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Part of a series of articles on British music

BPI • OCC

Charts Singles chart (#1s; Records) Albums chart (#1s) Download chart (#1s)

Awards BRIT Awards • Mercury Prize NME Awards

Periods Pre-1950 • 1950s & 60s 1970s • 1980s 1990s - Present

Origins England • Scotland • Wales • Caribbean

Genres Classical • Britpop • Hip-hop Opera • Rock • Jazz

Major music publications NME • Melody Maker Music Week • Record Collector Record Mirror • Record Retailer Smash Hits • Sounds Q • Kerrang!

Other links Bands • Musicians Festivals • Venues

Timeline 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 2006 • 2007 • (full list)

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The UK Albums Chart is a chart of the sales positions of albums in the United Kingdom. It is formulated by The Official UK Charts Company and a Top 200 published in ChartsPlus (only the Top 100 is counted in data sources). A weekly 'Album Chart' show was licensed out to BBC Radio 2 and presented by Simon Mayo, until it ended on 2 April 2007.

Music albums released as soundtracks for films or TV programmes would usually chart on the compilation chart. But it has now been said that soundtracks can chart on the Official Albums Chart, such as the soundtrack for "Dreamgirls" charted at #1, and Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus.

Though album sales tend to produce more revenue and, over time, act as a greater measure of an artist's success, this chart receives less media attention than the UK Singles Chart. Indeed, in recent years, the album chart has been in good health despite fears that music innovations such as MP3 players would threaten the traditional album. 2005 even saw a record number of artist album sales ^[1], with 126.2 million sold in the UK.

The most successful artists in the charts depends on the criteria used. As of 2005, Queen albums have spent more time on the UK album charts than those of any other musical act ^[2], followed by The Beatles, Elvis Presley and U2. By most weeks at number 1, however, The Beatles lead; by most top ten albums, it is Elvis Presley ^[3]. The longest running number one album, both consecutively and non-consecutively, is the soundtrack of the film South Pacific. It had a consecutive run of seventy weeks from November 1958 to March 1960 (meaning it was number one for the entire year of 1959), and had further runs at the top in 1960 and 1961, making a non-consecutive total of one hundred and fifteen weeks.

To qualify for the UK albums chart the album must be the correct length and price. It must be at least 3 tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album. A budget album costs between £0.50 and £4.24. See The Official UK Chart Company Rules for more details.

1. ^ Blunt boosts record labels' 2005, BBC News, January 6, 2006
2. ^ Queen top UK album charts league, BBC News, July 4, 2005
3. ^ Record Breakers and Trivia : Albums, UK, Every Hit

• UK Singles Chart
• List of number-one albums (UK)

• The Official UK Top 75 Albums
• EveryHit.com - Archive of Top 40 albums

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