UK Albums Chart

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Part of a series of articles on British Music

BPI • OCC
Charts Singles Chart (#1s; Records) Albums Chart (#1s) Download Chart (#1s)
Awards Brit Awards • Mercury Prize
Periods Pre-1950 • 1950s & 60s 1970s • 1980s 1990s - Present
Origins England • Scotland • Wales (Northern) Ireland • Caribbean
Genres Classical • Britpop • Hip-hop Opera • Rock • Jazz
Other links Bands • Musicians Festivals • Venues
Timeline 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 2006 • 2007 • (full list)
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The UK Albums Chart is a chart of the sales positions of albums in the United Kingdom. It is formulated by The Official UK Charts Company and a Top 200 published in Charts Plus (only the Top 100 is counted in data sources). A weekly 'Album Chart' show is licensed out to BBC Radio 2 and presented by Simon Mayo.

Though album sales tend to produce more revenue and, over time, act as a greater measure of an artist's success, this chart receives less media attention than the UK Singles Chart. Indeed, in recent years, the album chart has been in good health despite fears that music innovations such as MP3 Players would threaten the traditional album. 2005 even saw a record number of artist album sales [1], with 126.2 million sold in the UK.

The most successful artists in the charts depends on the criteria used. As of 2005, Queen albums have spent more time on the UK album charts than those of any other musical act [2], followed by The Beatles, Elvis Presley and U2. By most weeks at number 1, however, The Beatles lead; by most top ten albums, it is Elvis Presley [3]. The longest running number one album, both consecutively and non-consecutively, is the soundtrack of the film South Pacific. It had a consecutive run of seventy weeks from November 1958 to March 1960 (meaning it was number one for the entire year of 1959), and had further runs at the top in 1960 and 1961, making a non-consecutive total of one hundred and fifteen weeks.

To qualify for the UK albums chart the album must be the correct length and price. It must be at least 3 tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album. A budget album costs between £0.50 - £4.24. See The Official UK Chart Company Rules for more details.