Photo: Rex USA. Can you hear that? It’s the sound of Miley Cyrus quaking in her rhinestone-encrusted boots. The BBC reports that for the first time in five years, rock music has overtaken pop in the U.K. album sales. Let the popping of champagne corks commence.
According to the BPI, the British Recorded Music Industry, last year's album sales in rock music accounted for 33.8% (compared to pop’s not-too-shabby share of 31%). A little surprisingly, Rod Stewart’s album, “Time,” nabbed the top spot for best-selling rock album, closely followed by the Arctic Monkeys and Bastille.
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Pop is still the golden egg of the singles charts, with a market share of 36.2% against rock’s 21.4%. This makes sense when you think of the stronghold the likes of Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Ellie Goulding have over the radio waves of late.
But, we hope this upswing in album sales for rock is a sign of things to come: Call us old-fashioned (this writer brought "Nevermind" on cassette tape), but nothing beats the pleasure of listening to an entire album all the way through. Not that the latest aural offering from Mrs. Carter isn’t a pretty wonderful, too.
Let us know the last album you bought in the comments section below! Hey, no judgement. (BBC)