UK Albums Chart
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The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by sales in the United Kingdom. It is formulated by The Official UK Charts Company and a Top 200 published in ChartsPlus (only the Top 100 is counted in data sources). A weekly 'Album Chart' show was licensed out to BBC Radio 2 and presented by Simon Mayo, until it ended on 2 April 2007.
Music albums released as soundtracks for films or TV programmes would usually chart on the compilation chart. But it has now been said that soundtracks can chart on the Official Albums Chart, such as the soundtrack for "Dreamgirls", which charted at #1, and Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus.
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, due to overall sales of an album being more important than its peak position. 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.
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 and £4.24. Full details can be found at The Official UK Chart Company Rules.[2]
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[edit] Record holders
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 [3], followed by The Beatles, Elvis Presley and U2. Also The Corrs with Talk on Corners. By most weeks at number 1, however, The Beatles lead; by most top ten albums, it is Elvis Presley.[4]
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.
The youngest person to top the charts is Scotland's Neil Reid, who after winning Opportunity Knocks topped the charts in 1972 at the age of 12 years 9 months old. The youngest girl to top the chart is Avril Lavigne at 17 years and 3 months with Let Go in 2003.[4]
The album to spend the most weeks on the charts is Fleetwood Mac's Rumours which spent 477 weeks on the charts. In second place is Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf followed by Queen's Greatest Hits
The fasting selling album is Oasis' 'Be Here Now', selling nearly one million copies on its first week. The fastest selling album by a female artist is Life for Rent by Dido. It sold one million in 50 days, on the way there it sold 102,500 on day one and 400,351 in the first week.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Blunt boosts record labels' 2005, BBC News, January 6, 2006
- ^ The Official UK Chart Company Rules. theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ Queen top UK album charts league, BBC News, July 4, 2005
- ^ a b Record Breakers and Trivia : Albums. everyhit.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ British Hit Singles & Albums (Edition 17) by Guinness World Records
[edit] External links
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