The UK Independent Singles Breakers Chart and the UK Independent Album Breakers Chart are

music chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

s based on UK sales of singles and

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records col ...

released on

independent record labels An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

by musical artists who have never made the UK top 20. It is compiled weekly by the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...

(OCC), and is first published on their official website on Friday evenings. The chart was first launched on 29 June 2009, and, according to Martin Talbot, managing director of the OCC, would have benefited acts such as

Friendly Fires Friendly Fires are an English indie rock band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently signed to XL Recordings. Their self-titled debut album was released on 1 September 2008, and was announced as one of the shortlisted twelv ...

and Grizzly Bear.

History

The UK Indie Breakers Chart runs alongside the similar

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...

. The UK Indie Chart was created in 1978 by Cherry Red Records founder Iain McNay, and, like the breakers chart, lists only albums and singles released by independent record labels in the UK. Until June 2009, a single was classed as "indie" if it was shipped by a distribution service that was independent of the four major record companies:

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. Following discussion at the 2008 annual general meeting of the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

, this definition was altered to include only releases from labels that were at least fifty per cent owned by a record company that was not one of the main four. This prevented major record companies from qualifying for the chart by outsourcing the shipping of their singles and albums to smaller distribution services. At the same time, the UK Indie Breakers Chart was also unveiled, with the objective that it would allow acts signed to independent labels to "reach the broader public". Any single or album released by an independent label can quality for the breakers charts, provided that the artist has never previously had a Top 20 hit in the mainstream charts. The new indie charts went live on 29 June 2009; at the time, sales from independent labels contributed towards approximately a fifth of sales of albums and singles in the UK. The new charts were received positively by McNay, who remarked that they would, once again, "be genuinely independent charts which can help measure the success of, and promote independent records". Stewart Green, commercial director of the independent record company

Beggars Group Beggars Group is a British record company that owns or distributes several other labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings and Young. History The companies’ roots stem from the Beggars Banquet record shops, whi ...

also praised the new charts. He stated: "This will provide a fascinating snapshot of those slow-burners that do not achieve instant success but sell consistently well over a period of time." Allison Schnackenberg of

Southern Records Founded 1992 by John Loder, Southern Records is an independent record label (Loder also ran the recording facility Southern Studios). It is based in London and until 2008 had offices in the United States, France and Berlin. The label is close ...

was more critical, remarking that the "fifty per cent or more" rule was "blurring the lines to the point that the word 'independent' will be meaningless to the general public".

References

External links

Independent Albums Breakers
at the

Independent Singles Breakers
at the

{{UK Music Charts British record charts

History

See also

References

External links