List of UK Album Downloads Chart number ones of the 2000s explained

The UK Album Downloads Chart is a weekly music chart that ranks the most downloaded albums in the United Kingdom. During the 2000s, the chart was compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British music industry, and was based solely on Sunday-to-Saturday sales of non-subscription music downloads from selected online stores.^[1] The most successful artist of the decade was the British band Snow Patrol, who spent eight weeks at number one with their albums Eyes Open and A Hundred Million Suns. The record label that spent the most weeks at number one was Island Records – with an artist roster that included Florence and the Machine, Amy Winehouse and Keane, Island spent 22 weeks at number one with nine different albums.

Before the advent of music downloads, only sales of physical formats—such as CD, vinyl and cassette tape—contributed towards positions on the UK music charts. The first chart to record sales of downloads was the UK Singles Downloads Chart, which was launched in September 2004 to list weekly sales of single downloads.^[2] Downloaded singles were growing considerably at this time, rising ten-fold in the first half of 2005 compared to the same period in 2004.^[3] As single downloads grew in popularity, so did album downloads^[4] – 1.8 million albums were downloaded in 2005; a further 825,000 were downloaded during the first three months of 2006.^{[5] [6]}

As a result of this growth, on 9 April 2006 the OCC began to include download sales alongside physical sales when compiling the UK Albums Chart.^[7] That same day, the OCC also launched a dedicated weekly chart based solely on sales of album downloads in the UK. Approximately 64,000 albums were downloaded during the week of the chart's launch, of which just under 2,000 were of This New Day by the British band Embrace, the chart's first number one.^[8] By the end of 2006 nearly 2.8 million album downloads had been purchased, which comprised 1.8% of the total album sales.^[9] The following year the UK's online music revenue grew to, which made the nation Europe's largest consumer of online music.^[10] By the end of the decade over 25 million albums had been downloaded and the market comprised 12.5% of total album sales.^[11] Following Embrace, a further 99 artists topped the chart; fifteen did so with two albums. Including original soundtracks and compilations, a total of 121 albums reached number one during the 2000s., the UK Album Download Chart continues to be published each week by the OCC.^[12]

Number-one albums

nth album to top the UK Album Downloads Chart
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	re	Return of an album to number one
bgcolor=#FFFF99 align=center		Most-downloaded album of the year^[13]	-	bgcolor=lightblue align=center		Best-selling album of the decade-->

scope=col		scope=col	Artist	scope=col	Album	scope=col	Record label	scope=col	Reached number one (for the week ending)	scope=col	Weeks at number one
scope=row style="text-align:center;" colspan=6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	1	Embrace	This New Day	Independiente		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	2					1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	3		Shayne Ward	Syco		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	4	Gnarls Barkley	St. Elsewhere	Warner Bros.		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	5	Snow Patrol	Eyes Open	Fiction		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	6	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Stadium Arcadium	Warner Bros.		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Snow Patrol	Eyes Open	Fiction		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	7	Zero 7		Atlantic		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	8		Twelve Stops and Home	Island		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	9	Keane	Under the Iron Sea	Island		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	10	Muse	Black Holes and Revelations	Helium 3/Warner Bros.		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	11	Razorlight	Razorlight	Vertigo		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	12		Undiscovered	Polydor		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	13		Back to Basics	RCA		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Snow Patrol	Eyes Open	Fiction		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	14		FutureSex/LoveSounds	Jive		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	15	Scissor Sisters	Ta-Dah	Polydor		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	16		Sam's Town	Vertigo		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Razorlight	Razorlight	Vertigo		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	17		Rudebox	Chrysalis		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	18		Back to Black	Island		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	19			Heffa/14th Floor		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	20		Twenty Five	Aegean		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	21	Oasis	Stop the Clocks	Big Brother		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	22	Take That	Beautiful World	Polydor		5
scope=row style="text-align:center;" colspan=6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"			Back to Black	Island		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	23		Hats Off to the Buskers	1965		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	24		Not Too Late	Blue Note		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	25	Mika	Life in Cartoon Motion	Casablanca/Island		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	26	Kaiser Chiefs	Yours Truly, Angry Mob	B-Unique/Polydor		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	27	Arcade Fire	Neon Bible	Sonovox		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	28		Introducing Joss Stone	Relentless/Virgin		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Take That	Beautiful World	Polydor		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	29		Tim's House	Blueberry Pie		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	30	Kings of Leon	Because of the Times	Hand Me Down		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	31		Version	Columbia		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	32	Arctic Monkeys	Favourite Worst Nightmare	Domino		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	33	Linkin Park	Minutes to Midnight	Warner Bros.		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	34	Maroon 5	It Won't Be Soon Before Long	A&M/Octone		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	35		Love It When I Feel Like This	B-Unique/Polydor		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	36	Bon Jovi	Lost Highway	Mercury		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	37		Icky Thump	XL		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	38	Editors		Kitchenware		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	39		We Are the Night	Virgin		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	40	Cherry Ghost	Thirst for Romance	Heavenly		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	41		We'll Live and Die in These Towns	Warner Bros.		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	42		This Is the Life	Vertigo		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	43		Hand Built by Robots	Ugly Truth		5
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	44	Hard-Fi	Once Upon a Time in the West	Atlantic/Necessary		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	45		Graduation	Roc-A-Fella		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	46		All the Lost Souls	Custard/Atlantic		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	47	Foo Fighters	Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace	RCA		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	48		Matinée	XL		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	49	Stereophonics	Pull the Pin	V2		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	50			RCA		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	51		Blackout	Jive		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	52	Eagles	Long Road out of Eden	Polydor		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	53		Spirit	Syco		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	54		X	Parlophone		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"			Spirit	Syco		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	55	Led Zeppelin	Mothership	Atlantic		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	56		Call Me Irresponsible	Reprise		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;" colspan=6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"			Spirit	Syco		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	57	Radiohead	In Rainbows	XL		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	58	Various artists	Clubbers Guide '08	Ministry of Sound		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	59	Scouting for Girls	Scouting for Girls	Epic		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	60	Adele	19	XL		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	61		Sleep Through the Static	Brushfire/Island		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	62		Join With Us	Island		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	63	Goldfrapp	Seventh Tree	Mute		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	64	Duffy	Rockferry	A&M		4
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	65	R.E.M.	Accelerate	Warner Bros.		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	66		St. Jude	A&M		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	67		Konk	Virgin		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	68			Domino		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	69	Madonna	Hard Candy	Warner Bros.		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	70	Pendulum	In Silico	Warner Bros.		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	71		We Started Nothing	Columbia		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	72	Usher	Here I Stand	LaFace		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Duffy	Rockferry	A&M		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	73	Coldplay	Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends	Parlophone		5
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	74	Original soundtrack	Mamma Mia!	Polydor		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	75	Various artists	Now That's What I Call Music! 70	Virgin EMI/UMTV		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Original soundtrack	Mamma Mia!	Polydor		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	76			Phonogenic		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	77		Forth	Parlophone		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	78	Glasvegas	Glasvegas	Columbia		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	79	Metallica	Death Magnetic	Vertigo		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	80	Kings of Leon	Only by the Night	Hand Me Down		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	81	Oasis	Dig Out Your Soul	Big Brother		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	82	Keane	Perfect Symmetry	Island		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	83	Original soundtrack	High School Musical 3: Senior Year	Walt Disney		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	84	Snow Patrol		Fiction		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"			Forth	Parlophone		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	85	Various artists	Now That's What I Call Music! 71	Virgin EMI/UMTV		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	86		Day & Age	Vertigo		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	87	Take That		Polydor		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	88	Various artists	Christmas Hits – 80 Festive Favourites	Rhino/Sony		3
scope=row style="text-align:center;" colspan=6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	89		King of Pop	Epic		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"			We Started Nothing	Columbia		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"				Phonogenic		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	90	White Lies	To Lose My Life...	Fiction		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	91		Working on a Dream	Columbia		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	92	Lady Gaga		Interscope		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	93		It's Not Me, It's You	Regal		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	94		Invaders Must Die	Take Me to the Hospital		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	95	U2	No Line on the Horizon	Mercury		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	96		All I Ever Wanted	RCA		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	97			Big Brother		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"			It's Not Me, It's You	Regal		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Lady Gaga		Interscope		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	98	Doves	Kingdom of Rust	Heavenly		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Lady Gaga		Interscope		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	99	Depeche Mode	Sounds of the Universe	Mute		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	100		Music for the People	Warner Bros.		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"			It's Not Me, It's You	Regal		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	101	Green Day	21st Century Breakdown	Reprise		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	102	Eminem	Relapse	Interscope		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	103		Sunny Side Up	Atlantic		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	104	Kasabian	West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum	Columbia		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	105		Number Ones	Epic		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	106	Florence and the Machine	Lungs	Island		6
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	107		Ready for the Weekend	Columbia		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	108	Arctic Monkeys	Humbug	Domino		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	109	Jamie T	Kings & Queens	Virgin		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	110	Muse		Helium 3/Warner Bros.		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	111	Dizzee Rascal	Tongue n' Cheek	Dirtee Stank		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	112	Paramore	Brand New Eyes	Fueled by Ramen		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	113	Mumford & Sons	Sigh No More	Island		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	114	Editors	In This Light and on This Evening	Kitchenware		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	115		Overcome	Syco		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	116			Fascination		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	117	Foo Fighters	Greatest Hits	RCA		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	118		Reality Killed the Video Star	Virgin		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	119		Echo	Syco		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	120		I Dreamed a Dream	Syco		2
scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Various artists	Christmas Hits – 80 Festive Favourites	Rhino/Sony		1
scope=row style="text-align:center;"	121	Rage Against the Machine	Rage Against the Machine	Epic		1<	--	-	scope=row style="text-align:center;"		Various artists	Christmas Hits – 80 Festive Favourites	Sony		1-->

By artist

Twelve artists spent four or more weeks at the top of the UK Album Downloads Chart during the 2000s. The totals below include only credited performances, and do not include appearances on original soundtracks or compilation albums.

scope=col	Artist	scope=col	Number-one albums	scope=col	Weeks at number one
scope=row		1	4
scope=row	Arctic Monkeys	2	5
scope=row	Coldplay	1	5
scope=row	Duffy	1	5
scope=row		1	5
scope=row	Florence and the Machine	1	6
scope=row	Keane	2	4
scope=row	Kings of Leon	2	4
scope=row		2	5
scope=row	Snow Patrol	2	8
scope=row	Take That	2	7
scope=row		1	4

By record label

Nine record labels spent eight or more weeks at the top of the UK Album Downloads Chart during the 2000s.

scope=col	Record label	scope=col	Number-one albums	scope=col	Weeks at number one
scope=row	A&M Records	3	8
scope=row	Columbia Records	6	8
scope=row	Fiction Records	3	9
scope=row	Island Records	9	22
scope=row	Parlophone	3	9
scope=row	Polydor Records	6	14
scope=row	Syco Music	5	9
scope=row	Vertigo Records	5	8
scope=row	Warner Bros. Records	10	12

Download sites

During the 2000s, the UK Album Downloads Chart was compiled by the OCC using data from the following music download websites:^[14]

• 7digital
• Big Noise Music
• Bleep
• City 16
• easyMusic
• HMV
• iTunes
• KarmaDownload
• Metacharge
• MSN Music
• The Music Engine Service
• MyCokeMusic
• Napster
• OD2
• Playlouder
• Recordstore
• Sonic Selector
• Tesco
• Tiscali Music
• Virgin
• Wanadoo
• Wippit
• Woolworths

See also

• List of UK Compilation Chart number-one albums of the 2000s

External links

• Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100 at the Official Charts Company

Notes and References

1. Web site: Official Music & Video Charts Compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. The Official UK Charts Company. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20100324103824/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/info_charts-compiled.php. 24 March 2010. dead. 26 May 2013.
2. News: Westlife top first download chart. 1 September 2004. BBC News. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20090104000035/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3617020.stm. 4 January 2009. live. 26 May 2012.
3. Book: Schott. Ben. Ben Schott. Cock-Starkey. Claire. Ben. Schott. Ben Schott. Schott's Almanac 2006. https://books.google.com/books?id=mL04HAAACAAJ. 1st. 2005. Bloomsbury. London. 978-0-7475-8307-3. 62292696. 129. Chapter V. Music & Cinema. Schott's Almanac.
4. Web site: Album chart to include downloads. 7 April 2006. BBC News. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20060410003459/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4889352.stm. 10 April 2006. live. 22 August 2015.
5. Web site: Bychawski. Adam. 7 April 2006. UK album chart to go digital. NME. London. Conor. McNicholas. Conor McNicholas. 21 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20060409021559/http://www.nme.com/news/morrissey/22737. 9 April 2006. live.
6. Web site: Morrissey tops merged album chart. 9 April 2006. BBC News. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20060410161911/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4893940.stm. 10 April 2006. live. 21 August 2015.
7. 10 April 2006. McKenzie. Scott. Morrissey Earns Third No. 1 U.K. Album. Billboard. New York City. VNU Business. 0006-2510. 466385193. https://web.archive.org/web/20140919040705/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/58807/morrissey-earns-third-no-1-uk-album. 19 September 2014. live. 21 August 2015.
8. Brandle. Lars. 22 April 2006. McKenzie. Scott. Half a Century Old, Britain's Album Chart Goes Digital. Billboard. New York City. VNU Business. 118. 15. 8. 0006-2510. 466385193. 21 August 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20151007155310/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8hUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8. 7 October 2015. dmy-all.
9. Web site: British Stars Dominate as Digital Sales Break 100 Million Barrier. 3 August 2012. British Phonographic Industry. London. 1–2. https://web.archive.org/web/20121010154405/http://bpi.co.uk/assets/files/BRITISH%20STARS%20DOMINATE%20AS%20DIGITAL%20ALBUM%20SALES%20BREAK%20100%20MILLION%20BARRIER.pdf. 10 October 2012. live. 21 August 2015.
10. Book: Schott. Ben. Ben Schott. Cock-Starkey. Claire. Ben. Schott. Ben Schott. Schott's Almanac 2008. https://books.google.com/books?id=nTeNFYI_t5wC. 1st. 2007. Bloomsbury. London. 978-0-7475-8469-8. 271877788. 142. Chapter V. Music & Cinema. Schott's Almanac.
11. Adele and Ed Sheeran UK's biggest digital albums ever – all the stats. 3 August 2012. Music Week. United Business. London. 0265-1548. 795955446. https://web.archive.org/web/20120809152135/http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/adele-and-ed-sheeran-uk-s-biggest-digital-albums-ever-all-the-stats/051265. 9 August 2012. live.
12. Web site: Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100. 2015. Official Charts Company. London. 22 August 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150324222925/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-downloads-chart/. 24 March 2015. dmy-all.
13. Web site: Adele and Ed Sheeran push digital albums sales over the 100 million milestone . 3 August 2012 . . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20120804231327/http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/adele-and-ed-sheeran-push-digital-albums-sales-over-the-100-million-milestone-1517/ . 4 August 2012 . live . 3 August 2012 .
14. Web site: The Official UK Download Chart: 06.06.2007. 6 June 2007. BBC Radio 1. London. https://web.archive.org/web/20070812013815/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/downloads.shtml. 12 August 2007. dead. 22 March 2015.