Killers 'win Glastonbury'
The Killers' headline set at Glastonbury was overshadowed by sound quality complaints
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Monday, 02, Jul 2007 08:59
The Killers have enjoyed a bigger boost to sales of their latest album after performing at Glastonbury than any other artist, a retailer said today.
HMV claims that in direct comparisons between the Las Vegas band's sales in the week before and after the four-day festival, 135 per cent more copies of Sam's Town were bought.
Cynics would allege that the sales boon was due to fans eager to hear what the band sounded like after complaining they could not hear the Killers' headline set on Glastonbury's Saturday night.
Festival organiser Michael Eavis initially told journalists the day after that the Glastonbury sound system was not up to scratch, but this admission was later withdrawn.
An official statement attributed the poor sound on the Pyramid stage to "unusual meteorological conditions".
The future of the Glastonbury festival relies on the renewal of its licence which can be taken away should sound levels be repeatedly too loud.
Other artists who performed at the festival who enjoyed a significant shot in the arm to CD sales include Editors and Dame Shirley Bassey, with shoppers buying 104 per cent and 79 per cent more of their most recent albums.
Commenting on the figures, HMV's Gennaro Castaldo said: "Glastonbury has gone from being a mere music festival to an iconic event.
"It can create massive profile for the participating artists – not just among the 180,000 fans who attend, but among the millions who now follow it on TV and radio and via the internet, while the press coverage keeps growing as well.
"We always feel that one of the best way to measure the popularity of artists is through their sales, so it looks like the Killers were the big winners from Glastonbury this year along with Editors, Kaiser Chiefs and Iggy Pop, while the undimmed talent of Shirley Bassey has been introduced to a whole new audience."
Glastonbury winners according to HMV (increase in sales)
1 The Killers – Sam's Town (135 per cent)
2 Editors – The Back Room (104 per cent)
3 Kaiser Chiefs – Yours Truly, Angry Mob (102 per cent)
4 Dame Shirley Bassey – This is My Life, Greatest Hits (79 per cent)
5 Iggy Pop and the Stooges – The Weirdness (77 per cent)
6 Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (74 per cent)
7 Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (66 per cent)
8 CSS – Cansei de ser Sexy (49 per cent)
9 Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare (36 per cent)
10 Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future (31 per cent)