missing. Now that we’re releasing everything, it feels great.”

“Where we’re at now is a fantastic place to build from,” says Aikins. “We want to sign the most exciting acts and represent the best in breed in each lane possible. The job here is to build as robust a domestic roster as there is an international one here – and we have a very robust international roster!”

In the meantime, the duo plan to keep building Myles Smith until he’s a genuine global star.

“There’s no ceiling on it to my mind,” says Aikins. “To Ed Sheeran and beyond, why not?”