Oscars, BRITs push record sales up for winners and performers

Image: AP

With 32.9 million Americans tuning on to the Oscars on the weekend, and 5.4 million Britons viewing the BRITs awards, it was inevitable that audiences would be out hunting down new music that they had experienced.

According to data collectors Nielsen Music, the Oscars pushed up download sales of all the songs which won or which were performed on the night, by 206%.

The impact was immediate: on the night of the event (Sunday in America), the seven songs performed sold 30,000 downloads – up from 10,000 the night before.

The biggest impact was for Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop The Feeling, which he opened the show with. The former #1 song sold 12,000 units on the night, up from 4000 the previous day. It went back into the Top 5 on the US iTunes sales chart.

The three soundtrack and score albums from the 6-time winning La La Land also moved 3000 downloads.

Also enjoying sales lifts were three nominated for Original Song and which were performed – Audition (The Fools Who Dream) and City of Stars from La La Land (both performed by John Legend and later issued as a merged studio version on Apple Music), Sting & & J. Ralph’s The Empty Chair and Auli’i Cravalho & Alessia Cara’s How Far I’ll Go from the Moana soundtrack. So was the original 1967 version of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now which Sara Bareilles sang during the In Memoriam segment.

How these songs will impact on the US charts will be known at the end of the week when the new listings are released.

The BRITs drew an average of 5.4 million when screened on ITV.

Emeli Sandé, who performed on the night and won British Female Solo Artist, saw her Long Live The Angels album jump #28 to #9 after a 146.6% sales lift.

The 1975’s I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It climbed from #18 to #13 with a 141% spike. At the same time, their first album also had a 95.3% increase and re-entered the Top 50.

David Bowie’s double slam with British Male Solo Artist and British Album wins saw Blackstar receive a 67% rise and the Legacy compilation up 14%. Hunky Dory and The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust re-entered the charts.

Other winners and/or performers who gained were current records by Bruno Mars (86.4%), Robbie Williams (47.9%), Coldplay (21.5%), A Tribe Called Quest (15.9%), Little Mix (15.7%), Rag’n’Bone Man (14.5%), and International Male Solo Artist winner Drake (12.5%).

Just when you thought Adele’s phenomenally successful 25 couldn’t sell any more in the UK, it managed to squeeze out a 1.8% boost in transactions.

The George Michael tribute saw hisLadies & Gentlemen… Best Of collection move from #11 to #4 following a 101.3% jump while four other of his albums re-entered the Top 200.

The BRITs’ exposure of grime music also had a flow-on effect. Stormzy’s duet with Ed Sheeran added to its impetus, as Gang Signs & Prayer went on to debut at #1.

Skepta’s performance saw the acclaimed Konnichiwa album find new fans, with a rise of 78.8% seeing it climb from #71 to #52 in the charts.

Both the Oscars and the BRITs suffered ratings losses. The Oscars were a nine-year low, down 3% from last year and down 13% in the 18—49 demographic. This year’s ceremony was the third-least-watched of the century.

It was a far cry from 1998 when a record 57.3 million tuned in to see James Cameron’s Titanic win 11 statues.

The BRITs lost 400,000 viewers from last year but were up 4% on the 16-34 demographic.