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Good year for dance and debuts in the UK singles chart
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 31 December 2014
It was a year of pole position debuts and dance music number ones in the UK single charts according to people at the Official Charts Company, who presumably would know. They’re the kings of the counters when it comes to all things popular music, after all.
According to stats from the chart compilers, 2014 saw fourteen singles enter the charts at number one from artists who had never previously appeared in the Top 40. The same number of chart toppers were classified as dance music by the Charts Company, the highest quantity of number ones from the genre in any one chart year ever.
I’m not sure what this tells us. Mainly, I suppose, that the labels still know a few marketing tricks when it comes to scoring number ones for big releases, and those tricks are still working in this here digital, social, streaming age.
Hence continued resistance to the ‘on air on sale’ approach, which aims to reduce pre-release piracy by having tracks available from all channels as soon as they are serviced to radio, but which would hinder label efforts to build hype ahead of official release in order to boost chart position.
And as for the continued popularity of all things Eeeee Deeeee Em, well, people just can’t kick that need for bleep. Which is good news for the bleep makers. Or something like that. I don’t really know what I’m saying here, so I’m just going to hand over to charts chief Martin Talbot.
Here he is: “The Official Singles Chart got people off their feet more than ever before in 2014, thanks to a record number of dance number ones. And, with so many new acts debuting at number ones, it sounded fresher than ever”.
Hmm, I’m not sure he really knows what he’s saying either. I know, let’s have two lists, one of the biggest selling dance number ones of the year, and the other a top ten of artist debut chart toppers, all lovingly compiled by Talbot’s team of pop number fiends. What a joyous way to end 2014.
Top Selling Dance Number Ones Of The Year
1. Clean Bandit feat Jess Glynne – Rather Be
2. Mr Probz – Waves
3. Route 94 feat Jess Glynne – My Love
4. Sigma – Nobody To Love
5. Kiesza – Hideaway
6. Duke Dumont – I Got U
7. Calvin Harris – Summer
8. Lilly Wood & Robin Schulz – Prayer In C
9. Sigma feat Paloma Faith – Changing
10. Calvin Harris feat John Newman – Blame
Top Selling Debut Number Ones Of The Year
1. Mr Probz – Waves
2. Ella Henderson – Ghost
3. Route 94 feat Jess Glynne – My Love
4. Sigma – Nobody To Love
5. Kiesza – Hideaway
6. Sam Smith – Money On My Mind
7. Lilly Wood & Robin Schulz – Prayer In C
8. Ariana Grande feat Iggy Azalea – Problem
9. Sigma – Changing
10. Oliver Heldens feat Becky Hill – Gecko (Overdrive)
