The Official Charts Company have published a list of the biggest selling studio albums of the 21st century.
I love lists like these as it’s great to see how musical tastes have changed over the years. This particular list is a sign of how musical consumption has changed. Of course, the last six years or so has seen a massive move away from purchasing towards streaming. This is reflected by the fact that only eleven of the Top 40 albums have been released since 2010.
Having said that, four of the top five were released in the 2010s. This could be an indicator of how a great album will still sell, but it is possibly more of an indicator of the massive star appeal of Adele and Ed Sheeran who each have two of the top five.
Adele’s 2011 release, 21, has sold 5.1 million copies and is one of the biggest selling albums ever!
I seem to hate current music as they seem to have forgotten the importance of a tune. And the best thing about the albums in the list is that they are full of great tunes. For instance, there’s nothing by Drake on this list – fantastic news.
I’ve never really been someone who buys albums. I tend to like tunes and so have always purchased and streamed singles. My favourite album on the list is Ed Sheeran’s Divide is incredible. Every song could be a single – there are no fillers. I probably have songs from every album on the list (with the exception of Norah Jones(!)
A celebration of the classic dance compilation album of 1995.
1995 was an important year for me. It was the year that I left high school. It was one of the best summers ever, spending lots of time with friends, listening to music, watching TV and doing nothing!
It was the year that I got into dance music in a big way and Kiss In Ibiza ’95 was my favourite album of the autumn as it included my favourite dance songs of the summer.
I bought a copy recently on Discogs and thought it would be fun to celebrate the music on it!
CD1
This is the best CD – most of the best songs are on here.
De’Lacy – Hideaway – one of my favourite songs ever. It still sounds amazing. It needs to be loud so that you get the full effect of that bassline.
Nush – U Girls – A great song – an underrated classic.
N-Trance – Stayin’ Alive – The rapper Ricardo Da Force (probably not his real name) gets a mention. To be fair, he deserves it. This is an unbelievable song. And his rapping is some of the best ever!
Isha D – Stay (Tonight) – An underrated classic. It never actually made the charts. But it is well worth a listen.
Heller ‘n’ Farley Project – Ultra Flava – Classic bar lounge music. It charted the following year twice, in February and in December.
Mary J Blige – Mary Jane (All Night Long) – This was the first time I’d heard of Mary J Blige. The Bottom Dollar House Vocal Edit was the version featured and it is great. The original version is not great.
OT Quartet – Hold That Sucker Down – An absolute monster of a record. It deserved greater chart success. But it is an enduring classic. It charted in 1994 and again in 1995. For some reason it reached Number 45 in 2000 as well. This song is best at full volume.
The Shamen – Destination Eschaton – Not one of my favourites. It’s fine, but it’s one to skip if you have the CD.
Rhythm On The Loose – Break Of Dawn – Catchy vocals and a great tune.
New Order – Blue Monday 95 – The song needs no explanation as everyone knows it. This is a great remix for 1995, twelve years after it was first released.
BT – Loving You More – This was trance before trance was big. Great.
Jinny – Keep Warm – I loved this. I remember hearing it in Mr Smiths in Warrtington and in Valentino’s in Stoke.
Mory Kante – Yeke Yeke – I remember trying to make myself like this. It hasn’t aged well.
Berri – Sunshine After The Rain – I loved this song and then hated it for a while as it was overplayed massively. It is an absolute classic. It was originally released in 1994 when I first loved it. By the time it was re-released in September 1995 (this time just by Berri) it sounded even better somehow.
Liquid – Closer – Not one of my favourites. Diving Faces is THE Liquid song that you want to listen to.
The Original – I Luv U Baby – One of my favourite songs of all time. At the time I remember thinking it was quite unusual to have a male vocal on a dance track. It is such a great song
CD2
There are more songs to skip over on this CD. But there are some absolute classics.
Reel 2 Real – Conway – Conwy is one of my favourite places in the world. Conway is crap.
Junior Vasquez – Get Your Hands Off My Man – Loved this one.
Androgeny featuring Michael M – I could Be this – There was something strangely appealing about this.
Yosh – It’s What’s Upfront That Counts – This is one to skip. Parts of this are really annoying.
Mozaic – Sing It (The Hallelujah Song) – Very catchy. Well worth a listen.
Mary Kiani – When I Call Your Name – Definitely just an album filler.
JX – Son Of A Gun – Another one that was out in 1994 before scoring a re-release in 1995. It’s brilliant. I also loved You Belong To Me and There’s Nothing I Won’t Do if you want to check out JX’s discography.
Gypsy Queens – Everybody Listen – Possibly the weakest song on the whole album. Skip this.
Hi-Lux – Never Felt This Way – I have still not found this song as a single, a download or on any other compilation. It’s such a great song!
BB Club – Play This House – Not my favourite song on the album but it’s not dreadful.
Felix – Don’t You Want Me (Candy Girls Remix Edit) – I love Don’t You Want Me. One of the best dance tracks ever. It was just about ever present in the Nineties. It was released in 1992, and again in 1995. And then it was featured as the soundtrack to the best advert ever in 1996. The Candy Girls Remix is amazing!
Sleazesisters – Let’s Whip It Up – Not good. Skip this one.
Ian Pooley – Rollerskate Disco – Don’t bother with this one.
Shiva – Freedom – Not bad. One of the weaker songs on the compilation. But worth a listen.
Honk – Hullabaloo – One for you to skip past.
Mrs Wood – Joanna – A classic. It was released with a Sash remix two years later.
Xpansions 95 – Move Your Body – Brilliant! Love this remix.
99th Floor Elevators – Hooked – A fantastic song. What a way to end the compilation. Brilliant.
I am really gutted to be hearing that HMV is going into administration again. This time, it will almost certainly be the death of the company.
HMV was my favourite shop. When I was at Chester Uni I used to visit every single week without fail. I’d be looking for the latest CD singles (I’ve never been an albums man.) I’d browse the collection of old singles. Around that time I’d be looking for DVDs of new films and TV series. The Chester store had some white label dance records which I’d look for – even buying a record player to play them.
I could lose hours at a time, exploring the Aladdin’s cave of treasures.
I’d visit less often when I finished Uni but would call in to HMV whenever we saw a store.
Then in 2003 we got broadband and wifi. At this point my CD purchasing slowed down as I moved towards downloading. For a while 7 Digital was my download store of choice. In 2010 I got my first iPhone. From that point on it was iTunes.
In 2007 we started with Sky – specifically so we could watch the third season of Lost. We decided to subscribe to Sky Movies as well. It was at that point that our DVD buying also began to slow down.
By 2010 we were no longer buying CDs or DVDs. Everything would be streamed or downloaded from about that point onwards.
We stopped visiting HMV as we didn’t want to fill the house with more CDs or DVDs if everything could be stored on a device or in the cloud.
I imagine that this is probably a similar pattern to other HMV customers over the years. The business model doesn’t seem to fit with a digital society. The reason for the store’s demise could be due to being taken advantage of by businessmen. But despite that, surely it couldn’t have lasted much longer.
HMV doesn’t feel relevant to the way we consume media these days. So sad. My thoughts are with anyone losing jobs from this.
2018 hasn’t been one of the better years for music. For me it has been a year of celebrating big songs rather than celebrating big artists. The biggest artist of the year has been Drake but I think his music is sh!te. The other big artist has been George Ezra who I think is brilliant! The other big music event has been The Greatest Showman soundtrack. Considering how many times our children have made me play it, it is lucky that I love it!
So, here are the best songs of the year:
Anne-Marie – 2002
I love a bit of nostalgia. So a nostalgic song is therefore great!
Love from Teddie and Jamiee xx
Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato – Solo
Another great song from Clean Bandit. They seem to manage to bring out a corker every year!
David Guetta and Sia – Flames
Like with Titanium and She Wolf, when these two get together the results are magical.
It’s good to see Disclosue back and producing awesome songs.
Dynoro & Gigi D’Agostino – In My Mind
I have loved D’Agostino’s hit Toujours L’Amour since it was first released. I love how In My Mind gives it a new twist.
Freya Ridings – Lost Without You
Every so often a warbly singer pops up with a song that worms its way into your head. Freya Ridings achieved it with Lost Without You. Check out the dance remix.
George Ezra – Shotgun
Probably THE best song of the year. It has become a huge favourite in our house and it will go down as a classic.
Hyde Family Jam – Umbrella
This song is only really here as it is the best song on HFJ’s new album. We saw this covers band in York and loved them. At the time they were performing Havana which was incredible. I ordered their new album which is well worth a listen.
Imagine Dragons – Next To Me and Natural
Two great songs from Imagine Dragons. This band seems to get better and better. These two songs are brilliant!
Janelle Monae – Make Me Feel
This song deserved more success. It is wonderful!
Kaela Settle – This Is Me
I love the song and the message behind it. An absolute classic. I love the Dave Aude and the Alan Walker remixes too. A complete song which will long be with us.
Kylie Minogue – Dancing (Initial Talk Remix)
A great song but the Initial Talk Remix turns it into an 80s classic! (This prompted me to listen to the other Initial Talk remixes which are worth checking out – particularly the Dua Lipa New Rules remix.)
Loren Allred – Never Enough
What a magical song! I’ve heard it 100 times now but it makes me stop and listen every time.
Loud Luxury featuring brando – Body
A good dance tune which doesn’t seem to get old.
LSD – Thunderclouds
Labrinth is back to his best on this fantastic song from Diplo and Sia.
Lukas Graham – Love Someone
A great pop song from the Scandinavian band that brought you 7 Years a couple of years ago.
Matoma featuring Josie Dunne – Sunday Morning
Another song which is going to get lots of listens over the coming years on my iPhone. Another stormer from Matoma.
Pnau – Changes
Good dance tune.
Portugal, The Man – Feel It Still
Yes, I know it came out in 2017, but I didn’t hear it until 2018. A classic.
Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen – These Days
What a monster of a song! Somehow it sounded new and familiar at the same time. An instant classic.
Sigala featuring Paloma Faith – Lullaby
Sigala’s new album is brilliant. This is one of the best songs on it!
Sigala featuring Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor and French Montana – Just Got Paid
Another cracker from Sigala. Most songs with Meghan Trainor on are worth a listen. When you add Ella Eyre you are on to something special. Not sure who French Montana is.
Tom Walker – Leave A Light On (Offset Remix)
A great song made even better in this remix. Fantastic!
Weiss (UK) – Feel My Needs
The best dance song of the year. This is a return to great house songs that were commonplace in the Nineties and early 2000s. We need more like this. As there has been nothing like this our for years, and it is just the kind of tune I like, it is, for me, the best song of the year.
Weiss (UK) – You’re Sunshine
Another classic house track from Weiss. (Why is the UK needed? Is there another Weiss?) Feel my knees.
Young Romantic – Move Time (To Get Loose)
A great dance tune
My Top Five of the year:
1: Weiss (UK) – Feel My Needs
2: George Ezra – Shotgun
3: Matoma featuring Josie Dunne – Sunday Morning
4: LSD – Thunderclouds
5: Rudimental featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen – These Days
During Christmas chart week there has been much written about the way music is consumed. We are certainly in an era of streaming and downloads are barely relevant any more. But this week it has been proved that there might just be life left in the old dog yet, after Ladbaby claimed the Christmas Number One with massive download figures (just 7% of the total sales figure was from streaming). Maybe it proves that with the right promotion and the right song people will still pay to download. Of course, this might all be wrong – it might just be because the song is intended to raise money for charity. Who knows? (The song is crap which means you will probably hear it for years to come in kids’ birthday parties.)
All of this has made me reflect on the way the sales figures are now obtained for the chart. The calculations are very complex these days. In a nutshell, the figures are a combination of downloads, physical sales (albeit very tiny these days), streams and now video plays (YouTube). If a song is brand new or in active promotion its streams count with a full chart ratio (depending on whether they are paid for streams or free). If a song has seen figures decline for three consecutive weeks or if the song is no longer in active promotion then the streams count with the accelerated chart ratio which means they count for less. Have you got your head around that?
Yesterday, whilst waiting for my daughter’s dance show to start, A Million Dreams was played around ten times in a row. These plays will count in some way towards the chart (depending on whether they were being streamed, I guess) and I find that weird that they do.
Back in the day when streams did not count a consumer had to make the choice to purchase the track. I could play it a thousand times in a week but it counted once. Making a purchase comparable with listens is the issue here.
Back in 1991 when Bryan Adams was enjoying his record breaking stint at Number 1, his song was the most purchased each week. But was it always the most listened to? Probably not.
And in 2016 when Drake was at Number 1 for fifteen weeks with the God-awful One Dance, that definitely wasn’t the most purchased song each week.
The other issue I have with streaming is playlists. Songs that I add to my own playlist, are songs that I have chosen to be there. But if I listen to a Top UK songs playlist on Spotify, someone else has put them there. I would argue that those songs shouldn’t count towards the chart because I haven’t made that choice. Someone else has picked that song for me.
I understand the decision to count streaming and video plays on the chart – that is how music is now consumed. But the way they are counted is what bothers me.
Here’s a thought – I don’t know if it would work or not, but I like the sound of it. I think it would work!
How about: if one person plays the song then that counts as one sale for the week? And if the person plays it twice or more then they don’t count any further. This would mean instead of counting streams for the week it would count unique streams for the week.
