Mercury nominations boost album sales

Sales of albums vying for this year’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize have more than doubled since nominations were announced, a retailer said today.

Glasvegas, Friendly Fires and The Invisible are leading the way in the upsurge.

HMV compared demand at its high street stores and online in the fortnight since the Albums of the Year announcement last month, with the two-week period beforehand.

Sales of the albums, of which seven out of 12 are debut releases, shot up by 107% across the board.

The biggest boost was for self-titled debut albums from Glasvegas (1,103%), The Invisible (935%) and Friendly Fires (626%), ahead of Sweet Billy Pilgrim’s Twice Born Men (600%) and Speech Debelle’s Speech Therapy (175%).

Shortlisted albums from La Roux, Florence And The Machine and Kasabian also performed well, but the lift was less pronounced as these records were released fairly recently and so demand was already high, the retailer said.

Previous winners of the award have included Pulp, Franz Ferdinand and Klaxons.

The victors last year were Elbow, for their fourth album, 'The Seldom Seen Kid', which became their biggest release to date and revitalised their career.

HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo said: “The award is now arguably the most significant platform for promoting new and independent music amongst the record-buying public.

“Just being shortlisted can give an artist a huge boost in profile and sales, particularly if they then go on to give show-stealing performances at the awards show.

“Previous recipients of the prize have gone on to enjoy spectacular increases in demand for their albums, sometimes by as much as tenfold, whilst the foundation for much of Elbow’s amazing success last year was undoubtedly the band winning the prize – which really set them on their way.”

Hotly-tipped acts such as Doves, White Lies and Little Boots were left off this year’s shortlist.

Nominees are judged by an independent panel to be the key albums of the year, regardless of how well they have sold.

A Barclaycard Mercury Prize spokesman said: “We’re encouraged that the uplift in sales seems to reflect the music buying public’s willingness to act upon the prize’s recommendations.

“There are 12 exciting and diverse albums on this year’s shortlist.”

The prize will be decided on September 8.

Here is the full Barclaycard Mercury Prize shortlist:

:: Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

:: The Horrors – Primary Colours

:: Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires

:: Glasvegas – Glasvegas

:: La Roux – La Roux

:: Florence And The Machine – Lungs

:: Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

:: Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew

:: The Invisible – The Invisible

:: Led Bib – Sensible Shoes

:: Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men

:: Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy