The United Kingdom’s Official Charts Company has introduced a weekly Official Homegrown Albums Chart limited to albums by UK artists released within the previous 12 months, ranked by streams and sales. The launch follows calls within the UK music industry for rankings focused on domestic talent.
The chart will be promoted in a slot on the UK broadcaster BBC Radio 1’s ‘First Look’ show.
To qualify as a UK artist, acts must meet the same criteria used to define British artists for the UK’s Brit Awards:
- born in the UK
- hold a UK passport
- permanently resident in the UK for more than five years
For groups, 50% of members must meet one of those criteria.
Chris Austin and Becca Monahan, co-managing directors of the Official Charts Company, said: “We hope the chart will become an important new measure of success for UK artists, from exciting emerging talent through to some of our biggest established names.”
Annabella Coldrick, head of the UK’s Music Managers Forum (MMF), welcomed the announcement. She had earlier this year called for a homegrown chart in the UK to match one already launched in Ireland.
