A new chart rundown which will be based entirely on sales of albums sold in independent record shops will be launched this Friday (April 17th).
The chart will be counted down by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6Music from 5pm this Friday, and will then subsequently be announced each week as usual on every Sunday on the Official Charts Company’s official website.
“Independent record shops are more important than ever in helping introduce music fans to new, interesting music, so we are delighted to be working with the Record Store Day team to launch this chart,” Official Charts Company Managing Director Martin Talbot has said.
The news is another boost for independent record shops, who are set for another bumper day on April 21st when this year’s Record Store Day is held. The initiative’s organiser, Spencer Hickman, has welcomed news of the new chart, remarking:
“Record Store Day is a world-wide celebration of record shops and their unique position that they have in their local community. The idea of the Official Record Store Chart is to take Record Store Day and keep it in people’s minds throughout the whole year. It will give a true representation of physical sales across all the indie stores up and down the country.”
Here’s the chart’s list of the biggest independent record shop album sales of 2012 so far.
1. Lana Del Rey – ‘Born To Die’
2. Leonard Cohen – ‘Old Ideas’
3. Adele – ’21’
4. Bruce Springsteen – ‘Wrecking Ball’
5. The Black Keys – ‘El Camino’
6. Enter Shikari – ‘A Flash Flood Of Colour’
7. First Aid Kit – ‘The Lion’s Roar’
8. Mark Lanegan Band – ‘Blues Funeral’
9. Emeli Sande – ‘Our Version Of Events’
10. The Maccabees – ‘Given To The Wild’