UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart (currently entitled the Official Albums Chart) is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on Fridays (previously Sundays). It is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 (top 5) and published in Music Week magazine (top 75), on the OCC website (top 100) and in UKChartsPlus magazine (top 200).

To qualify for the Official Albums Chart the album must be the correct length and price. It must be more than three tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album. A budget album costs between £0.50 and £3.75. Additionally, various artist compilations – which until January 1989 were included in the main album listing – are now listed separately in a compilations chart. Full details of the rules can be found on the OCC website.

According to the canon of the OCC, the official British albums chart was the Melody Maker chart from 8 November 1958 to March 1960 (although the Record Mirror published charts from 22 July 1956); the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969; and the Official Albums Chart from 1969 on. In the 1970s the new album chart was revealed at 12:45 pm on Thursdays on BBC Radio 1, and then moved to 6:05 pm (later 6:30 pm) on Wednesday evenings during the Peter Powell and Bruno Brookes shows. In October 1987 it moved to Monday lunchtimes, during the Gary Davies show, and from April to October 1993 it briefly had its own show from 7:00–8:00 pm on Sunday evenings, introduced by Lynn Parsons. Since October 1993 it has been included in The Official Chart show from 4:00 – 5:45 pm on Fridays (previously from 4:00 – 7:00 pm on Sundays). A weekly 'Album Chart' show was licensed out to BBC Radio 2 and presented by Simon Mayo, until it ended on 2 April 2007.

Album

Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, then from 1948 as vinyl LP records played at 33 ¹⁄₃ rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century albums sales have mostly focused on compact disc (CD) and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used in the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl.

An album may be recorded in a recording studio (fixed or mobile), in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to several years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately, and then brought or "mixed" together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation, so as to assist in mixing different takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", allow for reverberation, which creates a "live" sound. The majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones; with each part recorded as a separate track.

Gaon Album Chart

Gaon Album Chart, part of Gaon Music Chart, is a national chart that ranks the best-selling albums, including mini and single albums, in South Korea, provided by the Korea Music Content Industry Association. It has been tracking sales since the beginning of 2010 and launched in February the same year as part of the Gaon Music Chart. The charts are made up of charts tracking domestic album sales, international album sales and a combined overall album sales in weekly, monthly and year-end format.

In February 2011, it published information on both online and offline albums sales of 2010, including a detailed breakdown of online chart data and was the first time that offline album sales was released since 2008 when the Music Industry Association of Korea stopped compiling data.

History

Gaon Music Chart, launched in February 2011, was part of the efforts of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Music Content Industry Association to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts. The chart tracks sales according to online and offline data provided by web-based music providers: Bugs, Olleh Music, Melon, Genie, Cyworld, Monkey3, Daum Music, Naver Music, Mnet and Soribada; and record distributors: LOEN Entertainment, CJ E&M Music and Live, KT Music, Sony Music Korea, Neowiz Internet, Universal Music Korea, and Warner Music Korea.