Physical Bandcamp sales no longer excluded from UK chart rankings

Sales of physical music made on Bandcamp are set to be counted towards UK chart positioning after e-commerce and fulfilment specialists The Pack Smart Group secured the ability to report to the Official Charts Company (OCC). 

According to Music Week, physical Bandcamp sales were previously only counted towards chart rankings in the UK if the buyer also purchased an album digitally. However, all sales from The Pack Smart Group's clients can now be reported to the OCC.

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“For years, artists selling physical formats through Bandcamp have known that a large proportion of those sales were effectively invisible when it came to the UK charts,” The Pack Smart Group's business development director Seánna Holland says.

“That disconnect has been frustrating for artists and their teams, because the fans were there and the purchases were real, but they weren’t always reflected in the charts," she continues. 

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“Being able to report those sales feels like a really positive step for the independent sector and it ensures that when fans support an artist directly, it genuinely counts.”

A report published by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) earlier this year revealed that UK physical music sales reached £368.1 million, an increase of 11.% from 2024; music downloads however, saw a decline of 3.5% to £39.9 million

[Via: Music Week]

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