IFPI Platinum Europe Awards - Q4 2008

Take That pick up double IFPI Platinum Europe Award in a month

January 2009

Take That secured a double IFPI Platinum Europe Award for their album The Circus, within a month of its release. IFPI Platinum Europe Awards are given to those albums that sell more than one million copies across Europe.

The Circus, released by Polydor, is Take That’s second since their reunion in 2006 and features the UK number one hit Greatest Day. It was the fastest-selling album of the year in the UK, topping the charts for five weeks, and the band sold more than a million tickets for their forthcoming 2009 tour. The band supported the album’s launch with a special television show called Take That Come To Town, which aired on ITV.

Veteran rockers AC/DC also secured a double IFPI Platinum Europe Award for their sixteenth studio album Black Ice, which was released in October 2008. The Australian band, formed in 1973, saw the album go to number one in 16 countries across Europe.

The album saw some innovative marketing. In the UK, Sony Music undertook research into the lifestyle of AC/DC fans to shape their advertising. The result was the world’s first ever music video created as an Excel spreadsheet. Released virally, it received 1.1 million views on YouTube and 650,000 direct downloads, penetrating company firewalls to reach AC/DC fans in the workplace.

The cast of Mamma Mia! The Movie, the most successful movie musical of all time at the box office, achieved a second IFPI Platinum Europe Award for their soundtrack album, which was released in July 2008. It contains many of ABBA’s greatest hits sung by actors including Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Julie Walters. A deluxe version of the album includes behind the scenes footage from the shooting of the film.

Welsh singer-songwriter Duffy secured a third IFPI Platinum Europe Award for her album Rockferry, released in February 2008. Rockferry was the best selling album of 2008 in the UK and contains the hit singles Mercy and Warwick Avenue.

Amy MacDonald and Snow Patrol both picked up a second IFPI Platinum Europe Awards for their albums This is the Life and Final Straw. The Killers picked up two separate IFPI Platinum Europe Awards, one for Hot Fuss and another for Day and Age.

Chinese Democracy, the much anticipated sixth studio album from Guns n’ Roses, secured an IFPI Platinum Europe Award after its release in November 2008. It was the band’s first studio album since The Spaghetti Incident, released in 1993 and was top five in 11 European markets.

Tennessee rockers Kings of Leon picked up an IFPI Platinum Europe Award for their fourth album Only By The Night. The album contains the hit singles Sex On Fire and Use Somebody. The band recorded several home movies which they posted on their website to help promote the launch of the album. Only By The Night was made available for exclusive streaming on Last.fm prior to its official launch.

Enya secured an IFPI Platinum Europe Award for her latest album And Winter Came... The singer-songwriter’s seventh studio album contained 12 songs with a winter or Christmas theme. Seal picked up an award for his album Soul, which was produced by David Foster and featured cover versions of 11 classic soul music tracks.