Obviously it was all to get the message across, and it seems a bit churlish to mention but LIVE 8 has had several inadvertent beneficiaries – namely the artists who played it.
As with the 1985 Live Aid, those bands that took part on July 2 have experienced a “chart bounce” that has seen their album sales leap up in the immediate aftermath of the concert.
Keeping tabs on the artists who played in Hyde Park, HMV has revealed that fans rushed to the shops yesterday (July 3) to purchase albums of the likes of Pink Floyd, Robbie Williams and Libertines, all of whom have seen their sales leap up.
The only person not to benefit from the Live 8 effect seems to be Pete Doherty, however with no [/a] album available this is based on [a]’ sales, which have fallen.
Also Coldplay have only recorded a modest increase, but according to the music retailer, that’s because they’ve been shifting loads of albums for the last few weeks and still sold more albums than anyone else yesterday.
According to HMV the Live 8 artists have seen their album sales increase by the following percentage:
1. Pink Floyd ‘Echoes – Best Of’ – 1343%
2. The Who ‘Then & Now’ – 863%
3. Annie Lennox ‘Eurythmics Greatest Hits’ – 500%
4. Dido ‘Life for Rent’ – 412%
5. Razorlight ‘Up all Night’ – 335%
6. Robbie Williams ‘Greatest Hits’ – 320%
7. Joss Stone ‘Mind, Body & Soul’ – 309%
8. Sting ‘Greatest Hits’ – 300%
9. Travis ‘Singles’ – 268%
10. Madonna ‘Immaculate Collection’ – 200%
11. Scissor Sisters ‘Scissor Sisters’ – 174%
12. Mariah Carey ‘Greatest Hits’ – 170%
13. Snoop Dogg ‘Rhythm & Gangsta’ – 166%
14. The Killers ‘Hot Fuss’ – 131%
15. U2 ‘Best Of: 1990 – 2000’ – 116%
16. Elton John ‘Greatest Hits 1970 – 2002’ – 111%
17. Keane ‘Hopes & Fears’ – 101%
18. The Beatles ‘Number 1s’ – 71%
19. Snow Patrol ‘Final Straw’ – 69%
20. REM ‘Reveal’ – 50%
21. Stereophonics ‘Language, Sex, Violence, Other’ – 36%
22. Coldplay ‘X&Y’ – 3%
23. The Libertines ‘Up The Bracket’ -35%
The Live 8 effect is expected to continue as the week goes on, with HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo explaining: “This snapshot still shows that, like its predecessor 20 years ago, the Live 8 concert is having a marked effect on sales of featured artist recordings. It’s likely this impact will become more pronounced throughout the week.”