2012 - the year that rock fought back

THOSE heralding the demise of guitar-based rock music havebeen dealt a blow – it's on the up.

New Official Charts Company figures released by the BPI today revealed the UK sales of rock albums compared to other genres was up 1.9 per cent in 2012 to 31.3 per cent – it's highest since 2008.

And the sale of rock singles was also up, by two per cent to 20 per cent overall.

However, rock is losing the battle against pop music, which leads the market share with 33.5 per cent – up from 25.3 per cent in 2008 when rock led the way.

Pop also dominates the singles market with 38.5 per cent of sales.

BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said, “British music fans’ love affair with pop music continued in 2012, fuelled by strong album releases from home-grown talent. But there is good news for rock fans too, with the genre fighting back to its strongest performance since 2008.”

Official Charts Company Managing Director Martin Talbot said: “With many commentators predicting that guitar music will return over the next couple of years, it is also notable that rock music in its broadest sense also rebounded with Coldplay, Mumford & Sons and Gotye enjoying very successful years in their own right.  Green shoots which are destined to grow over the coming months, perhaps.”

Mumford & Sons Babel was the year's biggest-selling rock album, with Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know was the top rock single.

GENRE	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Pop	25.3%	29.0%	30.9%	33.6%	33.5%
Rock	35.7%	31.0%	31.2%	29.4%	31.3%
MOR/Easy Listening	7.2%	8.2%	7.5%	7.9%	7.6%
R&B	10.5%	9.6%	10.4%	10.1%	7.2%
Dance	7.9%	7.3%	5.8%	4.9%	6.3%
Classical	3.7%	3.2%	3.5%	3.3%	3.7%
Hip Hop	2.2%	4.3%	4.2%	3.4%	3.5%
Country	1.8%	1.6%	1.4%	1.6%	1.5%
Folk	1.2%	1.4%	1.3%	1.6%	1.4%
Jazz	1.7%	1.5%	1.6%	1.5%	1.3%
Reggae	0.8%	0.9%	0.6%	0.7%	1.0%
Blues	0.5%	0.7%	0.6%	0.9%	0.9%
Children’s Audio	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%
World	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%
Spoken Word	0.2%	0.3%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
New Age	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%

BPI based on Official Charts Company data

2012 SINGLES SALES BY TYPE OF MUSIC (% UNITS)

GENRE	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Pop	28.1%	33.5%	38.3%	36.0%	38.5%
Rock	31.2%	24.5%	17.2%	18.0%	20.0%
Dance	13.2%	12.7%	12.6%	13.8%	13.8%
R&B	18.3%	18.9%	18.0%	17.2%	12.3%
Hip Hop	7.7%	8.8%	12.2%	10.2%	10.7%
MOR/Easy Listening	0.5%	0.7%	0.8%	1.4%	1.5%
Classical	0.0%	0.1%	0.1%	1.2%	0.9%
Reggae	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.6%	0.9%
Country	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.5%	0.5%
Folk	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.6%	0.4%
Jazz	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%

BPI based on Official Charts Company data

2012 TOP SELLING ALBUMS BY GENRE

Pop	Emeli Sandé	Our Version Of Events
Rock	Mumford & Sons	Babel
MOR / Easy Listening	Michael Bublé	Christmas
R&B	Rihanna	Unapologetic
Dance	Calvin Harris	18 Months
Classical	Andre Rieu	Magic Of The Movies
Hip Hop	Nicki Minaj	Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Country	Lady Antebellum	Need You Now
Folk	The Civil Wars	Barton Hollow
Jazz	Michael Bublé	Sings Totally Blonde
Reggae	Various Artists	Now That’s What I Call Reggae
Blues	Jools Holland	The Golden Age Of Swing

2012 TOP SELLING SINGLES BY GENRE

Pop	Carly Rae Jepsen	Call Me Maybe
Rock	Gotye ft Kimbra	Somebody That I Used To Know
Dance	David Guetta ft Sia	Titanium
R&B	Rihanna	Diamonds
Hip Hop	Nicki Minaj	Starships
MOR / Easy Listening	Gary Barlow And The Commonwealth Band	Sing