UK Album Downloads Chart explained

The UK Album Downloads Chart is compiled by the Official Charts on behalf of the British music industry. Since July 2015, the chart week runs from Friday to Thursday, with the chart date given as the following Thursday.[1] The chart was introduced in April 2006 to coincide with the OCC's decision to include sales of album downloads in the UK Albums Chart.[2] The first album to top the download chart was This New Day by Embrace.[3]

The chart is published in Music Week, UKChartsPlus and on the OC's official website, with the former featuring the Top 75 downloads and the top 100 in the latter two. The chart only uses sales of permanent digital downloads, that is album-downloads on non-subscription online music stores.

History

Before the inauguration of the download chart, only sales of physical formats—such as CD, vinyl and cassette tape—contributed towards an album's position on the UK Albums Chart. In 2004, in response to falling physical sales of singles, a downloads-only singles chart was introduced by the Official Charts Company (OCC); the following year, downloads were implemented into the UK Singles Chart.

In the first three months of 2006, more than 825,000 albums were legally downloaded, almost half of the entire total downloaded in 2005.[2] In response, a digital albums chart was launched in April 2006, alongside the OCC's decision to include downloads in the regular chart.[2] On 9 April 2006, English alternative rock band Embrace topped the first ever UK Album Downloads Chart with their fifth studio album This New Day, which sold around 1,200 digital copies.[3]

Criteria for inclusion

Most-downloaded by year

scope=colYearscope=colAlbumscope=colArtistscope=colRecord labelscope=col class=unsortableRef.
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2006Eyes OpenSnow PatrolUniversal[5]
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2007Back to BlackUniversal[6]
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2008Viva la Vida or Death and All His FriendsColdplayEMI
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2009Lady GagaUniversal
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2010Sigh No MoreMumford & SonsUniversal
scope=row style="text-align:center;"201121AdeleBeggars
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2012
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2013Bad BloodBastilleUniversal[7]
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2014xWarner[8]
scope=row style="text-align:center;"201525AdeleBeggars[9]
scope=row style="text-align:center;"201625AdeleBeggars[10]
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2017
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2018The Greatest ShowmanMotion Picture Cast RecordingWarner[11]
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2019
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2020
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2021
scope=row style="text-align:center;"2022

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100. Official Charts Company. 14 July 2015.
  2. Web site: Album chart allows downloads from Sunday. West. Dave. 9 April 2006. Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. 18 July 2015.
  3. News: Billboard - 22 April 2006 - Page 8. Brandle. Lars. 22 April 2006. Billboard. 18 January 2016.
  4. Web site: Rules for Chart Eligibility : Albums. PDF. March 2015. 14 March 2022.
  5. Web site: Adele and Ed Sheeran push digital albums sales over the 100 million milestone. 3 August 2012. Official Charts Company. 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.
  6. News: Amy Winehouse tops year end iTunes chart. Gary. Cleland. The Daily Telegraph. London. 0307-1235. 6412514. 12 December 2007. 12 April 2012.
  7. Web site: The Official Top 40 Biggest Artist Albums of 2013. Official Charts Company.
  8. Web site: The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Artist Albums of 2014. Official Charts Company. 12 January 2015. 1 January 2015.
  9. Web site: The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Artist Albums of 2015. 4 January 2016. Official Charts Company. 27 February 2016.
  10. Web site: The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Artist Albums of 2016. 28 May 2017. Official Charts Company. 28 May 2017.
  11. https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-albums-of-2018__22461/ "The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2018"