BPI analysis of UK Charts data reveals 50% year-on-year growth for soundtracks

BPI analysis of UK Charts data reveals 50% year-on-year growth for soundtracks
A BPI analysis of the Official Charts Company data was released today and shows a spike in sales of soundtracks spanning TV, film and theatre. These categories have shined especially when it comes to downloads with a 50% increase year-on-year in the first nine months of 2013.

What's impressive about this particular vertical in the market is that it secured the highest digital share of any sector of the albums market, surpassing Urban and Dance albums, with 49.4% of all sales being digital downloads.

Granted, much of that growth in the OST category was due to the movie Les Misérables which sold over 300k copies in the UK this year. Still, there have been other very popular film-related releases this year such as Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained and the Rock of Ages soundtrack.

BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor commented: “Music has been providing the backdrop to some of the most memorable moments in TV and film history for decades."…“Nowadays, with the range of digital services offering music online, movie goers can download or stream a soundtrack on their smartphone or tablet as soon as the credits start to roll.  Apps such as Shazam allow consumers to instantaneously identify the music they are looking for in a matter of seconds keeping the magic of the movies alive long after the popcorn has ended.”

It's interesting to note that not all Soundtracks are made available in full on Spotify. Almost half of the tracks in the Django Unchained Spotify release cannot be played due to licensing restrictions in the UK, whilst version of The Great Gatsby's soundtrack offered on the streaming service only contains 8 tracks versus the 21 of the commercial release. Les Misérables soundtrack instead is available to stream in full.

Here's the chart of the biggest selling soundtracks of 2013 in the UK (year-to-date) as provided by the BPI:

1) LES MISERABLES - MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING
2) THE GREAT GATSBY - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
3) THE MUSIC OF NASHVILLE - SEASON 1 VOL 1 - ORIGINAL TV SOUNDTRACK
4) PITCH PERFECT - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
5) DJANGO UNCHAINED - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
6) THE MUSIC OF NASHVILLE - SEASON 1 VOL 2 - ORIGINAL TV SOUNDTRACK
7) TEEN BEACH MOVIE - ORIGINAL TV SOUNDTRACK
8) ROCK OF AGES - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
9) MAMMA MIA - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
10) DIRTY DANCING - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK