A guide to exploring the Official Charts archive

Before you get your geek on, let us give you a guided tour of our new archive...
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The new database at the heart of your all-new OfficialCharts.com is probably the most comprehensive resource of UK charts ever gathered together on the web. We certainly believe so.

Offering untold riches of information on your favourite artist, tracks and albums, plus the charts for the most important dates in your life, it is an unparalleled resource of Official UK chart information.

It spans more than 35,000 charts, nearly 16,000 acts, seven different decades, across singles, albums, streams, and genres including urban, dance, rock, alternative, classical, folk, Asian, Christian music and much more – as well as the video industry’s charts, covering DVD, Blu-Ray, and a range of genres.

You can read how we built this database here – but let us give you a guided tour first.

Entering the database

There are several ways to start searching our database – but the easiest access can be gained from the little magnifying glass at top right of every page on the site.

From here, you can search for a chart by date, for your favourite artist, favourite title (whether it is an album or a single) and also for latest news on your favourite artist. Or even your least favourite artist, if you absolutely insist…

You will also notice the “Access The Archive” search box on the home page (alongside many others) – this gives the same search options. Click on the “Archive” tab across the top and you will see the same option, click on the “Artists” tab and you will be asked to search for your favourite artist.

Searching for the charts

The charts can be accessed in three different ways.

1. Using any of the searches above will take you to any Official Singles Chart in our database – right back to November 1952. Type in the date and away you go.

2. Otherwise, the Charts tab at the top of every page gives instant access to a range of different chart channels.

3. Alternatively, we offer two different chart widgets. On the right of the home page (and scattered throughout the site) is a simple Top 5, showing the latest rundown of the Official Singles Chart, Official Albums Chart and Official DVD Chart. And, at the bottom of the home page is our Official Chart Picker, which offers Top 5s of every current chart in the database. Both of these widgets give you the opportunity to click through to the full charts.

While the main Official Singles Chart and Official Albums Chart databases offer you every chart back to 1952 and 1956 respectively, many of these other charts are available back to 1994. This is the first time many of these charts have been available so far back – and all are at a depth of Top 100.

For tracks on the Official Singles Chart and Official Albums Chart, you can click on the Chart Facts '+' button in the right hand column and this will open a drop down box with an array of additional facts and figures, including an individual title’s full chart run, where it has peaked and its chart position this week.

Searching for your favourite artist

Every single artist who has ever claimed a position in Official Singles or Albums Chart has its own artist hub page on OfficialCharts.com, all powered by our brand new database.

Once you've searched, you'll find an overview of your favourite artist’s performance in the Official Singles Chart and Official Albums Chart – a full listing of their hit singles and albums, the ability to dig down into Chart Facts just like on the charts and the title histories  but also the key facts on their chart career.

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nowhereland25 .

1

Finally, the loss of chartarchive.org isn't so bad