OfficialCharts.com breaks traffic record, reaching 3 million monthly users

OfficialCharts.com saw record traffic during the second quarter of 2020, now reaching 3 million unique visitors per month (3.15m Google Analytics, May 2020). 

Much of 2020 has been a period any of us are unlikely to forget in our lifetime; with music providing comfort and joy for many through this unprecedented period. At OfficialCharts.com, it’s also been an incredible time to be telling the story of Britain’s response to the global crisis through the nation’s official lens for popular music.

News of the record website traffic comes as our long-standing partner BBC Radio 1 announced market-leading RAJAR results in May. The Official Chart with Scott Mills - compiled by the Official Charts Company - is now officially the UK’s biggest chart show. The Official Chart broadcasts exclusively on Radio 1 every Friday from 4pm.

A busy slate of new releases

The last few months has seen a busy slate of new releases, with many album releases shuffled around as artists got to grips with the global pandemic. 

19 albums and 11 singles have occupied Number 1 spot so far this year, including chart-topping albums from Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Dua Lipa and Niall Horan. One of the biggest battles for Number 1 arrived in early June, when The 1975 saw off a fierce challenge for the top spot from KSI and his debut album Dissimulation.

Poignant charity singles

The lockdown period also saw a series of poignant charity single campaigns that captured the attention and hearts of the British public. April saw one-man fundraising machine Captain Tom Moore triumph when he became the oldest living artist to top the Official Singles Chart with You'll Never Walk Alone, just in time for his 100^th birthday.

Watch the moment Scott Mills announced Tom Walker landed the UK's Number 1 single below:

One week later, BBC Radio 1 scored their first ever Number 1 single when the Live Lounge All Stars’ charity cover of Times Like These took the top spot.

Lockdown livestream series

In May we launched a new live stream series called The Record Club in partnership with Record Store Day and National Album Day to support indepdendent record shops through lockdown.

Essentially a book club for albums, The Record Club sees an artist discuss their brand-new album release with host Jess Iszatt, live on Facebook, and take questions from fans. Guests so far include Laura Marling, All Time Low, Sleaford Mods and Rina Sawayama.

Ahead of The Record Club, we launched the Official Indie Home Delivery Finder, an interactive map showing the 130+ independent record shops across the UK and Ireland offering home delivery during lockdown, some for the first time ever.

Elsewhere, The One Show helped unveil our Official Lockdown Listening Top 100, which highlighted the uplifting catalogue tracks, apocalyptic isolation songs and kids’ favourites experiencing an unexpected resurgence as the nation adjusted to life in lockdown.

And just for fun, an internet viral sent the public flocking to our chart archive to unearth their quarantine anthem – the song that was Number 1 on their 12^th birthday.

Martin Talbot, the Official Charts Company’s chief executive, said: "During these challenging times, we’ve witnessed the power of music to comfort us, entertain us, and not least, to raise vital funds for important causes. The Official Chart and OfficialCharts.com has captured all of this week, in, week out, telling the story of this extraordinary period in history, as only it can.

“The engagement figures speak for themselves – music is the beating heart of Britain, and the one and only Official Chart remains one of the greatest snapshots of our lives here, through good times and bad.”

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