User:Magiciandude/collabsandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An album is defined by British organisation the Official Charts Company (OCC) as being a type of music release that features more than four tracks and is longer than 25 minutes in duration.[1] On 9 April 2012, a record chart was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 that listed the 40 albums that had sold the most in the United Kingdom.[2] The programme was hosted by British DJ Tony Blackburn, and was entitled Tony Blackburn with the UK's Bestselling Albums.[2] The chart was compiled by the OCC, and was based on sales of albums in the UK from 1956, the year that sales were first monitored, to March 2012.[3] The record at number one was Greatest Hits, a compilation album by British band Queen, which, since its 1981 release, has sold approximately 5.87 million copies in the UK.[4][5] Queen's second greatest hits album, Greatest Hits II, has sold approximately 3.89 million copies since being released in 1991, and was featured at number 10 on Radio 2's list.[5][6]
Of the 40 albums listed on the chart, more than half are by British artists.[7] Nine are by American artists, with the rest being from Ireland, Canada, Sweden and Jamaica.[8] Five acts – The Beatles, Coldplay, Dido, Michael Jackson and Queen – feature on the chart with more than one album.[9] In promotion of the Radio 2 programme, Blackburn described the list as "a real mixed bag".[10] The most-represented record label is Parlophone with five entries, while the decade that appears the most is the 2000s, with 14 of the entries having been released during that period.[7] BBC News remarked on the day of the chart's broadcast that the 2000s had been the most-represented decade despite its "general background of declining sales and internet piracy".[8]
Sales of albums in the UK were first published on 28 July 1956 by music magazine Record Mirror, who compiled a weekly chart of the country's five biggest-selling records[11] – their first number one was Songs for Swingin' Lovers! by Frank Sinatra.[12] Since then, three albums have gone on to sell more than five million copies each: Greatest Hits by Queen, Gold: Greatest Hits by ABBA and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles.[13] The top eight best-selling albums have each sold at least four million copies.[5] As of 2012[update], sales of albums are monitored by the OCC, and compiled weekly as the UK Albums Chart.[14]
Sales certifications for UK album sales are awarded by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[15] The BPI began awarding certifications soon after it was founded in April 1973.[16] Initially, certifications were based on the revenue received by the album manufacturers – records that generated revenue of £75,000 were awarded silver certification, £150,000 represented gold and £1 million was platinum.[16] Over the following six years, the thresholds for silver and gold certifications both grew twice – the threshold for platinum certification remained at £1 million. In January 1979, this method was abolished, and certifications were instead based on unit retail sales: sales of 60,000 were awarded silver, 100,000 for gold and 300,000 for platinum.[16] Multi-platinum awards were introduced in February 1987; digital downloads have been counted towards unit sales since 2004.[17] As of April 2012[update], the highest-certified album is 21 by Adele, which has been awarded platinum certification 16 times.[18]