November 2004 - Platinum Europe Awards

December 8, 2004

December 7, 2004 - Recent releases dominate this month's list of Platinum Europe Awards. Five of the seven albums achieving sales of million or more across Europe have been released within the last two months.

It's hard to imagine that Britney Spears' relatively short career has yielded so many hits. As the driving force behind the return of teen pop in the late '90s, now almost six years later her Greatest Hits: My Prerogative album has found its way onto the pre-Christmas shelves. Comprising 20 tracks the Greatest Hits includes her massive pop debut Baby One More Time, Oops!... I Did it Again, the Neptunes-produced Slave 4 U and her more recent hit Toxic. Within a month of its release date the album receives its first Platinum Europe Award for achieving sales of one million across Europe.

Emerging in 1999 as a protégé of Dr Dre, Eminem has gone on to become one of the most popular and controversial rappers to grace the hip-hop genre. Back with his fourth album release Encore, Eminem returns with his distinctive voice and intricate rhymes - using his biting wit and incredible skills to vent on everything from his unhappy childhood, to his contempt for the mainstream media - by turns scathing and silly. Achieving a Platinum Europe Award in its first month of release, Encore includes the much publicised single Just Lose It and the politically charged Mosh.

Receiving his first Platinum Europe Award, 25-year old Canadian vocalist Michael Bublé has released a self-titled debut album that pays homage to some of the greatest songs of all time. Evoking comparisons to Sinatra, Bublé covers epics such as Come Fly With Me, The Way You Look Tonight, Fever and Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Whilst retaining the familiarity of the classics, Bublé infuses the music with a fresh and original uniqueness that makes them truly his own.

Around The Sun is R.E.M.'s thirteenth album release and is their first studio album since 2001. Featuring the evocative new single Leaving New York the album sees the bands core members joined by drummer Bill Rieflin and instrumentalists Ken Stringfellow and Scott McCaughey. Notching up one million sales across Europe Around The Sun receives its first Platinum Award.

Glasgow-based Snow Patrol gain their first Platinum Europe Award for their third full-length album release Final Straw. Packed with emotion and introspection, Snow Patrol deliver dark, ethereal pop songs with an invigorating energy. Final Straw includes the critically acclaimed singles Run and Chocolate.

How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb is the latest opus from Ireland's finest export, U2. Carrying the band into its 25th year, this album is a back to basics set of songs which sees long-time collaborator Steve Lillywhite once again at the production helm. The album kicks off with the first single release Vertigo which features in the latest iPod commercial. Released in November, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb goes multi-platinum receiving 2 x Platinum Europe Award.

Robbie Williams continues his domination of Europe with the release of his Greatest Hits album which achieves a third Platinum Europe Award since its release in mid-October. From the beautiful ballads Angel and Feel to the storming Rock DJ and Old Before I Die this record proves that Robbie Williams is a pop genius.

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Nisha Gohil, IFPI Communications Department
Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 7900