BPI release 2005's first quarterly review : 7:4:2005

> Addition of downloads to Official Singles Chart heralds "golden age" for the British single

> Downloads lift sales of single tracks by 48% in first quarter

> BPI reports success in indies chart campaign

> Albums enjoy £7m BRITs effect

New research suggests the addition of downloads to the Official UK Singles Chart will lead to “a new golden age” for the singles market, according to record companies trade association the BPI.

Record labels are under starters orders for the addition of downloads to the singles chart, the most dramatic change to the Official UK Singles Chart for 20 years.

Data for the new-look chart will be collated from this Sunday, April 10, and on April 17 the first number one in a combined physical singles and downloads chart will be revealed live to millions on the BBC and commercial radio stations.

With download sales topping 300,000 a week and growing rapidly, their addition to the singles chart will almost double the volume in the market. A year ago download sales were running at less than 20,000 a week.

At the same time new research published by the BPI from market research company TNS suggests the addition of downloads will also broaden the market for singles.

According to TNS research:

> While under 25s still account for 39% of singles and 26% of album sales, they account for just 7% of download sales

> while a majority of singles buyers are female, an overwhelming 96% of download spend is by male buyers.

The gender bias of downloaders is thought to reflect the male bias among so-called early adopters of new technology, and in the short term it may benefit genres of music appealing to a male audience.

Industry forecasts improving prospects for the British single

Despite some successes such as (Is This The Way To) Amarillo by Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay which sold more than 650,000 copies in the quarter, the UK singles market has been in decline for the past 5 years, with sales hit hard both by illegal downloading and the increasing popularity of albums (up 21% over the same period).

At the same time, the singles and albums markets have moved further apart with some commentators even questioning the continued relevance of the singles countdown. Many have pointed to the fact that breakthrough acts such as Joss Stone, Norah Jones, Damien Rice and Jamie Cullum have done so with limited singles success.

However, the arrival of myCokeMusic, Napster and then iTunes, followed by the launch of the Official UK Download chart in September 2004 represented the turning point for digital sales in 2004 – and total permanent download sales have already passed the 10m mark.

And ahead of the publication of the first UK combined singles chart, prospects for the single are looking up, with downloads lifting single track sales by nearly 50% in the first quarter.

BPI chairman Peter Jamieson said, “The singles market has been criticised for being too narrow in its appeal. These figures suggest that the addition of downloads to the Official Singles Chart will take the market to new audiences and broaden the appeal of the singles market, something we’ve been looking for for years.

“This could lead to a new golden age for the single.”

Jan-March 2005 – Download Top-Ten

1, DAKOTA, STEREOPHONICS, V2

2, GALVANIZE, CHEMICAL BROTHERS, VIRGIN

3, GET RIGHT, JENNIFER LOPEZ, EPIC

4, OVER AND OVER, NELLY FT TIM MCGRAW, CURB/UNIVERSAL

5, WHAT YOU WAITING FOR, GWEN STEFANI, INTERSCOPE

6, LIKE TOY SOLDIERS, EMINEM, INTERSCOPE

7, WIRES, ATHLETE, PARLOPHONE

8, LET ME LOVE YOU, MARIO, J

9, ALL ABOUT YOU, MCFLY, ISLAND

10, NUMB ENCORE, JAY-Z & LINKIN PARK, WEA

Jan-March 2005 – Singles Top-Ten

1, (IS THIS THE WAY TO) AMARILLO, TONY CHRISTIE FT PETER KAY, UMTV

2, ALL ABOUT YOU/YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND, MCFLY, ISLAND

3, GET RIGHT, JENNIFER LOPEZ, EPIC

4, OVER AND OVER, NELLY FT TIM MCGRAW, CURB/UNIVERSAL

5, LIKE TOY SOLDIERS, EMINEM, INTERSCOPE

6, LET ME LOVE YOU, MARIO, J

7, DAKOTA, STEREOPHONICS, V2

8, GOODIES, CIARA ft PETEY PABLO, LAFACE

9, ALMOST HERE, BRIAN MCFADDEN & DELTA GOODREM, MODEST/SONY MUSIC

10, FALLING STARS, SUNSET STRIPPERS, DIRECTION

Jan-March 2005 – Single Track Sales

Digital Singles / Single-track downloads (see notes)*       

2004 | 261,781

2005 | 4,546,108

% Change | + 1,737%

Physical singles

2004 | 6,704,801

2005 | 5,764,285

% Change | -14.0%

Total Single Track Sales

2004 | 6,966,582

2005 | 10,310,393

% Change | + 48.0%

* Source: OCC

BPI reports success in indies chart campaign

The BPI has reported significant progress in its campaign to improve the representation of independents on the major download platforms with only one of the seventeen independent singles in this week’s singles chart not available as downloads on the UK’s three leading digital music services.

BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson said: “It is vital that independents are able to compete on a level playing field and that is why we have put so much time and resource into this issue,” he said.

The BPI has been engaged on a multi-pronged campaign to help the independent sector benefit from the download market:

> writing to all the major digital music services on February 8 urging them to prioritise deals with independent labels;

> monitoring each week’s chart and proactively calling labels that are not represented online and attempting to help them;

> securing a postponement of the inclusion of downloads into the Official Singles Chart from March 20 to April 17 in order to give independents more time to prepare;

> running a series of seminars focused on raising awareness and understanding among independent labels of what they need to do to compete in the new chart, entitled “Getting Your Music Online”;

> commissioning a 12 page BPI guide for independents from trade magazine Music Week called “Getting your singles online” which was distributed to thousands of indies.

“This has been a significant BPI campaign focused on helping our independent members, and I’m glad to say it seems to be bearing fruit,” said Jamieson.

Albums enjoy £7m BRITs effect

The BPI estimates that this year’s BRIT Awards created a £7m sales boost for the albums market.

Last year’s debut albums from Scissor Sisters (Polydor) and Keane (Island) finished first and second respectively in 2004’s top sellers list, and they both continued to sell well throughout the first quarter of 2005, boosted by BRITs performances.

Sales of Keane’s Hopes and Fears increased by 200% in the two weeks after the show, while Scissor Sisters’ self-titled debut enjoyed a 115% uplift in sales. Fellow BRIT performers Green Day (Reprise) and Franz Ferdinand (Domino) also experienced sales gains, with the latter’s two BRIT award wins helping them register a 160% increase in sales.

Jan-March 2005 – Artist Albums Top Ten

1, SCISSOR SISTERS, SCISSOR SISTERS, POLYDOR

2, G4, G4, SONY MUSIC

3, HOT FUSS, THE KILLERS, LIZARD KING

4, HOPES & FEARS, KEANE, ISLAND

5, AMERICAN IDIOT, GREEN DAY, REPRISE

6, DEFINITIVE COLLECTION, TONY CHRISTIE, UMTV

7, FRANZ FERDINAND, FRANZ FERDINAND, DOMINO

8, IL DIVO, IL DIVO, SYCO MUSIC

9, TOURIST, ATHLETE, PARLOPHONE

10, LOVE ANGEL MUSIC BABY, GWEN STEFANI, INTERSCOPE

Jan-March 2005 – Album Sales

Artist Albums

2004 | 27,198,365

2005 | 27,463,409

% Change | +1.0%

Compilations

2004 | 8,028,751

2005 | 7,496,852

% Change | -6.6%

Total Albums

2004 | 35,227,117

2005 | 34,960,259

% Change | -0.8%

Jan-March 2005 – Annualized Album Sales

Artist Albums

12 months ending March 2004 | 122,132,163

12 months ending March 2005 | 124,711,797

% Change | +2.1%

Compilations

12 months ending March 2004 | 38,427,800

12 months ending March 2005 | 38,427,004

% Change | 0.0%

Total Albums

12 months ending March 2004 | 160,559,965

12 months ending March 2005 | 163,138,802

% Change | +1.6%

* Source: OCC

< ENDS >

* All market figures are based upon “over the counter” sales information from The Official UK Charts Company, as opposed to industry sales to trade.

* Note that the figure for digital sales includes both digital singles AND single-track sales of back-catalogue.  But this does not include bundle sales - i.e. digital EPs and albums. It is estimated that that bundle sales equate to an additional 250,000 single tracks per week.

* The BRITs effect calculation is based on the average album sales performance of BRIT award winners and performers in the two weeks after the show, compared with sales in the weeks before the show. Note that this does not take into account the increased sales of BRIT nominees – or the expected increased sales derived from increased retail traffic.

* The original chart compilation process comprised collation of retailers’ paper diaries.  These were replaced with electronic point of sale data in 1985.  Sales from around 5500 music stores are collated to create The Official UK Singles Chart each week, representing 99% of the market.

* Sales counting towards ‘The All New Official UK Singles Chart’ will be collated from April 10 and on April 17 the first number one in a combined physical singles and downloads chart with be revealed to millions on Radio 1’s Sunday chart show and commercial radio stations featuring the Hit 40 UK chart.  The integration of download tracks into the singles chart represents the biggest change since the end of ‘hand collated’ data back in 1985.

* Sales from the following download sites will be integrated along with physical single CD sales to create the ‘all new’ Official UK Singles Chart: i-Tunes, Napster, MyCokeMusic, Woolworths, 7 Digital, Playlouder, MSN Music, Big Noise Music, HMV, Virgin, Tesco, Tiscali Music, Sonic Selector, Wanadoo, city16.com, recordstore.co.uk, KarmaDownload, Wippit, The Music Engine, Bleep, easyMusic.