ben08

Guinness first made this claim for The Beatles sales in 1983 when they stated they "had sold 1,004 million discs and tapes to the end of 1982". So physical sales, downloads and streams in the last 36 years must mean global sales are nearer to 2 billion by now. :dance: Only joking of course. This claim was then repeated every year. Here is the 1997 Guinness claim. Apple/Universal stated sales of 600 million back in 2010 (before digital downloads). Here is the Press Release from Tuesday November 16th 2010. Apple Corps Ltd. was founded by The Beatles in 1968 to look after the group’s own affairs. The London-based company has administered the catalogue of The Beatles releases of the 1960s that have sold to date more than 600 million records, tapes and CDs.

Out today and available in all good book stores, priced at £20. I’ll give a few music statistics (mindful of copyright restrictions). Fastest selling album Beatles 1 sold 3.6m on first day of release and 13.5m after first month. Fastest selling album in a single country Adele’s 25 sold 3,378,000 copies in the US in 1 week. Biggest selling album Michael Jackson’s Thriller has sold 66m worldwide. Sales in US are 33m according to RIAA. Largest selling single Bing Crosby’s White Christmas with sales of 50m. Second largest seller is Elton John’s Candle in the wind with sales of 33m. Greatest songwriter in UK Paul McCartney has penned 192 hit songs. Greatest number of covers The Beatles have 4,136 covers of their songs. Longest gap between returning to number 1 Beatles Sgt Pepper returned to number 1 on the UK album chart after 49 years and 127 days. Best selling solo artist Elvis Presley has amassed 1 billion sales worldwide according to his RCA record label. Best selling group EMI has estimated the Beatles sales at more than 1 billion discs and tapes to date. There are many more interesting facts (particularly on streaming totals in 2017) but I won’t quote anymore because you can buy the book yourself (available at W. H. Smith for only £10). Those 1 billion estimates are obviously way out. Maybe Guinness are still using equivalent sales where 1 album = 6 units. That Beatles total has remained the same for several years. Strange they talk about cassette tapes and don’t mention downloads or streams. Also Universal took over EMI.

Adele's 21 is now at 17 times platinum in the UK - that's 5.1m sales.

Music Week August 10th 2018 at 7:00AM Like the wait at the till on a Saturday morning, it’s been a long time coming. But, as exclusively revealed in this week’s Music Week, changes to music retail space in Tesco and Sainsbury’s mean that, while the end game for physical music is still a long way off, we may well be entering the beginning of the end. To sum up those changes: numerous sources across labels and retail have told Music Week that Tesco has made “significant” cuts to the range of CDs it carries. Tesco refused to comment, although sources at the grocer suggest a less clear-cut “refocusing” on the top end of the market, with vinyl boosted in many stores. The picture at vinyl pioneer Sainsbury’s is similar, where the arrival of Argos concessions in many stores has hit music and other non-food space. The situation there has also been exacerbated by the departure of respected music & books trading manager Pete Selby and his entire music buying team, leaving them short on the specialist knowledge so essential to the sector. It adds up to a bleak picture for a sector that sold almost one third (31.6%) of physical albums in the UK as recently as 2015 (according to ERA). It was 27.4% last year, while the latest Entertainment Retailer Barometer from Kantar Worldpanel acknowledged the shrinking space for entertainment in supermarkets and showed Tesco’s share dipping across music, games and video, dropping to 10.3% in the 12 weeks to July 1, from 12.5% the previous year. The share for Sainsbury’s (8.2%-7.3%), Asda (8.6%-7.3%) and Morrisons (4.3%-3%) also fell, with specialists HMV and Game the main beneficiaries. It’s hard to blame the supermarkets for falling out of love with physical entertainment. They are in competition with online retailers such as Amazon and cheaper alternatives such as Lidl and Aldi, which puts pressure on every product that’s not delivering volume and margin. Right now, music delivers only occasionally on the former – The Greatest Showman, Now 100 and, perhaps Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again are the only albums you’d call supermarket blockbusters so far this year – and even more rarely on the latter (at least outside the grocers’ burgeoning vinyl sales). The biz, meanwhile, has both eyes on streaming these days – and the success of The Greatest Showman on that format suggests even the natural supermarket consumer is now Spotify-compatible (or maybe Alexa-friendly). But the biz needs CDs to remain part of the supermarket mix, for essential gifting sales and for the sort of critical consumer mass that will help protect specialist retail from any domino effect. It is, of course, streaming that’s powered the music biz boom of the last few years. But the biz has ditched formats too early before and lived to rue the consequences. Abandoning a section of consumers that may never embrace alternatives is not a move to be made lightly. If the biz is serious about keeping physical music alive, there should be more grocer-friendly releases and campaigns, maybe even some exclusive editions. And they should happen fast: you suspect the supermarkets are just another lousy Christmas away from much more drastic cuts. After all, as Tesco themselves would say, every little helps.

Or maybe the best selling albums of the last 70 years.

But it definitely is on DVD. :dance: The British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE) have issued a half-year report looking at 2018's success stories, with The Greatest Showman smashing records to take the crown as the year's most popular DVD release so far, with 1.4 million sales.

From Music Week. One in a million: But is The Greatest Showman's stunning success hitting other artists' albums? by Mark Sutherland July 18th 2018 at 7:00AM Can one million Greatest Showman fans be wrong? That’s the question being asked by some in the music industry, as the soundtrack passes the million mark and sparks a debate about whether it’s preventing other releases from breaking through. Official confirmation will have to wait until this evening’s Official Charts midweek update, but the Atlantic-released soundtrack ticked past one million units at some point on Monday, confirming its status as the sales phenomenon of 2018. The album has dominated 2018’s Albums Charts, to the extent that it has been No.1 for 21 of this year’s 28 chart weeks so far. More to the point, its tenure at the top has stopped a multitude of artists from reaching the top spot. Panic! At The Disco, Kanye West, Snow Patrol, James Bay, J Cole, Manic Street Preachers, UB40 Featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey, Justin Timberlake, Craig David, Fall Out Boy and Camila Cabello have all had to settle for entering at No.2 as a result of the Hugh Jackman-starring unstoppable sales juggernaut. This has led to mutterings within the music industry (and on Twitter most Friday evenings) that the album is now almost too successful. Some execs privately suggest the multi-artist album shouldn’t actually appear on the artist albums listing at all, but should be confined to the Compilations Chart, where some soundtrack albums, such as Guardians Of The Galaxy, do currently appear. But many other recent breakout soundtracks, such as La La Land and Moana, also appear on the artist chart. Derek Allen is in the middle of that debate as SVP, commercial at Warner Music UK and also non-executive chairman of the Official Charts Company. “If I take my Warner hat off and put my Official Charts hat on,” Allen told Music Week, “I’d say that we did discuss this, at length, last year in terms of which albums should appear in the artist album chart and which albums are not artist albums and appear in the compilations chart. There was a very, very healthy debate around where albums of this nature sat and it’s fair to say that there was a split. Half the room was in favour of these albums sitting in the comps chart and a fairly strong part of the room thought they should stay where they are – and this was long before Showman. I’m sure that debate will open up again at some point in the future and it will be interesting to see if this changes people’s views.” And other execs also hailed the album's success. “I think we’re comfortable with cast recordings sitting there,” says David Hawkes, managing director of Universal Music UK’s commercial division. “It’s not a concern, you just have to sit back and commend Warner on a fantastic record. Does it stifle? As we’ve seen with Drake and Florence + The Machine, if you release a great record, it’s going to do good volume, same with George Ezra. You can still get to No.1, despite the performance of The Greatest Showman. You just have to tip your hat to a fantastic album that’s captured the imagination of the public.” “It’s fantastic that Warner have had that success,” agreed BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor. “Anybody who goes to watch the film, a huge number of those people go out and buy the record because the songs are so strong. It gets people engaged in either streaming or purchasing music and it gets them into stores; that’s a good thing for the market overall. It defied everyone’s expectations for a soundtrack album, it is a bit leftfield but it’s all about the quality of the film and the quality of the music.” Of the 988,432 sales The Greatest Showman had racked up before this week, 458,044 were physical, 197,835 were digital downloads and 332,553 were streaming units, making it a rare multi-format blockbuster. It passes a million units just as its iron grip on the charts begins to loosen; it’s missed out on the top spot for the last two weeks and looks likely to do so again this week, leaving it two weeks short of Adele’s record for the most weeks at No.1 this century (23 for her album 21). But don’t expect the debate to end there: another likely blockbuster soundtrack, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Polydor) is heading for a Top 10 entry on the Official Albums Chart this week, ahead of the much-anticipated movie’s release. Watch this space.

From Music week Sainsburys said last November’s launch compilations of classic songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s on Sainsbury’s Own Label imprint each sold out their 1,500 run within weeks. Supermarkets had an 8% share of the vinyl market compared to last year. The supermarket has also expanded its vinyl footprint with 380 stores now stocking a range of popular and enduring LPs. Its biggest-selling title is Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours with more than 12,000 copies sold.

Update by OCC on their web site. The top selling song released in the 21st century goes to Pharrell Williams' Happy, which is eighth with 1.93 million sales, while in 12th is the top selling song never to reach Number 1 – Wham!'s Last Christmas, which was blocked by Band Aid in 1984 and has sold 1.88 million. Cher's Believe, the best-selling song by a female artist, is 17th in the rundown, with 1.83 million.

Yet sales given are, Pharrell Williams' Happy, which is eighth with 1.9 million sales, Beatles, with their top-selling honour going to 1963 chart-topper She Loves You, on 1.92 million. But list shows 175 million sellers. Now amended by OCC. Pharrell's sales are 1.93 million, and the 175 number has been amended.

Published today. 14 June 2018 The UK's biggest selling singles of all time Every million-selling song in the UK counted down. By Justin Myers They're the very top of the pops – the UK's million-selling singles. It's still a relatively rare feat, with currently only 171 songs making it to seven figures. Not all of them managed to make it to Number 1 – 27 million-sellers never hit the top spot – but they've earned their place in British pop history. Way out in front, with 4.93 million sales is Elton John's double-A Candle in the Wind 97/Something About the Way You Look Tonight, released after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Another charity record is in second, the original Band Aid with Do They Know It's Christmas? on 3.8 million, and the next five songs have all sold over two million copies. The biggest selling cover version is Boney M's Rivers of Babylon/Brown Girl in the Ring from 1978, shifting 2.03 million, although the originals never charted – the most popular cover version of a song that had already charted is Wet Wet Wet's redo of the Troggs' Love Is All Around, on 1.9 million. The top selling song released in the 21st century goes to Pharrell Williams' Happy, which is eighth with 1.9 million sales, while in 12th is the top selling song never to reach Number 1 – Wham!'s Last Christmas, which was blocked by Band Aid in 1984 and has sold 1.82 million. Cher's Believe, the best-selling song by a female artist, is 17th in the rundown, with 1.83 million. Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax claims the best-selling debut single by a group (2.06m) and Will Young takes the prize for a solo artist with Anything Is Possible/Evergreen (1.79m) Some stars are just greedy and bag more than one million-seller: 22 acts have two or more entries in the list of the UK's all-time bestselling singles. Way out in front, with an astonishing six, are the Beatles, with their top-selling honour going to 1963 chart-topper She Loves You, on 1.92 million. Rihanna is up next – she appears on four, with We Found Love (feat Calvin Harris) her biggest, shifting 1.41 million copies. Adele and Pharrell Williams have three million-sellers each – Someone Like You from 2011 is Adele's big one (1.64m) and Pharrell's is Happy. Here's the full countdown of the UK's bestselling songs of all time: POS TITLE ARTIST YEAR PEAK 1 - SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT/CANDLE IN THE WIND 97 - ELTON JOHN - 1997 - 1 2 - DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? - BAND AID - 1984 - 1 3 - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - QUEEN - 1975 - 1 (1975 & 1991) 4 - MULL OF KINTYRE/GIRLS' SCHOOL - WINGS - 1977 - 1 5 - YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT - JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN - 1978 - 1 6 - RELAX - FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD - 1983 - 1 7 - RIVERS OF BABYLON/BROWN GIRL IN THE RING - BONEY M - 1978 - 1 8 - HAPPY - PHARRELL WILLIAMS - 2013 - 1 9 - SHE LOVES YOU - THE BEATLES - 1963 - 1 10 - LOVE IS ALL AROUND - WET WET WET - 1994 - 1 11 - MARY'S BOY CHILD/OH MY LORD - BONEY M - 1978 - 1 12 - LAST CHRISTMAS/EVERYTHING SHE WANTS - WHAM! - 1984 - 2 13 - I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU - STEVIE WONDER - 1984 - 1 14 - UNCHAINED MELODY/(THERE'LL BE BLUEBIRDS OVER) THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER - ROBSON GREEN & JEROME FLYNN - 1995 - 1 15 - (EVERYTHING I DO) I DO IT FOR YOU - BRYAN ADAMS - 1991 - 1 16 - BARBIE GIRL - AQUA - 1997 - 1 17 - BELIEVE - CHER - 1998 - 1 18 - I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND - THE BEATLES - 1963 - 1 19 - ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE/EVERGREEN - WILL YOUNG - 2002 - 1 20 - IMAGINE - JOHN LENNON - 1975 - 1975 No 6 / 1980 No 1 21 - BLURRED LINES - ROBIN THICKE/TI/PHARRELL - 2013 - 1 22 - I'LL BE MISSING YOU - PUFF DADDY & FAITH EVANS - 1997 - 1 23 - UPTOWN FUNK - MARK RONSON FT BRUNO MARS - 2014 - 1 24 - EYE OF THE TIGER - SURVIVOR - 1982 - 1 25 - SOMEONE LIKE YOU - ADELE - 2011 - 1 26 - I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU - WHITNEY HOUSTON - 1992 - 1 27 - SUMMER NIGHTS - JOHN TRAVOLTA & OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN - 1978 - 1 28 - DON'T YOU WANT ME? - HUMAN LEAGUE - 1981 - 1 29 - TWO TRIBES - FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD - 1984 - 1 30 - GANGSTA'S PARADISE - COOLIO FEATURING L.V. - 1995 - 1 31 - MY HEART WILL GO ON - CELINE DION - 1998 - 1 32 - THREE LIONS - BADDIEL & SKINNER & LIGHTNING SEEDS - 1996 - 1 33 - ...BABY ONE MORE TIME - BRITNEY SPEARS - 1999 - 1 34 - PERFECT DAY - VARIOUS ARTISTS - 1997 - 1 35 - CAN'T BUY ME LOVE - THE BEATLES - 1964 - 1 36 - MOVES LIKE JAGGER - MAROON 5 FEATURING CHRISTINA AGUILERA - 2011 - 2 37 - CARELESS WHISPER - GEORGE MICHAEL - 1984 - 1 38 - KARMA CHAMELEON - CULTURE CLUB - 1983 - 1 39 - TEARS - KEN DODD - 1965 - 1 40 - SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW - GOTYE FEATURING KIMBRA - 2011 - 1 41 - WONDERWALL - OASIS - 1995 - 2 42 - YMCA - VILLAGE PEOPLE - 1978 - 1 43 - WAKE ME UP - AVICII - 2013 - 1 44 - I GOTTA FEELING - BLACK EYED PEAS - 2009 - 1 45 - GET LUCKY - DAFT PUNK FT PHARRELL WILLIAMS - 2013 - 1 46 - KILLING ME SOFTLY - FUGEES - 1996 - 1 47 - THE POWER OF LOVE - JENNIFER RUSH - 1985 - 1 48 - (WE'RE GONNA) ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK - BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS - 1955 - 1 49 - IT WASN'T ME - SHAGGY FEATURING RIKROK - 2001 - 1 50 - COME ON EILEEN - DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - 1982 - 1 51 - THE CARNIVAL IS OVER - THE SEEKERS - 1965 - 1 52 - I FEEL FINE - THE BEATLES - 1964 - 1 53 - WE FOUND LOVE - RIHANNA FEATURING CALVIN HARRIS - 2011 - 1 54 - WE CAN WORK IT OUT/DAY TRIPPER - THE BEATLES - 1964 - 1 55 - SEX ON FIRE - KINGS OF LEON - 2008 - 1 56 - WANNABE - SPICE GIRLS - 1996 - 1 57 - RELEASE ME - ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK - 1967 - 1 58 - THINK TWICE - CELINE DION - 1994 - 1 59 - NEVER EVER - ALL SAINTS - 1997 - 1 60 - CALL ME MAYBE - CARLY RAE JEPSEN - 2012 - 1 61 - TAINTED LOVE - SOFT CELL - 1981 - 1 62 - (IS THIS THE WAY TO) AMARILLO - TONY CHRISTIE FT PETER KAY - 2005 - 1 63 - UNCHAINED MELODY - GARETH GATES - 2002 - 1 64 - JUST THE WAY YOU ARE (AMAZING) - BRUNO MARS - 2010 - 1 65 - IT'S LIKE THAT - RUN-D.M.C. VS JASON NEVINS - 1997 - 1 66 - HEART OF GLASS - BLONDIE - 1979 - 1 67 - HALLELUJAH - ALEXANDRA BURKE - 2008 - 1 68 - IMPOSSIBLE - JAMES ARTHUR - 2012 - 1 69 - TITANIUM - DAVID GUETTA FT SIA - 2011 - 1 70 - MERRY XMAS EVERYBODY - SLADE - 1973 - 1 71 - GANGNAM STYLE - PSY - 2012 - 1 72 - RATHER BE - CLEAN BANDIT FT JESS GLYNNE - 2014 - 1 73 - PARTY ROCK ANTHEM - LMFAO FEATURING LAUREN BENNETT AND GOONROCK - 2011 - 1 74 - ALL OF ME - JOHN LEGEND - 2014 - 2 75 - IT'S NOW OR NEVER - ELVIS PRESLEY - 1960 - 1 76 - LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE - EMINEM FEATURING RIHANNA - 2010 - 2 77 - GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME - TOM JONES - 1966 - 1 78 - DIANA - PAUL ANKA - 1957 - 1 79 - LET HER GO - PASSENGER - 2012 - 2 80 - BLUE MONDAY - NEW ORDER - 1983 - ORIGINAL 1983 NO 9 / 1988 Remix NO 3 81 - FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK - POGUES FT KIRSTY MACCOLL - 1987 - 2 82 - THINKING OUT LOUD - ED SHEERAN - 2014 - 1 83 - ANGELS - ROBBIE WILLIAMS - 1997 - 4 84 - PRICE TAG - JESSIE J FEATURING B.O.B - 2011 - 1 85 - BRIGHT EYES - ART GARFUNKEL - 1979 - 1 86 - HEARTBEAT/TRAGEDY - STEPS - 1998 - 1 87 - EARTH SONG - MICHAEL JACKSON - 1995 - 1 88 - TORN - NATALIE IMBRUGLIA - 1997 - 2 89 - ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU - MARIAH CAREY - 1994 - 2 90 - CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD - KYLIE MINOGUE - 2001 - 1 91 - I DON'T WANT TO MISS A THING - AEROSMITH - 1998 - 1 92 - SATURDAY NIGHT - WHIGFIELD - 1994 - 1 93 - MARY'S BOY CHILD - HARRY BELAFONTE - 1957 - 1 94 - STRANGER ON THE SHORE - MR ACKER BILK AND HIS PARAMOUNT JAZZ BAND - 1961 - 2 95 - THE LAST WALTZ - ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK - 1967 - 1 96 - DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? - BAND AID 20 - 2004 - 1 97 - POKER FACE - LADY GAGA - 2009 - 1 98 - GHOSTBUSTERS - RAY PARKER JR. - 1984 - 2 99 - CHASING CARS - SNOW PATROL - 2006 - 6 100 - DON'T GIVE UP ON US - DAVID SOUL - 1976 - 1 101 - ONLY GIRL (IN THE WORLD) - RIHANNA - 2010 - 1 102 - SPACEMAN - BABYLON ZOO - 1996 - 1 103 - NO MATTER WHAT - BOYZONE - 1998 - 1 104 - ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL (PART 2) - PINK FLOYD - 1979 - 1 105 - WE ARE YOUNG - FUN FT JANELLE MONAE - 2011 - 1 106 - I LOVE YOU LOVE ME LOVE - GARY GLITTER - 1973 - 1 107 - HEY JUDE - THE BEATLES - 1968 - 1 108 - 2 BECOME 1 - SPICE GIRLS - 1996 - 1 109 - DANCING QUEEN - ABBA - 1976 - 1 110 - COUNTING STARS - ONEREPUBLIC - 2013 - 1 111 - CRAZY - GNARLS BARKLEY - 2006 - 1 112 - BLUE (DA BA DEE) - EIFFEL 65 - 1999 - 1 113 - I FEEL LOVE - DONNA SUMMER - 1977 - 1 114 - HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK - IAN DURY AND THE BLOCKHEADS - 1978 - 1 115 - THE A TEAM - ED SHEERAN - 2011 - 3 116 - ROAR - KATY PERRY - 2013 - 1 117 - I BELIEVE/UP ON THE ROOF - ROBSON & JEROME - 1995 - 1 118 - BACK FOR GOOD - TAKE THAT - 1995 - 1 119 - USE SOMEBODY - KINGS OF LEON - 2008 - 2 120 - BLEEDING LOVE - LEONA LEWIS - 2007 - 1 121 - DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' - JOURNEY - 1982 - 6 (2010) 122 - THAT'S MY GOAL - SHAYNE WARD - 2005 - 1 123 - TELETUBBIES SAY "EH-OH!" - TELETUBBIES - 1997 - 1 124 - I REMEMBER YOU - FRANK IFIELD - 1962 - 1 125 - UNCHAINED MELODY - THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS - 1965 - 1 126 - DIAMONDS - RIHANNA - 2012 - 1 127 - PURE AND SIMPLE - HEAR'SAY - 2001 - 1 128 - FIREWORK - KATY PERRY - 2010 - 3 129 - RIDE ON TIME - BLACK BOX - 1989 - 1 130 - LOSE YOURSELF - EMINEM - 2002 - 1 131 - ROLLING IN THE DEEP - ADELE - 2011 - 2 132 - I WILL SURVIVE - GLORIA GAYNOR - 1979 - 1 133 - FAME - IRENE CARA - 1982 - 1 134 - RULE THE WORLD - TAKE THAT - 2007 - 2 135 - LA LA LA - NAUGHTY BOY FT SAM SMITH - 2013 - 1 136 - RED RED WINE - UB40 - 1983 - 1 137 - UPTOWN GIRL - BILLY JOEL - 1983 - 1 138 - THE YOUNG ONES - CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS - 1962 - 1 139 - SAILING - ROD STEWART - 1975 - 1 140 - STAND & DELIVER! - ADAM AND THE ANTS - 1981 - 1 141 - DON'T YOU WORRY CHILD - SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA/MARTIN - 2012 - 1 142 - GIVE ME EVERYTHING - PITBULL FEATURING NE-YO, AFROJACK AND NAYER - 2011 - 1 143 - WHITE CHRISTMAS - BING CROSBY WITH THE KEN DARBY SINGERS AND JOHN SCOTT TROTTER ORCHESTRA - 1942 - 5 (1977) - since 1952 144 - BAD ROMANCE - LADY GAGA - 2009 - 1 145 - THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT - TIGHT FIT - 1982 - 1 146 - MYSTERIOUS GIRL - PETER ANDRE FEATURING BUBBLER RANX - 1995 - 1 147 - SUGAR SUGAR - THE ARCHIES - 1969 - 1 148 - FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE - CHERYL COLE - 2009 - 1 149 - HERO - ENRIQUE IGLESIAS - 2002 - 1 150 - DON'T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA - JULIE COVINGTON - 1976 - 1 151 - MAMBO NO.5 (A LITTLE BIT OF...) - LOU BEGA - 1999 - 1 152 - DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART - ELTON JOHN & KIKI DEE - 1976 - 1 153 - CAN WE FIX IT? - BOB THE BUILDER - 2000 - 1 154 - WHERE IS THE LOVE - BLACK EYED PEAS - 2003 - 1 155 - SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME - BROTHERHOOD OF MAN - 1976 - 1 156 - JAR OF HEARTS - CHRISTINA PERRI - 2011 - 4 157 - WHOLE AGAIN - ATOMIC KITTEN - 2001 - 1 158 - DON'T SPEAK - NO DOUBT - 1997 - 1 159 - WHEN WE COLLIDE - MATT CARDLE - 2010 - 1 160 - I'D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING - THE NEW SEEKERS - 1971 - 1 161 - YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE - GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS - 1963 - 1 162 - STARSHIPS - NICKI MINAJ - 2012 - 2 163 - UNDER THE MOON OF LOVE - SHOWADDYWADDY - 1976 - 1 164 - WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL - ONE DIRECTION - 2011 - 1 165 - TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLE OAK TREE - DAWN FEATURING TONY ORLANDO - 1973 - 1 166 - ESPECIALLY FOR YOU - KYLIE MINOGUE & JASON DONOVAN - 1988 - 1 167 - MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE - ADELE - 2008 - 4 168 - EYE LEVEL - THE SIMON PARK ORCHESTRA - 1972 - 1 169 - LONG HAIRED LOVER FROM LIVERPOOL - LITTLE JIMMY OSMOND - 1972 - 1 170 - FORGET YOU - CEE LO GREEN - 2011 - 1 And there are 5 new million sellers, 171 - GRENADE - BRUNO MARS - 2011 - 1 172 - PARADISE - COLDPLAY - 2011 - 1 173 - NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP - RICK ASTLEY - 1987 - 1 174 - DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER - OASIS - 1996 - 1 175 - SEXY AND I KNOW IT - LMFAO - 2011 - 5 About a dozen titles have moved up 1 or 2 places with Mariah Carey moving up 8 places since the last OCC list in 9/9/17.

If I knew what would replace streaming I would not tell anyone but I would set up a Company to implement the new technology and hopefully become a millionaire. I can but only dream.

Released only on the Abbey Road album but not as a single in 1969. Digital track release was 16/11/2010. So 400,000 sales in 7.5 years.

7 singles now at 4 times platinum and over 30 on 3 times platinum. And most of those were released in recent years. Streaming sales have a large effect on sales these days. (Three more tracks passed 3 times platinum on Friday.)

From BPI, Beatles - Here Comes The Sun - Apple Corps - Gold - Single - 08.06.2018 - 16.11.2010 It went Silver on 18/11/16 after 6 years but another 200,000 sales in just 18 months. Obviously mostly due to streams.

And the same day that a vinyl picture disc of The Beatles Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby is released to mark 50 years since the film of the same name. Could Beatles songs be no. 1 and no. 2?

From Music Week. Apple Music has passed 50 million subscribers this month, CEO Tim Cook has revealed. However, the figure includes 8m users on free trials. Paid subscribers increased by 2m compared to a month earlier, which maintains the steady monthly growth rate in users for Apple’s music streaming service in 2018. While Apple Music lags behind Spotify, it is increasing its subscriber base at a faster rate. During its recent Q1 results, Spotify revealed it had finished Q1 with 75m premium subscribers – up 4m over three months since the end of 2017. Apple Music has added 2m users a month this year and was reportedly on the verge of overtaking the Swedish rival in the US.

From Music Week. The latest quarterly entertainment date from Kantar Worldpanel reveals that online sales have reached a record share of the physical entertainment market, including music, games and video. For the first time, sales of physical music products including CDs and vinyl are equal across bricks and mortar and online stores. James Foti, consumer specialist at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Online physical music sales are booming, growing by 13.6% in the past quarter. Shoppers are choosing to increase their online spend and they’re paying higher average prices by opting for more expensive products like vinyl, which as a sector has attracted over 260,000 shoppers in the past 12 weeks online alone. As a result, pureplay retailers like eBay have captured an increasing share of the physical music market, though Amazon retains the No.1 spot.” Figures for the 12 weeks to April 8 reveal that online now accounts for 42% of physical music, gaming and video purchases. Amazon’s share was up by 3.5 percentage points to 25.9%. Foti added: “Overall, physical entertainment declined by 13.5% over the past quarter but online sales were a real bright spot. The average shopper spent almost £19 when shopping online over the past 12 weeks – that’s in comparison to around £15 in store – and the lure of e-commerce has now persuaded 27% of consumers to buy their physical entertainment goods exclusively online. “A further 37% still split their spend across online and offline, suggesting the high street still plays an important place for shoppers and that those retailers which aren’t embracing a multichannel approach may lose out.”

Must be royalties from streaming. :unsure:

No Sir Cliff Richard after 60 years in the business.

The UK's wealthiest musicians have been revealed as part of The Sunday Times' Rich List for 2018 Rank Name 2018 wealth - Wealth increase/decrease 1 Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell - £820m - Up £40m 2 Lord Lloyd-Webber - £740m - No change 3 U2 - £569m - Up £21m 4 Sir Elton John - £300m - Up £10m 5 Sir Mick Jagger - £260m - Up £10m 6 Keith Richards - £245m - Up £10m 7 Olivia and Dhani Harrison - £230m - Up £20m 8 Sir Ringo Starr - £220m - Up £20m 9 Michael Flatley - £202m - Up £2m 10 Sting - £190m - Up £5m 11 Sir Rod Stewart - £180m - Up £10m 12= Eric Clapton - £175m - Up £5m 12= Roger Waters - £175m - Up £10m 14 Robbie Williams - £165m - Up £15m 15 Sir Tom Jones - £163m - Up £3m 16 Sir Tim Rice - £152m - No change 17 Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne - £145m - Up £5m 18= Adele - £140m - Up £15m 18= Calvin Harris - £140m - Up £20m 18= Charlie Watts - £140m - Up £10m 21 Brian May - £135m - Up £10m 22 Roger Taylor - £130m - Up £10m 23 Jimmy Page - £125m - Up £20m 24 Phil Collins - £120m - Up £10m 25 David Gilmour - £115m - Up £5m 26= John Deacon - £105m - Up £5m 26= Robert Plant - £105m - Up £2m 28 Enya - £104m - Up £5m 29 Chris Martin - £94m - Up £14m 30 Nick Mason - £92m - Up £2m 31= Guy Berryman - £82m - Up £12m 31= Jonny Buckland - £82m - Up £12m 31= Will Champion - £82m - Up £12m 31= Pete Townshend and Rachel Fuller - £82m - Up £12m 35= Gary Barlow - £80m - Up £5m 35= Ed Sheeran - £80m - Up £28m 37= Sir Barry Gibb - £75m - No change 37= Mark Knopfler - £75m - No change 37= Ronnie Wood - £75m - Up £10m 40 Engelbert Humperdinck - £72m - Up £2m Wealthiest young musicians Rank Name 2018 wealth - Wealth increase/decrease 1 - Adele - £140m - Up £15m 2 - Ed Sheeran - £80m - Up £28m 3 - Harry Styles - £50m - Up £10m 4 - Niall Horan - £46m - Up £6m 5= - Liam Payne - £42m - Up £2m 5= - Louis Tomlinson - £42m - Up £2m 7 - Little Mix - £40m - Up 16m 8 - Zayn Malik - £35m - No change 9 - Sam Smith - £24m - Up £4m 10 - Jessie J - £18m - Up £1m 11= - Winston Marshall - £16m - Up £1m 11= - Rita Ora - £16m - New Entry

Last year the OCC published on their web site very accurate figures for both Sales and Combined sales (i.e. with streams added on) for every single which has now sold more than 1 million copies in the UK (The millionaires Club). I am sure you have a copy. http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/t...evealed__20459/ I thought I would take a few hours and compare these OCC sales with certifications in the BPI database. A number of singles need to be upgraded (mainly pre-1994 singles) and some singles have never been certified (pre-1973 singles). I have included the 50 major upgrades below. The following singles need to be upgraded. Band Aid - Do they know it’s Christmas - from 1P to 6 times Platinum Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - from 1P to 4P John Travolta - You’re the one I want - from 1P to 3P Frankie goes to Hollywood - Relax - from 1P to 3P Boney M - Rivers of Babylon - from 1P to 3P Boney M - Mary’s boy child - from 1P to 3P Stevie Wonder - I just called to say I love you - from 1P to 3P Survivor - Eye of the tiger - from 1P to 3P Wham! - Last Christmas - from 1P to 3P (also stated as Wham on BPI database) Wings - Mull of Kintyre - from 2P to 3P Bryan Adams - Everything I do - from 2P to 3P Wet Wet Wet - Love is all around - from 2P to 3P Robson Green - Unchained Melody - from 2P to 3P John Lennon - Imagine - from P to 2P Human League - Don’t you want me - from P to 2P John Travolta - Summer nights - from P to 2P Frankie goes to Hollywood - Two tribes - from P to 2P George Michael - Careless whisper - from P to 2P Culture Club - Karma Chameleon - from P to 2P Dexys midnight runners - Come on Eileen - from P to 2P Baddiel, Skinner, Light Seeds - 3 Lions - from P to 2P Village people - YMCA - from P to 2P Jennifer Rush - The power of love - from P to 2P Celine Dion - Think twice - from P to 2P Blondie - Heart of glass - from P to 2P Steps - Heartbeat/Tragedy - from P to 2P Michael Jackson - Earthsong - from P to 2P Pink Floyd - Another brick in the wall - from P to 2P Whigfield - Saturday night - from P to 2P Art Garfunkel - Bright eyes - from P to 2P Take That - Back for good - from P to 2P Slade - Merry Christmas everyone - from P to 2P (also stated as Merry Xmas everyone on BPI database) New order - Blue Monday - from Gold to 2P Abba - Dancing Queen - from G to 2P UB40 - Red red wine - from G to 2P Ray Parker jnr - Ghost busters - from G to 2P Soft Cell - Tainted love - from G to 2P Beatles - Hey Jude - from Silver to 2P The following singles from the 1960s were never certified. Beatles - She loves you - 3P Beatles - I want to hold your hand - 3P Beatles - Can’t buy me love - 2P Beatles - I feel fine - 2P Beatles - Day tripper - 2P Seekers - The carnival is over - 2P Ken Dodd - Tears - 2P Englebert Humperdinck - Release me - 2P Elvis Presley - It’s now or never - 2P Tom Jones - Green green grass of home - 2P Paul Anka - Diana - 2P Bill Haley - Rock around the clock - 2P All of these 50 singles have a minimum of 1,200,000 sales (with streams included). The following million sellers could be upgraded from Silver to Platinum. WHITE CHRISTMAS - BING CROSBY HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) - JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO MY WAY - FRANK SINATRA MY SWEET LORD - GEORGE HARRISON YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE - GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS The following million sellers have never been certified. STRANGER ON THE SHORE - MR ACKER BILK MARY'S BOY CHILD - HARRY BELAFONTE THE LAST WALTZ - ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK I REMEMBER YOU - FRANK IFIELD THE YOUNG ONES - CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS HELP! - THE BEATLES I'D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING - THE NEW SEEKERS Of course there are many other singles pre-1973 which could be upgraded to Gold or Platinum but I don’t have time at present. Also in the 60s DISC magazine presented Silver Disc awards for singles shipping over 250,000 copies so these could be certified as Silver (200,000) on the BPI database. And then you can start to upgrade albums (if sales are known). This all assumes that you can add streams to historical sales. Some people do not agree and would prefer physical sales to remain on a separate historical list and to have a streams only list. And some people don’t even agree with adding digital downloads to viny/CD sales.

From Music Week Biz to resist 'downward pressure on prices' from Asda and Sainsbury's merger by Andre Paine May 8th 2018 at 7:00AM The music industry is closely watching the proposed merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda for any potential impact on physical retail. In the joint announcement on agreed terms, the two supermarkets pledged to “create a dynamic new player in UK retail”. The aim would be for a 10% reduction in prices across everyday items. Physical music remains a key stock line for supermarkets and they have seen the benefit in value terms from the vinyl revival. According to ERA, supermarkets had a 27.4% share of the overall physical music market last year. Sainsbury’s began stocking vinyl in 2016 and helped supermarkets take an 8% share of vinyl sales in 2017. Last month it increased the number of stores stocking vinyl and expanded the range available, including exclusive compilation albums on its ‘Own Label’ range. However, the creation of a UK retail powerhouse could result in pressure on prices for suppliers. Jim Brooks, CEO of distributor Cinram Novum, told Music Week that any “possible upside” for consumers in pricing on entertainment products would be at the expense of studios and labels. “When the new company flexes its buying power it will purchase the product cheaper and could offer a share of that additional margin to shoppers,” said Brooks. “There is some potential for a fall in volumes and reduced content purchase prices, both leading to lower revenues for the content owners, with the possible benefit of lower prices for the consumers and the latter eroding overall market prices.” Cinram Novum delivers directly to Asda and Sainsbury’s, while it is the exclusive supplier of music, video and games to Morrisons. PIAS said supermarkets are not its “core business”, though the independent distributor is paying close attention to the merger. “If it meant there was a general downward pressure on prices we would resist this,” Richard Sefton, director of sales & distribution, told Music Week. “The growth area of our business with supermarkets has been vinyl, and there is no evidence to suggest that lowering prices would increase this growth further.” Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe has said the deal will not lead to store closures. The merger would create a network of 2,800 Asda, Sainsbury’s and Argos stores, though there has been speculation about potential closures further down the line. The regional variation in the two supermarket chains provided some optimism in the biz about the number of stores that would remain open following the completion of the merger. “Any perceived negative impact on the physical market will be entirely dependent on store closures and imposed divestments, and given the North South divide of the chains these could be minimal,” Derek Allen, SVP, commercial at Warner Music UK told Music Week. “From our standpoint, the effect on the market will depend upon the post-acquisition strategy,” said Brooks. “The current communications from Sainsbury's indicate that they do not intend to make significant changes to the conjoined estate which, whilst good news, is difficult to imagine. Every outlet lost will lead to volume exiting the market that our experience dictates will not come back.” Sefton said he would be “much more worried” at store closures elsewhere in the music retail sector, such as HMV or independents. “They are key to our core physical business,” he said. There was some postive reaction about the effects of consolidation in retail in terms of opportunities for physical releases. “The Sainsbury’s Asda merger has so far been couched very much in terms of physical retailers needing to respond to the challenge of the big online retailers,” said AIM chief executive Paul Pacifico. “If supermarkets really can solve the problem of delivering better to the spectrum of local tastes while retaining economies of scale, they could succeed here and this would deliver better both for music fans and independents.”

From digitalmusicnews. Apple Formally Asked Not to Kill iTunes Music Downloads As the guillotine dangles over the head of iTunes music downloads, artists are starting to take urgent action. That includes the Content Creators Coalition (CCC), a top musician advocacy group. During its latest earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t mention iTunes music downloads — not once. Instead, the Apple chief proclaimed steady progress and booming revenues from a range of other, more modern platforms. “We had all-time record revenue from the App Store, from Apple Music, from iCloud, from Apple Pay and more, all of which are a powerful illustration of the importance of our huge active installed base of devices and the loyalty and engagement of our customers,” Cook declared. And when it comes to music, all the emphasis has shifted to Apple Music, which now boasts more than 40 million subscribers. “Apple Music reached a new record for both revenue and paid subscribers, which have now passed 40 million,” Cook shared. None of which bodes well for iTunes music downloads, which are strongly rumored to be on the chopping block. Since 2016, sources to Digital Music News have pointed to a planned phase-out, with the latest estimates pointing to an early 2019 closure. After that point, Apple will no longer sell iTunes music downloads, but will continue to support previous downloads and existing MP3s. Even iPod porting will still work (which unsurprisingly has a strong group of entrenched users). Sounds like the march of technological progress. But just one problem: paid downloads pay far better than streams, by an unbelievable multiple. Critics call the comparison apples-to-oranges, though most musicians, labels, and publishers miss the comparatively lucrative format. Meanwhile, Apple’s PR department has denied that any plans exist to terminate its paid download offering. But Apple executive Jimmy Iovine has publicly conceded that paid downloads will be nixed once demand falls below a certain threshold, and even iTunes installations in markets like South Korea have skipped the format. Accordingly, the Content Creators Coalition, a leading musician advocacy group, is formally requesting that Apple preserve music downloads on its iTunes Store.

More information from BPI can be found here.