Sam Smith, Take That & Others In BRITS Sales Upswing

Many of the winners and performers at Wednesday night’s (February 25) BRIT Awards are enjoying a dramatic upswing in track and album sales and downloads in the UK.

In the week that downloads are being added to the computation of the album chart for the first time by the Official Charts Company, Capitol’s Sam Smith saw a huge jump in sales. By yesterday (Thursday), his double victory, with the British Breakthrough and Global Success awards, had produced a 78% improvement for his debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour.’ The song he performed from it, ‘Lay Me Down,’ rose 95% in combined downloads and streams.

Take That’s live performance prompted a 45% increase in sales for their Polydor album ‘III.’ Best British Group Royal Blood enjoyed a 209% improvement in sales of their self-titled album between Wednesday and Thursday; Best British Female Solo Artist Paloma Faith’s ‘A Perfect Contradiction’ is up 130%.

It was also a triumphant BRITS for Ed Sheeran, who won Best British Male and Album of the Year for ‘X’; Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk,’ featuring Bruno Mars, Best British Single; One Direction, Best British Video for ‘You and I; James Bay, with the previously-announced Critics’ Choice Award; Taylor Swift, named Best International Female Solo Artist; and Foo Fighters, Best International Group.