Chart News: UK #1 album only sells 8K; lowest of 21st century

Official Charts Analysis: Blossoms score lowest selling No. 1 album of 21st Century

by Alan Jones

With worries about Brexit, the effects of streaming, good weather, a threadbare release schedule and the Olympic Games all playing a part, album sales took another dive last week, retreating considerably with paid-for purchases visiting their lowest levels since Millward Brown took over compilation of the charts for OCC more than 22 years ago .

In a sales climate where there is no other good news, the ever revolving door at the top of the artist album chart got jammed, with Blossoms’ eponymous debut remaining atop the list for a second term, bringing to an end a record run of 20 weeks in a row in which it has changed hands. Blossoms is the first album to retain pole position since Adele’s 25 topped for three consecutive weeks in March.

It did so on sales of just 7,948 copies (including 914 from streams) – a 62.13% dip over its first week tally, and 17.02% below the previous worst 21st century No.1 sale of 9,578 set by Rihanna’s Talk That Talk exactly four years ago, when the same factors, including The Olympics, wrecked the market. Rihanna, don’t forget, didn’t have streaming sales to bulk up her total, so the actual deficit is even bigger.

Blossoms’ retention of the title was very last minute – earlier in the week All Over The World: The Very Best Of ELO and Drake’s Views made the running (walking?) but couldn’t sustain their pace.

Views ended up at No.2 just 227 sales in arrears of Blossoms, climbing from No.3 despite its sales falling for the 15th time in the 16 weeks that have elapsed since it debuted atop the chart in May, and reaching its own personal nadir of 7,721 sales, a figure that was massively inflated by its allocation of 4,961 streaming sales. It ranks only No.8 on the paid-for sales chart.