Why is it that the UK has such an impact on music across the world?

When was the last time a French band swept the world's charts? In fact, when was the first time? Or Belgium, or Holland for that matter? You could make the same observation of hundreds of countries around the world. The UK has an influence far beyond its size in many areas, from banking to industry, as well as being looked upon for our cultural endeavours since colonial times. For better or worse, the colonial network of Britain formed a means of cultural communication to other nations, whether through the arts or through music. Other countries had colonies of their own, however, so why has our music so often created such an enduring impact elsewhere? Before looking at why, you first have to look at how.

To begin with, we simply sold back to the Americans what they were selling to us. Their jazz music was all-encompassing, and as the music halls flourished in the 1930s, so did the American soundtrack, and so did the British big bands aping those same sounds. American band leaders like Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Bennie Goodman led the charge. But it was our take on the skiffle music of the 50s, the precursor to rock and roll and a not-so distant relative of jazz, which gave British musicians a voice in the States, thanks to the likes of the hugely influential Lonnie Donegan.

Glasgow-born Donegan was having hits in the U.S. by the mid-50s, and it was his success that inspired the young John Lennon to form his first skiffle band, The Quarrymen, in 1957. Paul McCartney, Stuart Sutcliffe and George Harrison would also join the group, before they went on to become The Beatles. It was the extraordinary success of The Beatles in the US, and then that of The Rolling Stones, which paved the way for British bands to launch themselves across the planet. It was called the 'British Invasion', with the likes of Dusty Springfield, The Animals, The Who and The Kinks spreading their music across the globe, using the US as that all-important springboard.

The 'Second British Invasion' came in the 80s, thanks predominately to the spread of the new music channel MTV, which emerged noisily from New York in 1981 and put this new music directly into people's homes in a more captivating fashion than the radio could ever hope to achieve. Acts as disparate sounding as The Police, Queen, David Bowie, Phil Collins, Elton John, Dire Straits, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, Simple Minds, George Michael, Boy George and Annie Lennox had vast success in the UK, then the US, and then around the world thanks to this new network dedicated solely to music television.

Though our music got significantly more colloquial in the 90s, with the explosion of creativity coming from the Manchester sound, it was still lapped up away from our shores with New Order and then the Britpop bands extolling a new stripe of notable national identity. Even our pop bands, the Spice Girls and Take That, were fiercely British, rather than tempering their identity to appeal to the world market.

Seeing One Direction – though it has happened with an unexpected velocity – create wide-eyed teenage mania in the U.S. should come as no huge surprise. The path has been laid with a rash of British artists who have been wildly successful around the world in recent years. The Springfield-esque torch songs of Adele and the late Amy Winehouse before her have taken the globe by storm. And they follow in some auspicious footsteps too. The roadblocks and screaming fans seen besieging Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis will remind many from an earlier generation of the bewildering effect that four men from Merseyside had nearly 50 years ago. Only now, it's not quite so bewildering.

As long as pop acts create a base of success in the UK, and then go on to do the same in the U.S., the rest of the world soon follows. As to precisely what British music is doing to achieve the success, well, that's a formula that is potentially priceless. It's a mash of time, place, talent, history, heritage, circumstance, money and a million other, in many ways undefinable factors. But as long as it continues to do so, British music will have its effect on the charts of the world.