BLIGHTY'S GRAMMY NOMS

The U.K. was a huge victor at 2015’s Grammy Awards, with Capitol Records man Sam Smith taking home three awards and Atlantic U.K.’s Clean Bandit winning Best Dance Recording alongside Blighty indie label Warp for Aphex Twin. So how does the Queen’s isle fare with the noms for next year?

We knew its overseas exports were big, and U.K. born acts have racked up a total of 23 nominations for 2016. Warner act Ed Sheeran leads with nods for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. Despite being up for two in 2015, Sheeran lost out last time. Will 2016 be second time lucky? Max Lousada’s label also features in the Best Rock Album category with Drones from Muse.

Meanwhile, Jason Iley’s Sony U.K. boasts three for Columbia's Mark Ronson with Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Duo.

David Joseph’s Universal U.K. has big cause for celebration with five different artists in the list, as well as its Amy Winehouse documentary, Amy, up for Best Music Film.

Breakout act James Bay (on Ted Cockle’s Virgin EMI) is a contender for Best New Artist, Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song. Labelmates The Chemical Brothers feature twice for Best Dance Electronic Album and Best Dance Recording.

Darcus Beese’ Island Records U.K. has Florence + the Machine up for Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Group Performance, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. Another Island act, Disclosure, are in with a chance of Best Dance Electronic Album.

Lastly from the three majors is Ferdy Unger-Hamilton’s Polydor with star Ellie Goulding in Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

On the independent side of the fence is Jamie Oborne's Dirty Hit with Wolf Alice in Best Rock Performance, Richard Russell’s XL/Young Turks with Jamie xx in Best Dance Electronic Album and Above and Beyond's own Anjunabeats up for Best Dance Recording.

While no one Blighty-born act has topped Smith’s six nominations last year, Sheeran, Bay and Florence (all who’ve yet to win a Grammy) prove that even with Adele not eligible, there’s still a lot of life in the old dog yet. Will the U.K. beat its five-strong tally notched up in 2015? Keep your eyes peeled.