Duffy tops Britain's 2008 albums, sales decline

Reuters, Dec 29, 2008 2:00 pm PST
Welsh singer Duffy, a relative unknown a year ago, topped the British album charts in 2008 with "Rockferry," although the overall album market continued to decline this year.

Rockferry, Duffy's debut album which has been nominated for a coveted Grammy award in the Best Pop Vocal Album category, sold 1.69 million copies this year, ahead of Take That's "The Circus" which sold 1.45 million copies.

Also topping the million mark were Kings of Leon, Leona Lewis and Coldplay, according to figures from the Official Charts Company (OCC).

"We haven't done the full analysis yet, but anecdotally the album market is down by about five percent (in 2008)," said Martin Talbot, managing director of the OCC.

The music business is struggling to reverse a steep decline in sales in recent years, blamed mainly on online music piracy and growing competition from other forms of entertainment, notably video games.

In contrast, the UK singles market grew by around 30 percent, Talbot added, boosted by digital downloads. Final figures for 2008 have yet to be released. In the singles chart, the two top-selling acts of 2008 were from the television talent show The X Factor, with the winner Alexandra Burke's debut single "Hallelujah" selling 888,000 copies in all formats.

In second place was charity record "Hero," sung by the X Factor finalists, with sales of 751,000 followed by Duffy's "Mercy" (536,000).

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; editing by Keith Weir)

More Artist News

Coldplay and Duffy lead race for Brit Awards

Feb 18, 2009 10:00 am PST

Soul singer Duffy and Coldplay dominate the nominations for British music's prestigious Brit Awards. Both acts have four nominations, including best British album for Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" and Duffy's debut "Rockferry." Kanye West, Be...

Duffy, Coldplay dominate Brit Awards nominations

Jan 21, 2009 5:00 am PST

Soul singer Duffy and Coldplay dominate the nominations for Britain's prestigious music awards. Coldplay's first album in three years, "Viva La Vida" and Duffy's "Rockferry" are both nominated for the title of best British album at the Br...

Welsh singer Duffy tops U.K. album sales

Dec 30, 2008 1:00 am PST

Welsh singer Duffy has scored the biggest-selling album of 2008 in the U.K. with her debut set "Rockferry," which moved 1.7 million copies, according to the Official Charts Company. The best new artist Grammy nominee's album beat off ...

British singer Duffy a promising newcomer

Jun 6, 2008 3:00 am PDT

Aimee Anne Duffy, who goes by just her last name, is the latest hot young British singer-songwriter with a shot at building a lasting career. Petite but powerful of voice, Duffy sang most of the songs from her debut album "Rockferry" duri...

Welcome to the next British Invasion ... of women

May 13, 2008 9:00 am PDT

Singer Duffy sits next to a clear blue swimming pool on a hotel rooftop patio, the sun setting behind her blond bouffant. She takes a sip of her drink, widens her blue eyes and grins. "Just like the movies!" she exclaims about the setting...

Photos

Loading...
View All Photos »

Videos

1-6 of 8 videos
Prev | Next
View All Videos »