Glastonbury factor boosts Jay-Z sales
Jay-Z caused such a stir at this year’s Glastonbury Festival that sales of his album by a music chain have enjoyed a near five-fold increase.
The New York rap star was the controversial choice for the top Saturday night slot.
But HMV said its sales figures suggested he was the “clear winner” of the artists who performed at Glastonbury – with up to five of his previous singles set to re-enter the charts.
The multi-platinum selling 38-year-old answered his critics with a show-stealing performance full of swagger and bombast, which Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis described as a “triumph”.
Many – including Oasis’ Noel Gallagher – believed the hip-hop artist did not belong at the traditionally rock-based festival.
But Jay-Z’s acoustic “tribute” performance of 'Wonderwall' may have helped Oasis’ 'What’s The Story (Morning Glory)' register an 18% pick up in sales, while the single 'Wonderwall' is likely to re-enter the Official UK Singles top 200 this Sunday, HMV said.
The crowd roared with laughter as the show opened with a clip of Gallagher voicing criticism of Jay-Z’s performance, before the rapper bounded onto the stage to perform a satirical cover version of the Oasis hit single.
HMV monitored album sales of the key featured artists at the festival at stores and on its website hmv.com on CD/vinyl and via download formats during the festival itself and in the immediate aftermath.
It compared the figures with the same period the previous week.
A spokesman for HMV said the impact is further underlined by up to five of Jay-Z’s previous singles releases being set to re-enter the Official UK Charts this coming Sunday as fans continue to download them.
Leading the way is his track '99 Problems', which could well make the top 30 this weekend, HMV said.
This is followed by 'Numb/Encore' (recorded with Linkin Park), 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Version)', 'Big Pimpin’' and 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder'.
Jay-Z is also the headline act at the O2 Wireless Festival in London’s Hyde Park tonight.
HMV admitted its calculations were “slightly crude” and some artists/album sales start from a relatively low base, which can give a dramatic look to any increase, but it said its list of the top 10 biggest increases gave a flavour of which artists caused the biggest stir at this year’s festival.
HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo said: “Using this slightly crude basis, the clear winner has been Jay-Z, who stole the show with his Saturday night headline performance, and had registered a near five-fold increase in sales of his 'The Black Album' recording.”
New York psychedelic electro rockers MGMT saw sales of 'Oracular Spectacular' increase by nearly 200% at HMV, and the band are set to rise from last week’s 32 chart placing to a top 20 position this weekend.
Vampire Weekend also made the HMV top 10 list with a near 50% pick up in sales of their self-titled debut album, and like MGMT, the band looks like making the top 20 this weekend when the new UK Official Album chart is announced.
Duffy saw sales of her 'Rockferry' album show a further healthy rise (163%).
Other artists to benefit from the Glastonbury effect include Editors (134%), The Verve (123%) and Kings Of Leon (78%), HMV said.
Amy Winehouse’s 'Back To Black' registered a 74% pick up, while Neil Diamond’s sales of his hits album 'The Best Of' increased by half as much again on the previous week (51%).
Mr Castaldo said: “With the huge amount of media coverage that it now enjoys, combined with the immediacy of purchasing music these days, the Glastonbury effect on artist sales appears more pronounced than ever before.
“The choice of Jay-Z to headline may have been a controversial one with some commentators, but it seems that the fans who were there or watched his performance on TV loved it, and we’re seeing some noticeable increases in sales of his albums and downloads at HMV as a result.”
