Quantcast
Ezra stayed on the big board for two years in a row.

 BIGGEST ALBUMS
IN BLIGHTY 2015

The U.K. Official Charts biggest albums of 2015 list throws up some interesting observations, most notably, the paucity of 2016 releases. Adele is of course #1 with 25 (XL/Columbia) racking up 2.496 million copies, but she’s joined by just five others who released an album last year. The rest are all 2014 alumni.

2014's Top 10 exclusively featured albums released that same year; 25 aside, was 2015 simply lacking in the amount of blockbusters its predecessor spawned, or is streaming lengthening the album’s shelf life? For the first time, the Top 40 includes streams after being incorporated into the Official Albums Chart in March.

Blighty’s big three—Max Lousada’s Warner, David Joseph’s Universal and Jason Iley’s Sony—get a good part of their marketshare from homegrown bestsellers.

After sitting at #1 on 2014’s tally, Warner’s Ed Sheeran is down one place to #2 with second album x (released in June 2014), which finished the year on 971k combined sales (2.66m across its lifetime). Debut Atlantic act Jess Glynne also features on the list, with I Cry When I Laugh (August 2015) at #7 on over a half-million combined sales. Miles Leonard’s Parlophone (a WMG label), gets a mention with Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams at #9.

UMG’s Capitol crooner Sam Smith, who featured in 2014’s Top 10 behind Sheeran at #2, is bumped one place to #3 on 893k combined sales (2.14 million in total) of In the Lonely Hour (May 2014). Virgin EMI’s James Bay, meanwhile, is at #8 with his debut out last year, Chaos and the Calm. In terms of U.S. born UMG acts, Justin Bieber’s Purpose (Def Jam) is at #5 with combined sales of 645k.

On the Sony side of the fence, Columbia singer George Ezra, who released his debut Wanted on Voyage in June 2014, is at #10, moving down seven places from #3 in 2014. And huge Elvis album If I Can Dream (Sony Music CG), released in October last year, is at #4 having just reached triple-platinum status in Blighty (900k sales).

Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Big Machine) has actually improved five places to #6 after reaching #11 in 2014’s year-end tally, having been released just a few months before.

Here’s the Top 10 for your viewing pleasure:

  1. 25 Adele (XL/Columbia) 11/2015
  2. x Ed Sheeran (Atlantic) 6/2014
  3. In the Lonely Hour Sam Smith (Capitol) 5/2014
  4. If I Can Dream Elvis Presley (Sony Music CG) 10/2015
  5. Purpose Justin Bieber (Def Jam) 11/2015
  6. 1989 Taylor Swift (Big Machine) 10/2014
  7. I Cry When I Laugh Jess Glynne (Atlantic) 8/2015
  8. Chaos and the Calm James Bay (Virgin EMI) 3/2015
  9. A Head Full of Dreams Coldplay (Parlophone) 12/2015
  10. Wanted on Voyage George Ezra (Columbia) 6/2014
NEAR TRUTHS: KINGDOMS
File under: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. (3/26a)
ONE SHINING HITS LIST
She shoots, she scores! (3/26a)
YTD MARKET SHARE
Zeroing in on the elite teams (3/27a)
BEST IN THE WEST:
STEVE BERMAN
High time for another Eminem skit (3/26a)
MUSIC REVENUE TOPPED $17B IN 2023: RIAA
Streaming subscriptions lead the charge. (3/27a)
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
 Email

 First Name

 Last Name

 Company

 Country
CAPTCHA code
Captcha: (type the characters above)