How many records do you need to sell to get into the UK charts these days?

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Top 20? Or even just the top 40.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:05 (twenty years ago)

Wasn't last week's number 1 a low-seller at about 18,500?

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:09 (twenty years ago)

http://www.the-nacnud.co.uk/otway/hit/index.htm

Theres a chart about this on this page, about how it stood in 2002.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:11 (twenty years ago)

to reach the 40 i think you can need as little as 2000 some weeks these days

― sam telford (phoneybone), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:11 (twenty years ago)

we have music week in the office (somewhere) and someone was reading out just these figures the other day. will try and where it's gone. it was low thousands iirc.

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:16 (twenty years ago)

Hey koogs - I'd be really interested in those figures. Thanks.

And i-tunes downloads are counted, yes? Any other download sources? HMV?

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:17 (twenty years ago)

Thesedays, yes.

But you did say 'records'

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:19 (twenty years ago)

Well I'm old skool Mark, as you know.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:21 (twenty years ago)

there's a bit on answers.com that says the gorillaz got to 22 with 3000 downloads and virtually no physical single sales.

ok, found music week. apparantly they don't list sales for each chart entry but sometimes do in the articles. orson single was #1 last week with 16694 (or 17694 if you believe page 19) (6249 cds, 101 7 inches and the rest downloads)

black eyed peas #3 this week on 17360.
kelly clarkson in at #21 with 5571

(elsewhere in music week they are pushing for 95 year copyrights. 'for the artists'. yeah, right)

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 23 March 2006 10:41 (twenty years ago)

Is Dr C planning an assault on the Top 40?

― Dadaismus, the Male Poster (Dada), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:00 (twenty years ago)

didn't that thing with Gorillaz cause a change in the rules as the Feel Good Inc single wasn't officially released to the shops, yet it was in the charts ..

2000 - aint that much really is it .. gosh ..

― mark e (mark e), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:03 (twenty years ago)

I heard the rule of thumb was 100,000 divided by the actual chart number so #1 100,000, #2 50,000...#40 2,500. Obviously that's changed as the market for singles has collapsed in the past few years.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:05 (twenty years ago)

Taken from "The History of the 45rpm"; During the early years of the Beatles, a record would need to sell in excess of 750,000 copies to reach the coveted number 1 chart position. Such was the decline in this part of the market that by a decade later only 150,000 copies could achieve the same result.

We've come a long way, baby.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:07 (twenty years ago)

You have to consider that albums as recognised today didn't really exist until, what, 1985 on a mass scale? Also the actual choice of records to buy was MASSIVELY smaller - it may be that the same number of physical singles are being bought today just across 500,000 titles as opposed to 50 (I fucking doubt it though).

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:09 (twenty years ago)

I mean 1965, not 1985.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:09 (twenty years ago)

Everyone's agreed on the canonical records of the 60s cos there weren't many records.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:10 (twenty years ago)

Conversely, it took a year for the first beatles album to achieve 500,000 sales. Compare to the Arctic Monkeys' 350,000 in week one.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:10 (twenty years ago)

There were a lot of records in the 60s too

― Dadaismus, the Male Poster (Dada), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:11 (twenty years ago)

Some research reqd. p'raps?

― Dadaismus, the Male Poster (Dada), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:11 (twenty years ago)

I can't remember the precise figures but I'm sure there were more records released between 2000 and 2002 than in the entire decade 1960-1969.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:13 (twenty years ago)

I imagine there were a lot less records released between 1960 and 1964 than between 1965 and 1969

― Dadaismus, the Male Poster (Dada), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:14 (twenty years ago)

**Is Dr C planning an assault on the Top 40?**

Yes. We will be in the top 40 in June-ish, all being well.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:28 (twenty years ago)

Fucking excellent.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:30 (twenty years ago)

"We ..." ?

― mark e (mark e), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:34 (twenty years ago)

It didn't work for the Modern.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:47 (twenty years ago)

.. so don't do what the modern did...

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:49 (twenty years ago)

xxpost

Now, I'm intrigued. First ilxor on TOTP?

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:51 (twenty years ago)

Dr C going for Top 40 ! in 2006 - shocka !

In the 80s The Chameleons, Cactus World News, The Boshoi and That Petrol Emotion - all failed to get top 40 singles

mind you daytime radio 1 was awful - simon bates, steve wright and DLT

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 23 March 2006 11:59 (twenty years ago)

None (See: MySpace.com)

― nancyboy (nancyboy), Thursday, 23 March 2006 12:08 (twenty years ago)

In the '80s the Associates, the Cocteau Twins, the Smiths, the Fall, Public Enemy, Laurie Anderson, Pigbag, Robert Wyatt and Happy Mondays all achieved top 40 singles. Good and bad in everything.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 23 March 2006 12:26 (twenty years ago)

Anyway Fractured in the Top 40 will count for nothing if they're hyped, as opposed to genuine graft and effort e.g. Arctic Monkeys ahem.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Thursday, 23 March 2006 12:29 (twenty years ago)

Me in 3 months: Arctic who?

― nancyboy (nancyboy), Thursday, 23 March 2006 14:03 (twenty years ago)

One record. You just need to sell lotsa copies of it. Thank you. I'm here all week.

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Thursday, 23 March 2006 14:27 (twenty years ago)

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