Ed Sheeran is now bigger than Star Wars as he tops 2017's half-year Entertainment Chart
Ed Sheeran may have landed himself a cameos in Game of Thrones and The Simpsons this year, but he might have to rule out his chances of an appearance in Star Wars.
At the halfway point of 2017, the singer's Divide album tops the half-year Entertainment Chart, which combines biggest selling music, video and gaming titles and is compiled by ERA - the Entertainment Retailers Association.
Sales across all three sectors surged by 6.4% to £2.997m in the first half of this year compared to the same period of 2016, with the take-up of streaming on services like Spotify, Netflix and Amazon being a key factor in the growth.
Divide finished way ahead of its closest competitor Rogue One - A Star Wars Story, 2.06m for Ed compared to 1.18m for Star Wars. That's a difference of 885,000.
MORE: The UK's Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2017 so far
Elsewhere, Rag'n'Bone Man's debut album Human is currently the sixth biggest-selling entertainment product of 2017 so far, and Stormzy's debut Gang Signs & Prayer completes the Top 40.
The bulk of the Top 10 are DVD/Blu-ray releases, with strong showings from Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, Bridget Jones's Baby and Moana.
MORE: The UK's Official Top 40 biggest DVD/Blu-rays of 2017 so far
Music was the star performer of the three sectors, growing 11.2% in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period of 2016. That's despite just eight of the Top 40 biggest entertainment releases this year being music.
Meanwhile, sales of games increased 8.4% and video was up by 1.2%.
While the figures show an increased shift to digital as the format of choice for most people with 75.4% of revenues accounted for by digital, vinyl was the exception to the rule. Sales of black plastic have so far increased 35.7% to 1.9m units this year, increasing its value 37.6% to £37.3m.
MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest song of 2017 so far
Entertainment Chart H1 2017
POS | TITLE | ARTIST | COMPANY | SALES |
1 | Divide | Ed Sheeran | Warner Music | 2,064,966 |
2 | Rogue One - A Star Wars Story | Walt Disney Studios | 1,180,496 | |
3 | Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them | Warner Home Video | 1,032,525 | |
4 | Bridget Jones's Baby | Universal Pictures | 936,064 | |
5 | Moana | Walt Disney Studios | 714,698 | |
6 | Human | Rag'n'Bone Man | Sony Music | 694,194 |
7 | Trolls | 20th Century Fox He | 657,760 | |
8 | Now That's What I Call Music 96 | Various Artists | Sony Music/Universal Music | 530,290 |
9 | Doctor Strange | Walt Disney Studios | 510,711 | |
10 | Sing | Universal Pictures | 489,672 | |
11 | The Girl On The Train | 20th Century Fox | 397,619 | |
12 | Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar | 20th Century Fox | 352,199 | |
13 | Grand Theft Auto V | Take 2 | 334,280 | |
14 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands | Ubisoft | 311,792 | |
15 | La La Land | Elevation Sales | 294,456 | |
16 | Arrival | 20th Century Fox He | 294,171 | |
17 | Horizon Zero Dawn | Sony Comp Ent | 286,538 | |
18 | Inferno | Sony Pictures He | 271,388 | |
19 | Jack Reacher - Never Go Back | Universal Pictures | 268,888 | |
20 | T2 Trainspotting | Sony Pictures He | 259,892 | |
21 | The Magnificent Seven | Sony Pictures He | 257,867 | |
22 | Fifty Shades Darker | Universal Pictures | 249,590 | |
23 | The Lego Batman Movie | Warner Home Video | 245,739 | |
24 | FIFA 17 | EA | 242,385 | |
25 | Hacksaw Ridge | Elevation Sales | 237,735 | |
26 | Sully - Miracle On The Hudson | Warner Home Video | 236,486 | |
27 | Passengers | Sony Pictures | 229,520 | |
28 | More Life | Drake | Universal Music | 228,862 |
29 | X | Ed Sheeran | Warner Music | 224,267 |
30 | Deepwater Horizon | Elevation Sales | 220,734 | |
31 | Assassin's Creed | 20th Century Fox He | 219,093 | |
32 | Finding Dory | Walt Disney Studios | 218,625 | |
33 | Glory Days | Little Mix | Sony Music | 215,638 |
34 | Wonderland | Take That | Universal Music | 212,037 |
35 | Suicide Squad | Warner Home Video | 210,642 | |
36 | Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare | Activision Blizzard | 204,778 | |
37 | Trainspotting | Spirit Entertainment | 203,000 | |
38 | Resident Evil 7: Biohazard | Capcom | 190,545 | |
39 | The Secret Life Of Pets | Universal Pictures | 190,509 | |
40 | Gang Signs & Prayer | Stormzy | Merky | 188,240 |
Source:
Music - Official Charts Company
Video - Official Charts Company
Videogames - GfK
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Brian Quinn
Chart success does not mean much anymore since streaming was introduced and the chart rules were changed. Charts now give a false impression as to an artist's success.
I Am A Stegosaurus
WTAF he was in a Simpsons episode?
JJ
Jack James
What do you expect he is the King congrats.