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BRIT School alumni have sold 65 million records
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 22 September 2011
Alumni of the BRIT School, the Croydon-based arts and music-focused secondary school in part funded by the record industry’s BRIT Trust, have collectively sold 65 million albums worldwide, according to stats published by Music Week to coincide with the college’s 20th anniversary.
The Official Charts Company has confirmed that artists who studied at the school have sold 21 million albums and an additional 19.8 million singles in the UK, while Music Week’s research calculates that worldwide the album sales tally goes up to 65 million. Among the artists to contribute to that number are Leona Lewis, The Feeling, Amy Winehouse, Imogen Heap, Athlete, The Kooks, Katie Melua, Adele, Jessie J and Katy B.
Commenting on the stats, Official Charts Company MD Martin Talbot told CMU: “These new statistics provide clear evidence of the impact of the BRIT School. We have all noticed the emergence of talent from the school, within the charts and at various awards shows – but this is the first time their impact has been assessed in raw sales terms. And the results are incredible”.
Meanwhile Music Week’s Paul Williams added: “It is no easy feat for new artists to sell albums in decent numbers these days, but many of the acts that are succeeding are graduates of the BRIT School. And in a number of instances, as demonstrated by the likes of Adele, Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis, their success has not been restricted to the UK but has happened in every major music territory in the world, which is why the collective album sales of the former students are so high”.
