FRIDAY night’s spectacular London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, which was directed by Danny Boyle to such memorable effect and drew so strongly on Britain’s musical heritage, has unsurprisingly also had a positive impact on album sales of many of the featured artists, which, on average, have more than doubled over the weekend.
Music retailer, HMV, has looked at sales for the CDs/downloads of many of the artists/albums featured on Saturday night (28/7) and compared these with demand just 24 hours earlier (Friday 27/8).
The results show that the greatest beneficiary by some distance is Mike Oldfield, who performed the title track to Tubular Bells during a key part of the ceremony and has seen an overnight 757 per cent surge in sales of his classic 1973 recording to claim the ‘gold medal position’.
In second spot are Underworld, whose music provided the backdrop to the much-talked about ‘NHS Scene’ and whose Best Of compilation has risen 500 per cent as a consequence.
Making up the winner’s rostrum in third spot, and perhaps a touch ironically given his anti-establishment credentials, is Frank Turner, who performed on the ‘Glastonbury Tor’ stage just ahead of the official opening ceremony and has seen demand for his album, England Keep My Bones, rise 371 per cent on the previous day.
Just outside of the ‘medal positions’ in fourth spot is Dizzee Rascal, while rounding off the top five is Paul McCartney, whose rousing live performance of Hey Jude has seen sales of The Beatles 1 album increase by 268 per cent.
Making up the rest of the top ten in sixth spot are the Sex Pistols, whose iconoclastic God Save The Queen provided an alternative take on the night’s royal proceedings and has helped sales of Never Mind The B*******, Here’s The Sex Pistols rise 166 per cent, while just behind them are the Arctic Monkeys – who performed brilliantly on the night and are up 146 per cent.
Next comes David Bowie, whose iconic Heroes accompanied the entry of TeamGB into the stadium – helps his hits Platinum greatest hits compilation rise 139 percent, and Scot, Emeli Sandé, who performed Abide With Me to such spine-tingling effect and has seen sales of her debut album Our Version of Events pick up 116 per cent.
Finally, and rounding off the top ten of the biggest risers’ list with a 76 per cent rise, is the Vangelis- composed original soundtrack to Chariots of Fire, which was at the heart of the hilarious Rowan Atkinson ‘Mr Bean’ sketch.
The CD for the Isles of Wonder: Music for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, which is already available to download, will be in record shops from Thursday, and is expected to go straight to No.1 in the album charts when the next official UK Charts are announced on Sunday.
HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo comments: “With British music featuring so strongly in such a spectacular opening ceremony watched by tens of millions in the UK and vast numbers world-wide, it was always likely we would see a huge surge in demand for many of the featured artists’ albums – the big question, I guess, was who that was going to be, and now we know.
“Whilst interest in the likes of Macca and Bowie would have been anticipated, I doubt anyone imagined we’d be talking about Mike Oldfield, Underworld and, least of all, Frank Turner as the biggest beneficiaries from the ceremony.”
Top ten biggest artist beneficiaries of the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony (based on percentage increase in album sales: Friday 27/7 – Saturday 29/7).
1. Mike Oldfield / Tubular Bells (757 per cent)
2. Underworld / Best Of (500 per cent)
3. Frank Turner / England Keep My Bones (371 per cent)
4. Dizzee Rascal / Tongue In Cheek (346 per cent)
5. Paul McCartney / Beatles 1 (268 per cent)
6. The Sex Pistols / Never Mind The B*******, Here’s The Sex Pistols (166 per cent)
7. The Arctic Monkeys / Whatever People Say That I Am, That’s What I’m Not (146 per cent)
8. David Bowie / Platinum Collection Greatest Hits (139 per cent)
9. Emeli Sandé / Our Version of Events (116 per cent)
10.Vangelis / Chariots of Fire OST (76 per cent)
Source: HMV
- Ends -
Enquiries
Gennaro Castaldo
HMV Press & PR
gennaro.castaldo@hmv.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7432 2033
+44 (0)7801 194 139
MEDIA RELEASE posted by HMV. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: HMV UK Ltd
Phone: 0207432 2033
Email: gennaro.castaldo@hmv.co.uk
