The Official Record Store Chart is a weekly music chart based on physical sales of albums in almost 100 independent

record store A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...

s in the United Kingdom, such as

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade Records, a record label * Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''American Dad!''), an episode of ''American Dad!'' *Rough trade (slang), ...

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

, Jumbo and

Sound It Out In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

. It is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), and each week's number one is first announced on Friday evenings on the OCC's official website. The chart's launch was first announced by the OCC on 17 April 2012 – at the time, British record stores were selling 4.5 million albums per year, and were contributing towards 95 per cent of the country's total vinyl sales. However, music downloads held a considerable share of the albums market, leading to a decline in the number of outlets. In promoting the chart, Martin Talbot, managing director of the OCC, remarked that he could see the benefits to both digital and physical album sales, but that there was "nothing nicer than the smell and feel of a nice chunky vinyl". The Official Record Store Chart was first broadcast by British DJ Steve Lamacq on his eponymous radio programme on BBC 6 Music; the first number one was '' Boys & Girls'', the debut studio album by American band Alabama Shakes. Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade, the label that distributed ''Boys & Girls'', stated that he was "very proud" that his label had achieved this feat. The first Official Record Store Chart was announced on Friday 20 April 2012, five days later than normal, to coincide with the eve of the UK's fourth annual Record Store Day, an international initiative founded to encourage purchases at record shops. Talbot explained that the purpose of the chart was to "help spread the Record Store Day word throughout the year".

Best-selling albums in record stores by year

References

External links

Official Record Store Albums Top 40
at the Official Charts Company {{Use dmy dates, date=May 2020 British record charts

Best-selling albums in record stores by year

See also

References

External links