Logically, the albums released earlier this year should have garnered more sales than those dropped just weeks before 2013 ends. However, based on figures compiled by the Official Charts Company, it appears this logical conclusion does not apply to pop group One Direction.
The Daily Mail reported that the British act has generated nearly 700,000 albums in sales within just 5 weeks after the November 25 release of its latest album, "Midnight Memories." This makes 1D's latest release "the biggest selling artist album of 2013" in the U.K.
One Direction's third album edged out Emeli Sande's debut release, "Our Version of Events". The said LP, released in 2012, registered 683,000 in album sales. It has since sold a total of 2.07 million copies.
The group's album sales is certainly impressive, considering that the boys have just released their documentary, "This Is Us", within a few weeks distance from their record launch. The said DVD/Blu-ray release sold 270,000 copies within just 3 days.
Liam Payne, one fifth of One Direction, commented on their latest sales achievement: "This tops an amazing year for us! We're so excited to have the biggest selling album in the UK this year, especially with a record we are all so proud of."
"We'd like to thank everyone who has bought the album, it really means a lot to us."
However, it is worth noting that One Direction's record-breaking sales has yet to touch the one million mark. In fact, only one album sold a million copies within 2013 in the United Kingdom - "Now That's What I Call Music!" The compilation series, according to The Independent, sold 1.2 million copies.
Industry figures also reveal that Christmas week album sales have gone down 22% compared to the same period last year. Additionally, digital albums sales have not been able to make up for the losses in the sales of physical CDs.
Despite the decline, it is said that "Midnight Memories" could very well hit the one million mark soon enough, especially in the wake of the upcoming Brit awards in February.