AC/DC officially fifth biggest act on planet

AC/DC are officially the fifth biggest selling recording act in the world at the moment, according to the London-based British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

They are overtaken by Taylor Swift at the top of the list after selling six million copies of 1989, followed by One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay.

After AC/DC (whose Rock Or Bust sold 2.7 million worldwide) are, interestingly, the late Michael Jackson (for Xscape) and the long defunct Pink Floyd (for The Endless River), followed by Sam Smith, Katy Perry and Beyonce.

According to the BPI’s Music Market 2015 report, it’s a cause for great celebrations for British music, which turned over £1.8 billion (Australian $3.578 billion) in albums and singles sales through last year.

Not only are five of the Top 10 British (six if you include AC/DC’s dual nationality, which the UK media is doing) but Brit acts claimed 13.7% of global album sales in 2014. That represents one of each seven albums sold worldwide. This is the highest figure since BPI began recording British artist album shares in 2000. They represented 13% in 2013.

Sales of albums by British artists rose in Australia, Canada, Italy and Sweden, as well as the US.

British artists accounted for 20.4% of sales in Australia.

In Britain, its own acts took each of the Top 10 best selling artist albums for the first time, and accounted for over half of that country’s total sales for the year.

As previously reported, British acts dominated album sales in the UK in 2014, taking each of the top 10 best-selling artist albums of the year for the first time, and accounting for more than half of album sales.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said, ”Music is a tremendous exports success story for the UK – all around the world, fans are listening to the records we produce, supporting not only our balance of trade but a positive image for Britain overseas. It’s encouraging to have a government that backs British music exports and understands the key role music plays in projecting Britain’s identity as a creative powerhouse.”