Music Chronicle

Taylor Swift Taylor Swift had her most successful year so far. • Her total album sales were up by about 17% on 2023, her previous best. • She had the best selling album of the year for the first time. • She placed ten albums in the year end Top 100 – one more than in 2023. • Her total sales were the highest by an artist since Ed Sheeran sold over 3,250k in 2017. • Her total sales were the highest by a female artist since Adele sold 2,700k in 2015. • Her total sales were the highest by an American artist since Michael Jackson sold over 2,800k in 2009, the year he died. • Her career total in the UK is now around 10,700k. In the past twelve months she has overtaken Rihanna, Barbra Streisand, Pink, Whitney Houston and Kylie Minogue to become the fourth best selling female albums artist of all time in the UK, behind Madonna, Adele and Celine Dion. She will certainly move above Celine Dion during 2025. • During 2025 she will probably achieve her fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh triple platinum LPs. Among female artists, only Madonna has more than five. These remarkable headlines were driven by the release of The Tortured Poets Department and the continuation of the Eras Tour. Strip out the new album, and her LP sales were actually down by 20% on 2023. Thus it is unlikely she will score as strongly in 2025, although there will, presumably, be Taylor’s Versions of her eponymous debut and Reputation issued at some point.

Top Artists The Music Chronicle estimates that the Top 10 artists of 2024 were:- The following eight artists almost certainly sold over 450,000 albums in the UK in 2024, and might have sold over 500,000, and therefore placed inside the Top 10:- Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles, Coldplay, Drake, Linkin Park, Queen, Elvis Presley & Kanye West.

Unusual Entry The most curious entry in this year’s Top 100 is perhaps Nursery Rhymes By CoComelon at #39. This made its weekly chart debut in March 2024, and has always placed between #28 and #52 since then. The CD contains 20 tracks, and the MP3 download and streaming versions have 40 tracks lasting 100 minutes. Its cumulative sales since release now exceed 225,000 copies, and it is on track to go platinum later this year. CoComelon is an American company specialising in animated videos, and is a huge presence on YouTube. It is very rare for children’s albums to perform so well. In the distant past many were disqualified from the album chart because they were budget priced. However, The Muppets’ debut was the 20th best selling artists album of 1977, The Smurfs registered three CDs in the year end Top 100 in 1996/97, and Bob The Builder had the 94th best selling artist album in 2001. But CoComelon’s offering is the biggest ever hit aimed at under-threes.

Studio Album Perennials Fifteen studio albums have appeared in the Top 100 in at least six of the last eight years, and their annual placing is tracked on the chart below. Seven of these have appeared every year since 2017 – Rumours, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory ?, AM, In The Lonely Hour, 25, Divide and Dua Lipa. Michael Buble’s Christmas had registered for thirteen consecutive years since release, but fell short in 2024. AM is now the studio album with the longest unbroken run in the year end Top 100, appearing for every one of the 12 years since its release. Its lowest position so far is #79 in 2017. Most of these fifteen albums are on a slow downward trajectory. However:- Taylor Swift’s Lover enjoyed its two best year end placings in 2023 and 2024. Oasis benefitted from a resurgence in interest last year, which will almost certainly be sustained this year as a result of the live shows. Helped by a 30th anniversary reissue, Definitely Maybe outsold ...Morning Glory for the first time since 2004. Dua Lipa’s debut album recorded its highest annual total since 2020, and moved above a million sales at the start of 2024.

Release Date of Studio Albums in the Top 100 The green bars on the chart below record the year of release of the 65 studio albums in the year end Top 100. Rumours is the oldest, first appearing in 1977. The next two oldest are Oasis’ first two LPs. The red bars indicate the year of release of studio albums which featured in 2023’s Top 100, but dropped out in 2024. The oldest to slip was Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, followed by Arctic Monkey’s Favourite Worst Nightmare. There were 18 2023 releases in that year’s Top 100, half of which dropped off the list in 2024. The best placed in 2023 to plunge out in 2024 was Ed Sheeran’s – [subtract], which was the 23rd best seller. The Rolling Stones, Pink and Take That also fell from the 2023 Top 40 to outside the 2024 Top 100.

Age of Top 100 Albums The proportion of Top 100 albums released in the previous 12 months continued to decline, down by one to just 17, although these did include six of the top nine. The number of albums which were at least three years old by the end of the year increased, from 60 to 64. The following artists made their Year End Top 100 debuts in 2024:- Sabrina Carpenter (at #3 with her sixth studio album, and #84 with her fifth), Chappell Roan (#6, debut album), Charli XCX (#8, sixth), Teddy Swims (#34, debut), CoComelon (#39, see below), Gracie Abrams (#42, second), Benson Boone (#55, debut), Fontaines DC (#61, fourth), The Last Dinner Party (#83, debut) and Morgan Wallen (#98, third). The successes of Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Fontaines DC and Morgan Wallen provide further evidence of the need for record companies to invest in artist development, rather than discarding them if their first album falls below expectations. Notable also is that the breakthrough artists span several genres, including pop, rock and country, implying that, despite the increasing stagnation in the weekly albums chart, there are many music fans eager to hear many types of new music.

Compilation Mainstays The line chart below plots the Year End positions since 2017 of a dozen mainstays of the albums chart, all of which are compilations. The artist line-up is diverse to say the least. It includes artists whose chart career began in the 1960s (Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie), the 1970s (Elton John, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Queen, Bob Marley & The Wailers), 1980s (George Michael), 1990s (Oasis, Eminem), 2000s (Maroon 5) and 2010s (The Weeknd). These artists span multiple genres, and the demographics of their most enthusiastic fans almost certainly cover much of the British population. Artists on an upward trend in 2024 were:- Oasis, whose albums surged up the chart in the wake of their reformation announcement; Michael Jackson, whose overall album consumption was at its highest since 2010; Maroon 5, whose Singles collection reached an all-time year end peak of #35, with equivalent sales almost five times as high as actual sales the year it was released; and George Michael, whose Twenty Five almost matched its sales the year after he died. The sales of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Legend was this title’s highest annual total since 1992. This album is also the compilation with the longest unbroken run in the annual Top 100, now standing at 11 consecutive years. All twelve of these albums had a higher year end chart position in 2024 than their average position for 2017-2023, except for David Bowie’s Legacy, which had averaged #42 but was only #59 last year. However, Legacy did become David Bowie’s fifth million selling LP in the UK during 2024.

Compilations The proportion of the Top 100 occupied by Artist Compilations was 35% in 2024 – the first time since the arrival of streaming that it has decreased. The OCC’s policy of double counting streams against studio albums and compilation albums is the root cause of the growth in representation of greatest hits collections, but it did reverse in 2024, with one fewer on the list than in 2023. There were four Year End Top 100 new entries by compilations in 2024 – by Linkin Park, Ed Sheeran, The Killers (Rebel Diamonds) and The Cure’s Greatest Hits. The latter was released in 2001, and has sold over 1,100,000 copies, but made its first ever appearance in the year end list in 2024. There were also two re-entries – The Rolling Stones’ Forty Licks, which was last in the year end Top 100 in 2002, the year it was released; and Celine Dion’s My Love – The Essential Collection, which had previously made the rundown in 2008 and 2011. Like The Cure’s collection, both of these have cumulative sales well into seven figures. Dropping out were greatest hits sets by Pink, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Guns N’ Roses, The Killers (Direct Hits) and The Beatles (1). The latter suffered from streams flip-flopping between the 1962-66 and 1967-70 albums some weeks, and 1 others, and is not indicative of a decline in the popularity of the band.

Albums Selling over 100,000 copies A natural consequence of this is that more artist albums sold into six figures that at any time during the streaming era. In 2024, 82 titles passed 100,000, compared to just 42 in 2020. However, the proportion of the Year End Top 100 achieved by British artists was at a low point of just 35. British representation has trended downwards every year since 2019. In the opinion of The Music Chronicle the BPI is failing to promote home-grown artists effectively in an increasingly global market.

Threshold Growth The sales required to reach the year end Top 20, Top 50 and Top 100 grew markedly in 2024, up 14%, 8% and 7% respectively. As the line graph below shows, each was at its highest level since streaming became the dominant form of music consumption.

2024 Top 100 Artists Albums - Music Chronicle Analysis Further to the 2024 Year End Top 100 Artists Albums published by the OCC on its website, The Music Chronicle has created some additional material which analyses the Albums chart. Note: Throughout this piece, the word “sales” has been used to mean physical sales (CDs, vinyl and cassettes), plus digital sales (downloads), plus sales equivalent streams (audio and video), converted at the rate determined by the OCC.

Here are some of the comments we have received about The Music Chronicle 1985 “An excellent series of books, presenting detailed, accurate and fascinating coverage of the musical happenings of this decade.” “Another triumph !” “A wealth of information that I wasn’t previously aware of.” “Loads of really well researched facts and figures.” “Every bit as interesting as previous years.” “Receiving the new editions is one of the highlights of my year.” “I love dipping into these when I have a moment to spare.” “Just a cursory flick through allows one to alight upon random fascinating (if sometimes obscure, but delightfully so!) facts or observations.” “Thorough and widescale coverage.” “Superb collection of books.” “Well presented.” “Something for everybody.” “Great job !” “Each and every time excellent all round.” Praise for previous editions of The Music Chronicles “I study the UK Charts avidly, but there were many details in the book that I was unaware of. I cannot praise the book enough.” “Covers all the important and interesting musical facts and events of the year very well. I get the feeling I may be referring to this book often in the future and look forward to seeing other years in the series.” ”Well researched and well worth the price! It's full of good facts” “A great addition to my music book library. The content is outstanding. I'll happily recommend it to people.” “I’m very impressed with the detail and work that has gone into these books.” “I think what I like best about it is not the pure stats. The book eschews what you can find on the internet. The joy is in the value added. So some rather intriguing lists.” “It really is a fantastic source of information for the price.” “…genuine social history matters inside… causing me to take a fresh look at things.” “The Music Chronicles are brilliant.”

Hope your copy has now arrived. A big year for Madonna, and I note she appears on 67 pages !

The Music Chronicle 1985 The latest book in the highly acclaimed series looks in detail at 1985, documenting the best sellers, the major festivals and tours, the award winners, the films and television shows, the technological developments, the industry’s financials, the headline news stories and the unlikely trivia which go together to create the vibrant and diverse British music scene. Across 285 pages, The Music Chronicle 1985 presents over 200 lists, graphics and short articles collecting everything you need to know about the British music scene and its place in music history. In time for the 40th anniversary, The Music Chronicle 1985 shines a spotlight on Live Aid, Madonna, Brothers In Arms, Bruce Springsteen, Wham! in China, Paul Hardcastle, Go West, Kate Bush, Austrian music, Ashford & Simpson, Miami Vice, Phil Collins, rotoscope videos, Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards, Simon Le Bon's sailing adventures, Phyllis Nelson, Cowpunk, Jennifer Rush, Aled Jones, The Glasgow Apollo, The Damned, 80s Supergroups, Tears For Fears, pirate radio, Orinoco Studios, Go Go music, the worst singles of the 1980s, The Filthy Fifteen, Meat Loaf, The Heartbreakers, Modern Talking, Rock In Rio, and much more, in this entertaining, informative and detailed book. Who were the best selling songwriters and producers of 1985 ? Which tours and festivals attracted the most attention ? What were the critics’ favourite albums of the year ? What were the biggest American hits that failed to chart in the UK ? What were the biggest British hits abroad ? Which artists sold more records in 1985 than they did in any other year ? Which artists benefited the most from Live Aid ? Who had a hand in 27 hit records during 1985 ? Who set a new speed record for having singles peak at each of the top five positions on the chart ? How many weeks was Brothers In Arms at number one around the world ? Which hit single used lyrics that could be 3,000 years old ? How did Paul Hardcastle contribute to the creation of Pop Idol ? Which band had to reschedule a concert because the BBC needed the Hammersmith Palais to film Come Dancing ? Who was in court accused of plagiarising themselves ? Given the assembled talent, which supergroups could be judged the biggest failures ? All of these questions are answered amongst the wealth of information that builds to tell the complete story of popular music in 1985.