• Sales of up to 20 million CDs expected this Christmas
• Deluxe and Special Editions account for one in 10 physical albums sales
• Christmas market gears up for key catalogue and new release repackages
A wave of new album releases are set to make music one of the most popular gifts this Christmas, including new material from Rihanna, Amy Winehouse, One Direction and Justin Bieber and Deluxe and Special Edition albums from The Rolling Stones, Susan Boyle, Florence + the Machine, Hugh Laurie, David Guetta and Gorillaz, with as many as 20 million CDs expected to be sold in December alone.
The lead-up to Christmas continues to be an important time for music sales. In the past five years, December has accounted for an average 22% of annual album sales. Last year, CD sales represented 86% of all music bought during the final quarter of 2010 with Kantar’s Worldpanel reporting that over a half of all CD album sales (51.1%) were attributed to gift purchases.
Commenting on music’s appeal as a gift, BPI Chief Executive, Geoff Taylor, said:
“Music is a thoughtful and personal gift to give or receive. Consumers are spoilt for choice this Christmas with a range of gifting options to choose from, both online and in thousands of high street stores across the UK.
“Be it the new Spotify gift card, iTunes voucher or a chart-topping album from your favourite artist, there is something for new music buyers and superfans alike at better value than ever before.
“CDs gift-wrapped and delivered to your door by the retailer make an ideal gift for Christmas whilst Deluxe and Special Editions of albums make a perfect present for die-hard music fans who want to get their hands on superbly packaged albums with bonus audio and video content and a wealth of memorabilia.”
In the 12 months ending September 2011, one in 10 CD sales of the Top 200 best-selling artist album titles have been Deluxe and Special Editions, according to research carried out by BPI.
During this time, the best selling deluxe album was the Hollywood edition of Michael Buble’s Crazy Love which added a disc featuring new studio and live tracks to the original album. The special edition of Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster – which added a mammoth 16 tracks to her original studio album – tallied as the second biggest seller and has now sold more than 1.4 million copies since its release in 2009.
Deluxe Edition reissues have also proved very popular for heritage acts. The Rolling Stones’, 2010 rerelease of Exile on Main Street in June 2010 added a full disc of new material, and helped The Stones to their first Number 1 since 1994. Classic albums by bands such as Nirvana, Pink Floyd, The Who and Queen were all given Deluxe reissues in 2011 and are expected to be popular presents this Christmas period.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
• Lynne McDowell, BPI, 07763 619709 / lynne@bpi.co.uk
• Adam Liversage, BPI, 07801 179032 / adam@bpi.co.uk
Notes to Editors
1. Deluxe Editions are defined as those titles issued with an extra disc of audio or video material as an alternative to (or replacement for) a “standard” edition.
2. Extra tracks editions are defined as titles that had further material added to a standard album but released on a single disc.
3. The average price of a CD album is £7.35 and single disc albums are averaging less than £7.00 for the first time.
About BPI
The BPI is the representative voice of the UK recorded music business. The BPI is a trade organisation funded by its members - which include hundreds of independent music companies and the UK’s four major record labels. The BPI’s members account for approximately 90% of all recorded music sold in the UK, and globally the UK's recorded music market is the fourth biggest.
The BPI also organises the annual BRIT Awards show as well as the Classic BRIT Awards show. The organising company, BRIT Awards Limited, is a fully owned subsidiary of the BPI. Substantial proceeds from both shows go to the BRIT Trust, the charitable arm of the BPI that has donated almost £15m to charitable causes nationwide since its foundation in 1989.