THE TOP 40 – MID-YEAR

LANA DEL REY’S NORMAN FUCKING ROCKWELL RANKS AS THE YEAR’S TOP ALBUM SO FAR; DUA LIPA RULES IN SALES; STEVIE NICKS REMAINS TOP ARTIST!

2020’S MUSIC INDUSTRY SALES SURPASS 19 MILLION IN JUST SIX MONTHS!

Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell ranks as the most successful album of 2020, while Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia comes out on top in sales.

Lana at No.1: Norman Fucking Rockwell ranks as the most popular album of 2020 so far. The album has spent three non-consecutive weeks at the top spot this year and has yet to leave the Top Ten. Del Rey’s smash has sold 1.01 million copies. It’s the biggest album of 2020 in terms of chart performance, and ranks at No.3 for sales alone.

Rockwell opened at No.1 in September 2019 selling 194,000 copies, kicking off its record-breaking 14 week reign, a number it has since upped to 17 weeks.

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia is the second biggest album of 2020 to date. The album debuted at No.1 in April with 289,000 (the year’s second biggest sales week) and led the chart for eight consecutive weeks. It has yet to leave the Top Five, and has shifted a staggering 1.51 million units since its release.

Selena Gomez’ Rare ranks at No.3 overall, followed by The Weeknd’s After Hours which logged the largest sales week of the year when it was released in March (249,000 copies).

Ariana Grande’s live album K Bye for Now sits at No.5, the most popular album of the year not to top the chart, having peaked at No.2 for six weeks beginning in January.

Four retrospective releases dot the Mid-Year Top Ten, as Stevie Nicks’ compilation Timespace ranks at No.6, Alanis Morrissette’s million-selling The Collection is No.7, Florence + the Machine are at No.8 with How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, and completing the Top Ten is Annie Lennox’ Medusa at No.10.

Sitting at No.9 is Harry Styles’ former No.1 Fine Line.

Million-Sellers: Just through the end of June, three album have sold more than 1 million copies in 2020. An improvement over 2019’s Mid-Year, where 2 albums had topped the 1 million mark.

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia is in a league of its own, having sold a whopping 1.51 million units. Benefiting from its 8-week reign, Future has sold almost half a million copies more than its closest competitors: Alanis Morissette’s The Collection (No.2) with 1.02 million, and Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell (1.01 million).

The Weeknd’s After Hours (971,000) and Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (969,000) complete the Top Five. Both albums should surpass 1 million sales in the coming weeks, meaning 2020 could produce 5 million-selling records. In 2019 there were 6 albums which sold over 1 million units.

2020’s Top 40 Albums – Mid-Year

1. Norman Fucking Rockwell – Lana Del Rey
2. Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa
3. Rare – Selena Gomez
4. After Hours – The Weeknd
5. K Bye for Now – Ariana Grande
6. Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks
7. The Collection – Alanis Morissette
8. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence + the Machine
9. Fine Line – Harry Styles
10. Medusa – Annie Lennox
11. Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos
12. Heart – HEART
13. Lover – Taylor Swift
14. Chromatica – Lady Gaga
15. She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper
16. Glasshouse – Jessie Ware
17. The Whole Story – Kate Bush
18. Diva – Annie Lennox
19. Manic – Halsey
20. Kid Krow – Conan Gray
21. Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS
22. Birdy – Birdy
23. Sweetener – Ariana Grande
24. GIRL – Maren Morris
25. Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks
26. Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple
27. Dedicated – Carly Rae Jepsen
28. Heartbreak Weather – Niall Horan
29. Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams
30. Rock a Little – Stevie Nicks
31. Dancing Queen – Cher
32. A Different Kind of Human – AURORA
33. 25 – Adele
34. Dedicated Side B – Carly Rae Jepsen
35. thank u, next – Ariana Grande
36. 21 – Adele
37. Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
38. Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa
39. A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
40. Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac

TOP 10 ALBUMS (SALES)

1. Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (1,516,000)
2. The Collection – Alanis Morissette (1,029,000)
3. Norman Fucking Rockwell – Lana Del Rey (1,015,000)
4. After Hours – The Weeknd (971,000)
5. Chromatica – Lady Gaga (969,000)
6. Rare – Selena Gomez (664,000)
7. K Bye for Now – Ariana Grande (648,000)
8. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence + the Machine (604,000)
9. Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (598,000)
10. Heart – HEART (593,000)

TOP 10 ALBUMS (CHART POINTS)

1. Norman Fucking Rockwell – Lana Del Rey
2. Medusa – Annie Lennox
3. Rare – Selena Gomez
4. Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks
5. K Bye for Now – Ariana Grande
6. Fine line – Harry Styles
7. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence + the Machine
8. Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos
9. Lover – Taylor Swift
10. She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper

Stevie Nicks again ranks as the top artist; Dua Lipa rules in sales!

Stevie Nicks ranks No.1: Possibly gunning for a fourth straight year as the top artist is Stevie Nicks, raking in over 1.27 million in sales, and charting multiple albums on the Mid-Year Charts.

Chart veterans Lana Del Rey & Ariana Grande are back to back at No.2 and No.3, while Dua Lipa ranks inside the Top Five for the first time at No.4, and Annie Lennox repeats inside the Top Five at No.5.

HEART are at No.6 – the highest-ranking group on the list – followed by chart newcomers Selena Gomez (No.7) and The Weeknd (No.8). Kate Bush ranks No.9 and Lady Gaga completes the Top Ten!

Lipa leads in sales: The top selling artist of 2020 to date, Lipa has sold 1.65 million albums across her two releases, with a massive 1.51 million of that figure coming from her latest LP Future Nostalgia.

Lana Del Rey (1.33 million), Stevie Nicks (1.27 million), Lady Gaga (1.07 million), Alanis Morissette (1.02 million) and Ariana Grande (1.02 million) are the five other artists to have all exceed 1 million sales in 2020.

2020’s Top 40 Artists – Mid-Year

1. Stevie Nicks
2. Lana Del Rey
3. Ariana Grande
4. Dua Lipa
5. Annie Lennox
6. HEART
7. Selena Gomez
8. The Weeknd
9. Kate Bush
10. Lady Gaga
11. Alanis Morissette
12. Florence + the Machine
13. Jessie Ware
14. Harry Styles
15. Taylor Swift
16. Tori Amos
17. Fleetwood Mac
18. Adele
19. Carly Rae Jepsen
20. Cher
21. Cyndi Lauper
22. Halsey
23. AURORA
24. Conan Gray
25. Birdy
26. BTS
27. Maren Morris
28. Hayley Williams
29. Fiona Apple
30. Niall Horan
31. Amy Winehouse
32. Camila Cabello
33. Broods
34. Lorde
35. Celeste
36. Nicki Minaj
37. Troye Sivan
38. Madonna
39. Hailee Steinfeld
40. MARINA

TOP 10 ARTISTS (SALES)

1. Dua Lipa – 1,651,000
2. Lana Del Rey – 1,332,000
3. Stevie Nicks – 1,271,000
4. Lady Gaga – 1,079,000
5. Alanis Morissette – 1,029,000
6. Ariana Grande – 1,027,000
7. The Weeknd – 971,000
8. HEART – 681,000
9. Annie Lennox – 677,000
10. Selena Gomez – 664,000

TOP 10 ARTISTS (CHART POINTS)

1. Stevie Nicks
2. Lana Del Rey
3. Ariana Grande
4. Annie Lennox
5. Kate Bush
6. Jessie Ware
7. HEART
8. Selena Gomez
9. Adele
10. Taylor Swift

MUSIC INDUSTRY SWELLS BY ALMOST 75%!

2nd Biggest Year: From January to June 2020, a total of 19,409,000 albums have been sold, making it the most successful Mid-Year tally to date, and the 2nd biggest year ever, with just 6 months of sales data. The L.dK Chart launched back in March 2017, ceasing briefly between February and August 2018 before resuming: in that time 73.2 million albums have been sold overall.

• *2017: 17.1 million
• *2018: 10.5 million
• 2019: 26.1 million
• 2020: 19.4 million

*- 2017 spanned 44 weeks, March-December *- 2018 spanned 23 weeks, January-February & August-December

19.4 million: The 19.4 million sales figure marks a 73.6% surge from 2019’s Mid-Year Chart, by which time 11.1 million albums had been sold. Broken down, each month of 2020 has become the most successful of its type. January & February saw over 2 million albums sold, while March, April & May each recorded sales of over 3 million. Finally, June marked the fist instance of monthly sales topping 4 million units.

• January – 2.08 million
• February – 2.04 million
• March – 3.43 million
• April – 3.93 million
• May – 3.26 million
• June – 4.65 million

Record Weekly Sales: Four weeks in 2020 have recorded upwards of 1 million sales, helped both by big album releases, and a general uplift in weekly sales since March (due to Covid-19). Since the end of March, weekly sales have fluctuated between 779,000 (11th May) and 1.18 million units (8th June). The biggest sales weeks of the year are as follows:

1. 8th June – 1,182,000
2. 6th April – 1,028,000
3. 20th April – 1,013,000
4. 27th April – 1,001,000
5. 30th March – 958,000
6. 15th June – 926,000
7. 4th May – 907,000
8. 22nd June – 899,000
9. 13th April – 891,000
10. 29th June – 841,000