List of UK Album Downloads Chart number ones of the 2000s

The UK Album Downloads Chart is a weekly music chart that ranks the most downloaded albums in the United Kingdom. During the 2000s, the chart was compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British music industry, and was based solely on Sunday-to-Saturday sales of non-subscription music downloads from selected online stores.[1] The most successful artist of the decade was the British band Snow Patrol, who spent eight weeks at number one with their albums Eyes Open and A Hundred Million Suns. The record label that spent the most weeks at number one was Island Records – with an artist roster that included Florence and the Machine, Amy Winehouse and Keane, Island spent 22 weeks at number one with nine different albums.

Colour photograph of Snow Patrol performing live in 2009.
Snow Patrol spent eight weeks at number one on the UK Album Downloads Chart during the 2000s, more than any other artist.

Before the advent of music downloads, only sales of physical formats—such as CD, vinyl and cassette tape—contributed towards positions on the UK music charts. The first chart to record sales of downloads was the UK Singles Downloads Chart, which was launched in September 2004 to list weekly sales of single downloads.[2] Downloaded singles were growing considerably at this time, rising ten-fold in the first half of 2005 compared to the same period in 2004.[3] As single downloads grew in popularity, so did album downloads[4] – 1.8 million albums were downloaded in 2005; a further 825,000 were downloaded during the first three months of 2006.[5][6]

As a result of this growth, on 9 April 2006 the OCC began to include download sales alongside physical sales when compiling the UK Albums Chart.[7] That same day, the OCC also launched a dedicated weekly chart based solely on sales of album downloads in the UK. Approximately 64,000 albums were downloaded during the week of the chart's launch, of which just under 2,000 were of This New Day by the British band Embrace, the chart's first number one.[8][9] By the end of 2006 nearly 2.8 million album downloads had been purchased, which comprised 1.8% of the total album sales.[10] The following year the UK's online music revenue grew to 42.1 million, which made the nation Europe's largest consumer of online music.[11] By the end of the decade over 25 million albums had been downloaded and the market comprised 12.5% of total album sales.[12] Following Embrace, a further 99 artists topped the chart; fifteen did so with two albums. Including original soundtracks and compilations, a total of 121 albums reached number one during the 2000s. As of February 2015, the UK Album Download Chart continues to be published each week by the OCC.[13]

Number-one albums

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Key
No. nth album to top the UK Album Downloads Chart
re Return of an album to number one
Most-downloaded album of the year[8]
Contents
2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010s →
No. Artist[a] Album[a] Record label[a] Reached number one
(for the week ending)[a]
Weeks at
number one[a]
2006
1 Embrace This New Day Independiente 15 April 2006 1
2 The Streets The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living 679/Locked On 22 April 2006 1
3 Shayne Ward Shayne Ward Syco 29 April 2006 1
4 Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere Warner Bros. 6 May 2006 1
5 Snow Patrol Eyes Open Fiction 13 May 2006 1
6 Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium Warner Bros. 20 May 2006 1
re Snow Patrol Eyes Open Fiction 27 May 2006 2
7 Zero 7 The Garden Atlantic 10 June 2006 1
8 The Feeling Twelve Stops and Home Island 17 June 2006 1
9 Keane Under the Iron Sea Island 24 June 2006 3
10 Muse Black Holes and Revelations Helium 3/Warner Bros. 15 July 2006 2
11 Razorlight Razorlight Vertigo 29 July 2006 2
12 James Morrison Undiscovered Polydor 12 August 2006 2
13 Christina Aguilera Back to Basics RCA 26 August 2006 1
re Snow Patrol Eyes Open Fiction 2 September 2006 3
14 Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds Jive 23 September 2006 1
15 Scissor Sisters Ta-Dah Polydor 30 September 2006 2
16 The Killers Sam's Town Vertigo 14 October 2006 2
re Razorlight Razorlight Vertigo 28 October 2006 1
17 Robbie Williams Rudebox Chrysalis 4 November 2006 1
18 Amy Winehouse Back to Black Island 11 November 2006 1
19 Damien Rice 9 Heffa/14th Floor 18 November 2006 1
20 George Michael Twenty Five Aegean 25 November 2006 1
21 Oasis Stop the Clocks Big Brother 2 December 2006 1
22 Take That Beautiful World Polydor 9 December 2006 5
2007
re Amy Winehouse Back to Black Island 13 January 2007 3
23 The View Hats Off to the Buskers 1965 3 February 2007 1
24 Norah Jones Not Too Late Blue Note 10 February 2007 1
25 Mika Life in Cartoon Motion Casablanca/Island 17 February 2007 3
26 Kaiser Chiefs Yours Truly, Angry Mob B-Unique/Polydor 10 March 2007 1
27 Arcade Fire Neon Bible Sonovox 17 March 2007 1
28 Joss Stone Introducing Joss Stone Relentless/Virgin 24 March 2007 1
re Take That Beautiful World Polydor 31 March 2007 1
29 Kate Walsh Tim's House Blueberry Pie 7 April 2007 1
30 Kings of Leon Because of the Times Hand Me Down 14 April 2007 2
31 Mark Ronson Version Columbia 28 April 2007 1
32 Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare Domino 5 May 2007 3
33 Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight Warner Bros. 26 May 2007 1
34 Maroon 5 It Won't Be Soon Before Long A&M/Octone 2 June 2007 2
35 The Twang Love It When I Feel Like This B-Unique/Polydor 16 June 2007 1
36 Bon Jovi Lost Highway Mercury 23 June 2007 1
37 The White Stripes Icky Thump XL 30 June 2007 1
38 Editors An End Has a Start Kitchenware 7 July 2007 1
39 The Chemical Brothers We Are the Night Virgin 14 July 2007 1
40 Cherry Ghost Thirst for Romance Heavenly 21 July 2007 1
41 The Enemy We'll Live and Die in These Towns Warner Bros. 28 July 2007 1
42 Amy Macdonald This Is the Life Vertigo 4 August 2007 1
43 Newton Faulkner Hand Built by Robots Ugly Truth 11 August 2007 5
44 Hard-Fi Once Upon a Time in the West Atlantic/Necessary 15 September 2007 1
45 Kanye West Graduation Roc-A-Fella 22 September 2007 1
46 James Blunt All the Lost Souls Custard/Atlantic 29 September 2007 1
47 Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace RCA 6 October 2007 2
48 Jack Peñate Matinée XL 20 October 2007 1
49 Stereophonics Pull the Pin V2 27 October 2007 1
50 The Hoosiers The Trick to Life RCA 3 November 2007 1
51 Britney Spears Blackout Jive 10 November 2007 1
52 Eagles Long Road out of Eden Polydor 17 November 2007 1
53 Leona Lewis Spirit Syco 24 November 2007 2
54 Kylie Minogue X Parlophone 8 December 2007 1
re Leona Lewis Spirit Syco 15 December 2007 1
55 Led Zeppelin Mothership Atlantic 22 December 2007 1
56 Michael Bublé Call Me Irresponsible Reprise 29 December 2007 1
2008
re Leona Lewis Spirit Syco 5 January 2008 1
57 Radiohead In Rainbows XL 12 January 2008 2
58 Various artists Clubbers Guide '08 Ministry of Sound 26 January 2008 1
59 Scouting for Girls Scouting for Girls Epic 2 February 2008 1
60 Adele 19 XL 9 February 2008 1
61 Jack Johnson Sleep Through the Static Brushfire/Island 16 February 2008 2
62 The Feeling Join With Us Island 1 March 2008 1
63 Goldfrapp Seventh Tree Mute 8 March 2008 1
64 Duffy Rockferry A&M 15 March 2008 4
65 R.E.M. Accelerate Warner Bros. 12 April 2008 1
66 The Courteeners St. Jude A&M 19 April 2008 1
67 The Kooks Konk Virgin 26 April 2008 1
68 The Last Shadow Puppets The Age of the Understatement Domino 3 May 2008 1
69 Madonna Hard Candy Warner Bros. 10 May 2008 2
70 Pendulum In Silico Warner Bros. 24 May 2008 1
71 The Ting Tings We Started Nothing Columbia 31 May 2008 1
72 Usher Here I Stand LaFace 7 June 2008 1
re Duffy Rockferry A&M 14 June 2008 1
73 Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Parlophone 15 June 2008 5
74 Original soundtrack Mamma Mia! Polydor 26 July 2008 1
75 Various artists Now That's What I Call Music! 70 Virgin EMI/UMTV 2 August 2008 2
re Original soundtrack Mamma Mia! Polydor 16 August 2008 1
76 The Script The Script Phonogenic 23 August 2008 2
77 The Verve Forth Parlophone 6 September 2008 2
78 Glasvegas Glasvegas Columbia 20 September 2008 1
79 Metallica Death Magnetic Vertigo 27 September 2008 1
80 Kings of Leon Only by the Night Hand Me Down 4 October 2008 2
81 Oasis Dig Out Your Soul Big Brother 18 October 2008 1
82 Keane Perfect Symmetry Island 25 October 2008 1
83 Original soundtrack High School Musical 3: Senior Year Walt Disney 1 November 2008 1
84 Snow Patrol A Hundred Million Suns Fiction 8 November 2008 2
re The Verve Forth Parlophone 22 November 2008 1
85 Various artists Now That's What I Call Music! 71 Virgin EMI/UMTV 29 November 2008 1
86 The Killers Day & Age Vertigo 6 December 2008 1
87 Take That The Circus Polydor 13 December 2008 1
88 Various artists Christmas Hits – 80 Festive Favourites Rhino/Sony 20 December 2008 3
2009
89 Michael Jackson King of Pop Epic 10 January 2009 1
re The Ting Tings We Started Nothing Columbia 17 January 2009 1
re The Script The Script Phonogenic 24 January 2009 1
90 White Lies To Lose My Life... Fiction 31 January 2009 1
91 Bruce Springsteen Working on a Dream Columbia 7 February 2009 1
92 Lady Gaga The Fame Interscope 14 February 2009 1
93 Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You Regal 21 February 2009 2
94 The Prodigy Invaders Must Die Take Me to the Hospital 7 March 2009 1
95 U2 No Line on the Horizon Mercury 14 March 2009 1
96 Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted RCA 21 March 2009 1
97 Noel Gallagher The Dreams We Have as Children Big Brother 28 March 2009 1
re Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You Regal 4 April 2009 1
re Lady Gaga The Fame Interscope 11 April 2009 1
98 Doves Kingdom of Rust Heavenly 18 April 2009 1
re Lady Gaga The Fame Interscope 25 April 2009 1
99 Depeche Mode Sounds of the Universe Mute 2 May 2009 1
100 The Enemy Music for the People Warner Bros. 9 May 2009 1
re Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You Regal 16 May 2009 1
101 Green Day 21st Century Breakdown Reprise 23 May 2009 1
102 Eminem Relapse Interscope 30 May 2009 2
103 Paolo Nutini Sunny Side Up Atlantic 13 June 2009 1
104 Kasabian West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum Columbia 20 June 2009 2
105 Michael Jackson Number Ones Epic 4 July 2009 2
106 Florence and the Machine Lungs Island 18 July 2009 6
107 Calvin Harris Ready for the Weekend Columbia 29 August 2009 1
108 Arctic Monkeys Humbug Domino 5 September 2009 2
109 Jamie T Kings & Queens Virgin 19 September 2009 1
110 Muse The Resistance Helium 3/Warner Bros. 26 September 2009 1
111 Dizzee Rascal Tongue n' Cheek Dirtee Stank 3 October 2009 1
112 Paramore Brand New Eyes Fueled by Ramen 10 October 2009 1
113 Mumford & Sons Sigh No More Island 17 October 2009 1
114 Editors In This Light and on This Evening Kitchenware 24 October 2009 1
115 Alexandra Burke Overcome Syco 31 October 2009 1
116 Cheryl Cole 3 Words Fascination 7 November 2009 1
117 Foo Fighters Greatest Hits RCA 14 November 2009 1
118 Robbie Williams Reality Killed the Video Star Virgin 21 November 2009 1
119 Leona Lewis Echo Syco 28 November 2009 1
120 Susan Boyle I Dreamed a Dream Syco 5 December 2009 2
re Various artists Christmas Hits – 80 Festive Favourites Rhino/Sony 19 December 2009 1
121 Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine Epic 26 December 2009 1
Contents
2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010s →

By artist

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Take That were at number one for seven weeks with their albums Beautiful World and The Circus.
 
Florence and the Machine's debut Lungs spent six consecutive weeks at number one, more than any other album.

Twelve artists spent four or more weeks at the top of the UK Album Downloads Chart during the 2000s. The totals below include only credited performances, and do not include appearances on original soundtracks or compilation albums.

Artist Number-one albums Weeks at number one
Lily Allen 1 4
Arctic Monkeys 2 5
Coldplay 1 5
Duffy 1 5
Newton Faulkner 1 5
Florence and the Machine 1 6
Keane 2 4
Kings of Leon 2 4
Leona Lewis 2 5
Snow Patrol 2 8
Take That 2 7
Amy Winehouse 1 4

By record label

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Nine record labels spent eight or more weeks at the top of the UK Album Downloads Chart during the 2000s.

Record label Number-one albums Weeks at number one
A&M Records 3 8
Columbia Records 6 8
Fiction Records 3 9
Island Records 9 22
Parlophone 3 9
Polydor Records 6 14
Syco Music 5 9
Vertigo Records 5 8
Warner Bros. Records 10 12

Download sites

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During the 2000s, the UK Album Downloads Chart was compiled by the OCC using data from the following music download websites:[15]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e The artist, album, record label, date of reaching number one and number of weeks at number one are those given by the OCC.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Official Music & Video Charts Compiled by The Official UK Charts Company". London: The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. ^ "Westlife top first download chart". London: BBC News. 1 September 2004. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  3. ^ Schott, Ben; Cock-Starkey, Claire (2005). "Chapter V. Music & Cinema". In Schott, Ben (ed.). Schott's Almanac 2006 (1st ed.). London: Bloomsbury. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-7475-8307-3. OCLC 62292696.
  4. ^ "Album chart to include downloads". London: BBC News. 7 April 2006. Archived from the original on 10 April 2006. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  5. ^ Bychawski, Adam (7 April 2006). McNicholas, Conor (ed.). "UK album chart to go digital". London: NME. Archived from the original on 9 April 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Morrissey tops merged album chart". London: BBC News. 9 April 2006. Archived from the original on 10 April 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  7. ^ McKenzie, Scott, ed. (10 April 2006). "Morrissey Earns Third No. 1 U.K. Album". Billboard. New York City: VNU Business. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 466385193. Archived from the original on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Adele and Ed Sheeran push digital albums sales over the 100 million milestone". London: Official Charts Company. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  9. ^ Brandle, Lars (22 April 2006). McKenzie, Scott (ed.). "Half a Century Old, Britain's Album Chart Goes Digital". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 15. New York City: VNU Business. p. 8. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 466385193. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  10. ^ "British Stars Dominate as Digital Sales Break 100 Million Barrier" (PDF). London: British Phonographic Industry. 3 August 2012. pp. 1–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  11. ^ Schott, Ben; Cock-Starkey, Claire (2007). "Chapter V. Music & Cinema". In Schott, Ben (ed.). Schott's Almanac 2008 (1st ed.). London: Bloomsbury. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-7475-8469-8. OCLC 271877788.
  12. ^ "Adele and Ed Sheeran UK's biggest digital albums ever – all the stats". Music Week. London: United Business. 3 August 2012. ISSN 0265-1548. OCLC 795955446. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012.
  13. ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". London: Official Charts Company. 2015. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  14. ^ "Top 40 UK Album Downloads Archive". London: Official Charts Company. 2015. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015. (Customise archive search by altering the "change date" setting)
  15. ^ "The Official UK Download Chart: 06.06.2007". London: BBC Radio 1. 6 June 2007. Archived from the original on 12 August 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
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