The UK Compilation Chart is a
record chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include r ...
based on sales of multi artist
compilation albums
A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for re ...
in the United Kingdom. It is compiled weekly by the
Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
(OCC), and each week's Top 40 is published online on the official websites of the OCC (Top 100),
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
and
MTV, and in the magazines ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' (Top 20) and ''
UKChartsPlus
''UKChartsPlus'' is an independent weekly newsletter about the UK music charts. It was first published in September 2001 as ''ChartsPlus'' in order to authoritatively record the official music chart information in the United Kingdom, as compiled ...
'' (Top 50).
Though only accredited to compiling multi-artist compilation albums, the chart compiles all full-length various artist releases, not only when it involves a traditional compilation album of old recordings, but even when it's an original
studio album by "various artists", whereby all the recordings are new. This is the case for example in motion picture
soundtrack albums.
History
TV-advertised hits compilations had been established in the United Kingdom since
K-Tel
K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...
's ''
20 Dynamic Hits'' in 1972, but following the December 1983 release of the first album in the ''
Now That's What I Call Music
''Now That's What I Call Music!'' (often shortened to ''Now!'') is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music ( Universal/Sony Music) which began in 1983. Spinof ...
'' series, compilation albums featuring various artists reached a new level of popularity in the UK during the mid to late 1980s.
As a result of their dominance over the UK Albums Chart, releases from various artists were excluded from the main UK album chart from 14 January 1989.
Instead, they were compiled in the newly created UK Compilation Chart. This meant albums such as ''
Now That's What I Call Music! 13'' and ''
The Hits Album 9'', which had charted into the main Albums chart, had to be transferred into the compilations chart as they were still selling strong.
See also
*
List of best-selling compilation albums by year in the United Kingdom
*
List of UK Compilation Chart number ones
References
External links
Compilation Albums Top 40at the
Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
The Official UK Compilation Chartat
MTVUK Top 40 Compilation Albumsat
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
British record charts
{{UK-music-stub