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Elvis Sales In UK

January 12, 2011 | Other

A Top 100 of 2010 best selling artists is published in the UK. We can find Elvis on #40 with 365,344 sold albums, an impressive result for an artist who is gone since 1977. When we make a quick calculation from the official numbers, we get a total of 10,089,575 albums between 1984-2010, these are UK figures only! 

Source:ElvisMatters
Tony C wrote on January 12, 2011
People in the UK are well known for their loyalty to their favourite stars, many artists whose careers have waned in their own countries still have a huge following here.
samcra wrote on January 12, 2011
I agree 100 % !
MickeyN wrote on January 13, 2011
On another thread people were questioning Elvis' current popularity; in that context, these stats are incredible!
Lou A wrote on January 13, 2011
TonyC, Artists like Duane Eddy, Jack Scott, Charlie Gracie and the Collins Kids tour there regulrly. Duane Eddy just did a sell out tour and has a new album out soon there. Back in the dark days of Elvis colecting in the early 80's, the UK lead the movement to get RCA to release quality Elvis Product. So you went from Elvis Sings For Children to things like he decade box sets and the Essential Elvis series. I'm actually surprised that Elvis sales aren't even greater there during the 75th birthday celebration, bur nice numbers anyway.
Tony C wrote on January 13, 2011
Lou is right, Roger Semon was the man in the UK who pushed for better record releases and better quality tapes than those that were being sent overseas for compilations. The first indication that he meant business was the release of exclusive out-takes on "The EP Collection" sets, which lead to the "Essential Elvis" series and his work with Ernst. I'm not sure that Roger has ever had the credit he deserved. Regarding sales figures, I think the main problem now is illegal downloads. I still buy CDs because I like to own and collect the actual items, but many others I know just go online and download the MP3s. This is not just for Elvis, but all artists. People say how great it is to be able to get this music straight away and for free, but at what cost? If the music industry does not get paid, how can they continue to find new talent or spend money on producing archive releases?
Steve V wrote on January 13, 2011
This is nice news, but this other news is very disturbing: Sony To Close CD Factory: Sony the company that brought us the Walkman plans to shut down a CD-manufacturing plant in southern New Jersey in March. About 300 employees will be laid off once the 50-year-old Sony DADC plant in Pitman, N.J., is closed. Sony said it plans to shift CD-making operations to a facility in Indiana. The music CD is fast becoming a relic. The emergence of digital music and music players, as well as the rise of illegal file sharing, helped to hasten the demise of the CD as the main music distribution format. According to Nielsen SoundScan, U.S. music sales fell 2.4 percent last year and digital track sales grew only 1 percent to 1.17 billion. But CD sales fared far worse. When it came to albums, sales of both newer CDs and catalog titles dropped by 16 percent and 23 percent respectively--these two categories also saw double-digit losses the previous year, according to the LA Times.The plant closure is just another sign that physical media's days are numbered. Sales will keep dropping. Not sure what this means for the future of Elvis cds.
Tony C wrote on January 13, 2011
It's always sad to hear that factories are closing and people are losing their jobs, it is an awful situation. I think we will continue to get Elvis CDs for as long as we are prepared to still buy them. There will always be a certain demand for physical product by collectors, which the FTD releases are geared towards. It is not just the thrill of having the music, a big part of the enjoyment is the packaging, especially in the case of the 7" releases. If the next classic album release was made available to download from Sony as MP3s and the booklet in a PDF file, would many of us choose that over CDs? Probably not. I think the shift away from CDs will affect younger artists, many whose fans do not appear to understand the concept of having to pay for music.
benny scott wrote on January 14, 2011
I'm really thrilled by the excellent sales figures in the UK !!! That's great ! And yes Tony C , you're right : Britsh fans are very loyal to their musical heroes even if they waned in their own countries . Lou A is right too by giving us some names of still popular artists . I'd like to add 2 more names: I'm sure Slim Whitman , who is probably not performing anymore, (correct me if I'm wrong, one is never too old to learn) is still very much loved in the UK, and so is probably Jim Reeves (who passed away in 1964 !!!). Steve : that's a not so good news about a CD factory being closed in the near future ! People losing their job(s) is always awful. Is it really that bad about CDs not being sold in huge quantities in the USA anymore ? Living in the USA makes you a person who is without any doubt aware of what is happening . The cause(s) for CD-decline you mentioned are visible here in Europe too, but I have the impression it's not going that fast as in your country . Here in Belgium, even in my home town Bruges, which is a small town in comparison with the USA and UK cities, there are 2 very large stores ( Saturn and Media Max) where you still can buy and/or order CDs . They have THOUSANDS CDs in stock, and believe me,I'm really not exagerating , I go there amost weekly and see with my own eyes that many, many CDs are still being bought, in spite of downloading, which is of course happening on a large scale too. So I wonder what the future will bring (if I live long enough !) Take care guys . Always El.
Tony C wrote on January 14, 2011
Benny's mention of Slim Whitman gives me the chance to tell a little Elvis related story. He did a final UK tour in 2002 before going into retirement and I saw his show at the Croydon Fairfield Hall. I had a seat in the second row, but right over to one side and there was an empty seat beside me. As soon as the lights went down, a man with a pass around his neck came out of the door leading backstage. I recognised him straight away, it was Gordon Stoker of The Jordanaires and he sat in the empty seat next to me! He stayed there during the whole to the show but left during the last song, so I did not get the chance to speak to him. Slim Whitman obviously played a part in Elvis' early career, he was the headline act in Memphis in 1954 at Elvis' first big concert appearance.
John4126 wrote on January 14, 2011
Contrary to many on here I download most of my music. Would love the opportunity to download specific FTD tracks that I don't have rather than buying the same stuff again at an expensive price. A life in music and recording sessions give me all the info I need and as most pics used familiar the booklets are not essential to me.
FM wrote on January 14, 2011
I would rather have the physical CD in my hand than download it.
Steve V wrote on January 14, 2011
Benny yes it is true. CDs sales are dead here in the USA. The big store that went out of business by me was no surprise. On a typical Saturday afternoon there were maybe 4 customers in it at any given time. In New York City most of the stores have closed also. There is still one downtown but they also sell TVs & computers so they will probably survive. Sad note, last fall Jerry Lee Lewis did an in store appearance to promote his new CD Mean Old Man at a Best Buy store (an electronic chain which also happens to sell CDs & DVDs!). It was a nice crowd, but 4 years before he did an one at a CD store to promote Last Man Standing and it was wall to wall people. Sign of the dreaded times I guess.
Tony C wrote on January 14, 2011
That is very interesting, Steve, things appear to be very different in the US to that in Europe. I spend about ten months of the year in England and the other two in Finland, CDs appear to still be in reasonable demand in both places. In London we still have the two huge HMV shops stacked with thousands of CDs and all of the supermarkets have large CD sections. Both are losing out to online retailers like Amazon, but that still involves people buying CDs. In Finland, the supermarkets have large music sections and there are still individual music retailers. Obviously things are much worse in the US. Thanks for the info, Steve, it is always nice to hear how things are in other countries.
Steve V wrote on January 14, 2011
Tony our HMV stores in New York have closed. You are likely to find more CDs in supermarkets than anywhere else. Sad indeed.
Brian Quinn wrote on January 14, 2011
HMV are closing 60 of their stores in the UK. Pundits are saying that the CD could be gone as soon as 2015.
Tony C wrote on January 15, 2011
I think HMV overstretched themselves when they opened small branches in every town in the UK, prior to that they just had big sops in the major cities. They probably thought that they would pick up the business left over from the demise of the Our Price chain, but the reason that Our Price went was lack of business. The newspapers love to predict the death of music formats, but I don't think that CD is quite as near death as they say. I think there will always be a certain demand for CDs, as there still is for vinyl. Who would have thought we would still be having vinyl releases in 2011? Not me, I thought the vinyl edition of the fifties box was the last one we would get and that was nearly twenty years ago.
benny scott wrote on January 15, 2011
Steve,Tony,Brian : interesting to read how things are changing rapidly, but with a difference from country to country.In Belgium a lot of individual retailers had to close, luckily there are still large stores having lots of CDs in stock, but like Steve wrote, those stores sell also DVDs, computers, TVs, amplifiers, speakers, a.s.o. As for the Elvis sales here : I haven't the slightest idea, figures are really unknown and are not published at all, but I have my doubts ! Some weeks ago I saw the Viva Elvis was in stock and I counted the number of them : 12 in stock!. Last week I went back to purchase an Eddie Cochran CD. I checked the VIva's ..... 2 (two !!!) had been sold in +/- 1 month !!! That's sad indeed. So after all I'm glad we have the FTD-label releasing some good stuff of our man. Thanks guys for the info ! Oh, I almost forgot : Tony, you saw and heard Slim Whitman live, sitting next to Gordon Stoker ? You lucky devil !!! Good for you ! Always El.
Brian Quinn wrote on January 15, 2011
During March, 2007, music TV Channel VH1, in collaboration with the Official UK Charts Company, unveiled the 50 best selling male acts in chart history on their show 'The Nation's Favourite #1 Men'. Those eligible had to be male (solo or group) with more than one #1 single to their credit. Only single sales for artists #1 records were eligible. The King reigns, outselling all other artists to claim the coveted title of the UK's favourite having accumulated 21 #1's and selling 10,311,196 singles. Even if women were eligible then the top 3 would have remained the same. Further, whilst some of these positions may have changed, again the top 3 have not. Here is the full top 10. 1 Elvis Presley 2 The Beatles 3 Cliff Richard 4 Westlife 5 Shadows 6 Take That 7 Rolling Stones 8 Oasis 9 Elton John 10 Michael Jackson
Fortis wrote on January 17, 2011
Interesting indeed. But, are there any overall general European sales figures available from BMG/Sony?? Also USA, Asian, Latin Americazn & Aussie figures ??