Fine focus boosts compilation sales.

Record labels buoyed by resurgence in compilations market as sales leap by 11.5%

by Ben Cardew

The compilations market could be on the verge of a revival after several years of decline, as labels learn to focus on key brands and releases.

Week-on-week compilation sales have been up every week since the start of December 2006, bringing the year-to-date total for 2007 to 3.80m units sold (to Sunday, February 18), an 11.5% increase on the same period of 2006.

This figure stands in stark contrast to last year's compilations market, which saw monthly sales to December down every single month, ending the year off 5.1%.

Virgin Retail head of music Rob Campkin believes labels are benefiting from abandoning their scattergun approach to the compilations sector, which often confused prospective customers.

"`Less is more' is my take on compilations. The less you do the more focussed you can be," he says. "What has really helped compilations sales is that suppliers have whittled down the amount of compilations they do - one for Valentine's Day and one for Mother's Day.