Radiohead's reissued masterpiece OK Computer has been named as the best-selling album in independent record shops since last year's Record Store Day.
According to data released by the Official Charts Company ahead of RSD 2018 tomorrow, the 20th anniversary edition of the band's 1997 classic came out on top ahead of the 50th anniversary special edition of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club by The Beatles. ÷ by Ed Sheeran was in third place, followed by American Dream by LCD Soundsystem at No.4 and Queens Of The Stone Age's Villains at No.5.
The Top 10 was completed by How Did We Get So Dark? by Royal Blood, Rag'N'Bone Man's Human, Liam Gallagher's As You Were, Every Valley by Public Service Broadcasting and Who Built The Moon? by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. The full Top 40 can be viewed here.
Official Charts Company CEO Martin Talbot said: “Our countdown of the biggest selling albums sold by indie record shops highlights the broad range of music which is supported by this thriving sector - from Radiohead and Beatles reissues, to huge mainstream successes by Ed Sheeran and Rag'N'Bone Man via more leftfield releases by the likes of Public Service Broadcasting, LCD Soundsystem and Royal Blood."
The new figures also show that while independent retailers account for 6% of today’s physical albums market, local record shops manage to account for one quarter of 12” vinyl sales, and 53% of the resurgent cassette market, indicating collectability and special limited edition products to be a strong driver of footfall for indie stores.
"The number of independent record shops in the UK have grown by one-third in the past eight years - and are clearly flourishing by selling all kinds of music to the nation’s music fans,” added Talbot.
The top selling female artist in record stores this past year is Courtney Barnett, whose collaborative album with Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice, is at No.13, while Bjork's Utopia finds her in 24th place on the newly unveiled rundown.
Read Music Week's interview with 2018 Record Store Day co-ordinator Megan Page here.
