Singles
While the overall state of the music industry is parlous, singles are booming. Sales of the once moribund format topped the 5m mark last week for the first time ever, while one of the year's biggest hits secured its millionth sale.
Having reached a 2011 high of 4,025,393 in the week before Christmas, sales ballooned to 5,451,493 last week, with punters redeeming gift cards and acquiring digital downloads to secure musical content for mobile devices. Sales were 14.59% above the previous best week's tally of 4,757,430 set exactly a year ago. 5,396,302 of last week’s singles sales – 98.99% - were digital.
Topping the chart for the first time on its 10th appearance, Paradise is Coldplay's second number one, following 2008's Viva La Vida. The track - which has moved 14-17-20-13-11-12-7-2-5-1 thus far - sold 108,390 copies last week, raising its overall sales to 528,159, the later tally including 118,547 copies sold when it was not eligible for the chart, having been used as an inducement for fans to pre-order parent album Xylo Myloto. While the album is still a little short of becoming Coldplay's fifth million seller, Paradise is very much on course to become their biggest selling single, with only the aforementioned Viva La Vida (603,652 sales) ahead of it. Had Paradise been eligible for the chart since its release, it would currently be on its 16th chart appearance, and would have shattered the record for most weeks in the Top 40 before reaching number one, a record held by Celine Dion's Think Twice which was on its 13th week in the Top 40 (and its 16th in the Top 75) when it reached number one in 1995.
After debuting at number one last week, Wherever You Are dips to number four (74,317 sales) for Military Wives feat. Gareth Malone. The rest of last week's top four are in steeper decline: Little Mix's Cannonball falls 2-6 (63,862 sales) and Lou Monte's Dominick The Donkey (The Italian Christmas Donkey) slumps from its debut position of number three to number 41 (13,800 sales) - but the biggest slide, not just of the week, but of more than 59 years of chart history, comes from Alex Day, whose Forever Yours dives to number 112 (4,938 sales), a week after entering a number four. No single in chart history has fallen out of the Top 75 from a higher position.
Olly Murs' second album In Case You Didn't Know falls 3-4 (40,710 sales) but the two number one singles from the set are among the many 2011 hits to enjoy a bounce, with Dance With Me Tonight dashing 6-2 (76,822 sales) and Heart Skips A Beat (feat. Rizzle Kicks) up 25-15 (40,935 sales).
Among other 2011 hits in recovery mode is Moves Like Jagger, the incredibly successful Maroon 5/Christina Aguilera collaboration. Although it never reached number one, the track spent seven straight weeks at number two, and climbs 15-11 on its 20th consecutive week in the Top 20. More importantly, it sold 51,977 copies last week to secure its millionth sale. Ending the year on 1,043,562 sales, it thus finishes second in the 2011 rankings behind Adele's Someone Like You, which charges 49-27 this week, with a further 19,015 sales raising its final tally to 1,242,917.
Amidst a plethora of re-entries the three genuine Top 40 debut this week come from Warzone - The fourth single from The Wanted's second album, Battleground jumps 46-21 (24,775 sales) – and a brace of Jessie J recordings. Jessie’s Domino jumps 54-34 (16,615 sales) to overtake her James Morrison collaboration Up, which climbs 53-35 (15,657 sales). Jessie’s Price Tag (feat. B.O.B.) also joins the party, rebounding 61-39 (13,900 sales).
Sales for 194 positions in the Top 200 were at record highs last week. Although the record for none of the top six positions was broken everything from seventh place down was a record-breaker, with the entire Top 10 selling more than 50,000 copies for the first time. The first record-breaker, Ed Sheeran’s Lego House, sold (as mentioned above) 60,787 copies compared to the previous best number seven sale of 54,479, set by LeAnn Rimes’ Can’t Fight The Moonlight in week 51 of 2000. Rizzle Kicks’ Mama Do The Hump is number 10 this week on sales of 53,189, easily beating the previous top tally of 46,410 set by Robbie Williams’ Supreme, also in week 51 of 2000. It sold more than 10 times as many copies as the century’s smallest selling number 10, Uniting Nations’ Out Of Touch, which held the position in the first week of 2005, on sales of just 5,381.
Rizzle Kicks also occupy the number 40 position this week, with When I Was A Youngster selling 13,891 copies, beating the previous record of 13,157 set by B.o.B’s Magic exactly a year ago. At the Top 40’s weakest point – week 1, 2005 – Britney Spears’ My Prerogative held the anchor position on sales of just 1,092 copies.
The Saturdays’ All Fired Up is number 75 this week, with 7,999 sales, smashing the previous record for that position of 6,492 sales set by Beyonce’s Sweet Dreams in the final week of 2009. And number 200 this week is No Beef by Afrojack, with sales of 2,609, compared to the previous record of 2,139 set by James Blunt’s Stay The Night exactly a year earlier.
All of the top 29 singles this week sold more copies the 17,694 that Orson’s No Tomorrow sold when it climbed to the summit in week 11, 2006.
One thing we didn’t have this week, however, was a blockbuster number one – the 108,390 copies that Coldplay’s Paradise sold to reach the summit is only the 140th biggest number one sale of the century. The average for a number one for the century to date is 90,822, and for 2011 it was 103,332, with a high of 555,622 (Military Wives) and a low of 46,584 (Olly Murs). The only occasion on which a sale of less than 3,000 earned a Top 75 placing in the year was 20 weeks ago, when Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) held at number 75 on sales of 2,965.
1 Coldplay 108,390 (409,612 - eligible sales) (total sales - 528,159)
2 Olly Murs 76,822 (340,241)
4 Military Wives/Gareth Malone 74,317 (631,950)
5 Rihanna/Calvin Harris 65,995 (900,000+)
6 Little Mix 63,862 (390,569)
7 Ed Sheeran 60,787
10 Rizzle Kicks 53,189
11 Maroon 5 51,977 (1,043,562)
15 Olly Murs [HSAB] 40,935
17 Ed Sheeran [TAT] 26,456
21 The Wanted [WZ] 24,775
27 Adele [SLY] 19,015 (1,242,917)
34 Jessie J [Domino] 16,615
35 James Morrison/Jessie J 15,657
39 Jessie J [PT] 13,900
40 Rizzle Kicks [WIWAY] 13,891
41 Lou Monte 13,800
61 Ed Sheeran [YDM] 10,141
75 The Saturdays [AFU] 7,999
112 Alex Day 4,938
200 Afrojack 2,609
To-Date Sales
Coldplay - Viva La Vida (603,652)
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Albums
ALBUMS
Number one for the last two weeks, Michael Buble's Christmas crashes to number 15 (20,018 sales). It is the third biggest retreat from number one by an album in the 626 weeks that have thus far elapsed in the 21st century.
The only other albums to fall from number one to a position outside the Top 10 in that period are: Join With Us by The Feeling (1-11, 2008), In This Light And On This Evening by The Editors (1-12, 2009), Kid A by Radiohead (1-13, 2000), Some Cities by The Doves (1-14, 2005), Lights by Ellie Goulding (1-16, 2010) and Bionic by Christina Aguilera, which took the biggest tumble of any album in the whole of chart history when it slumped 1-29 in 2010. Christmas' sales are off a massive 93.70% week-on-week, a bigger one week decline in percentage terms than any other album in any of the 46,949 other positions in the Top 75 this century. All of the 30 biggest slides have come in the last week or first week of the year, with the previous biggest - all six years ago this week -being suffered by Il Divo's Ancora (down 91.40%, as it fell 6-25), Westlife's Face To Face (89.60%, 4-12) and Take That's Never Forget: The Ultimate Collection (88.80%, 5-15). Despite its slide, Christmas finishes at number two for the year, with sales of 1,292,762 copies in 10 weeks.
Replacing Buble at number one is Ed Sheeran, whose + album bounces 9-1, on sales of 47,376 copies. The album, which debuted at number one 15 weeks ago, has remained in the Top 10 ever since, and has been getting a lot of commendations in influential 'album of the year' polls. Its sales have also been helped by the fact it can be purchased digitally for £4.99 as part of Amazon's current campaign, which makes 58 of 2011's biggest albums available for less than £5. Its three hit singles are also resurgent, with Lego House climbing 14-7 (60,787 sales), The A Team jumping 45-17 (26,456 sales) and You Need Me, I Don't Need You leaping 127-61 (10,141 sales).
Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto and Adele's 21 have also spent their entire chart careers in the Top 10. With Paradise finally advancing to the top of the singles chart (see below), Mylo Xyloto rebounds 4-3 (42,162 sales) on its 10th frame, while increasing its career sales to 907,648. 21 holds at number six (35,835 sales), registering its 49th straight week in the Top 10 while increasing its sales over that period to 3,772,346 - by far the highest tally for any album in any year.
Ed Sheeran is far from being the only artist to have a 2011 album rally strongly this week. Helped by various combinations of TV exposure, advertising, heavy discounting and prominence in critics' year-end polls, there are big jumps for Bruno Mars' Doo-Wops & Hooligans (11-2, 44,061 sales), Jessie J's Who You Are (14-10, 28,922 sales), Lady GaGa's Born This Way (21-11, 26,309 sales), Beyonce's 4 (26-12, 25,625 sales), Kasabian's Velociraptor (43-14, 20,985 sales), Will Young's Echoes (25-16, 19,735 sales), Example's Playing In The Shadows (41-23, 12,921 sales) and Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday (122-28, 11,137 sales) among others. The Kasabian and Minaj titles are the only albums in the Top 30 to register gains in sales week-on-week.
Cher Lloyd's Sticks & Stones debuted seven weeks ago at number four and had declined every week hitherto but bounces 44-21, with 13,184 sales. It's the comparative failure of Lloyd's album which has indirectly caused its resurgence, as retailers rush to cut its price. Available for £3.49 at Amazon and £3.95 at iTunes, it is also widely available physically for less than £5, and has thus far sold 180,223 copies.
Overall album sales are down 54.63% week-on-week to 2,734,413 – 8.67% below same week 2010 sales of 2,993,919. However, digital sales of 1,019,670 are the highest ever, easily beating the previous record of 680,237 set exactly a year ago. They accounted for 22.74% of overall sales that week but 37.29% of sales last week - also a record, beating their previous record share of 27.79% set 12 weeks ago. Six albums in the Top 40 sold more copies in digital format than on CD, with Pink’s Greatest Hits – So Far (up 105-34, 8,369 sales) the most extreme, achieving all but 756 of its sales as downloads.
1 Ed Sheeran 47,376 (791,491)
2 Bruno Mars 44,061 (1,221,199)
3 Coldplay 42,162 (907,648)
4 Olly Murs 40,710 (597,893)
5 Amy Winehouse 40,520 (638,205)
6 Adele [21] 35,835 (3,772,346)
10 Jessie J 28,922
11 Lady Gaga [BTW] 26,309
12 Beyoncé 25,625
14 Kasabian 20,985
15 Michael Bublé 20,018 (1,292,762)
16 Will Young 19,735
21 Cher Lloyd 13,184 (180,223)
23 Example 12,921
28 Nicki Minaj 11,137
34 Pink 8,369
@ Adele having the first #1 of 2012.
