Olympics closing ceremony sales boost for music artists

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Page last updated at 15:38 GMT, Wednesday, 15 August 2012 16:38 UK

By Steve Holden
Newsbeat reporter

Emeli Sande is among the artists to see a spike in album sales

Artists whose songs were performed during the Olympics closing ceremony have seen a boost in their single and album sales.

More than a quarter of the songs in the official midweek chart update were heard during the ceremony on Sunday.

Songs by Emeli Sande, Elbow and Kate Bush are currently at positions three, four and five respectively in the singles chart.

Rita Ora's How We Do (Party) is the midweek chart number one.

Sande's success

Emeli Sande, who appeared during both the opening and closing ceremony, is on course to have her debut album return to number one.

Our Version Of Events is already one of the biggest sellers of the year.

Sande also recorded a cover of John Lennon's Imagine for the BBC's montage to mark the end of the London 2012 Olympics.

Lennon's song is also due to re-enter the singles chart this Sunday. It last charted in 1999.

Other re-entries this week are likely to come from Taio Cruz, Oasis and One Direction.

George Michael, who defended his performance at the closing ceremony, looks like he could have his first top 10 single in eight years with White Light.

Gennaro Castaldo from HMV said his company's stores had seen an increase in demand for artists, especially Elbow's back catalogue.

He said: "Both Build A Rocket Boys and The Seldom Seen Kid have seen their sales increase by more than 1,000%.

"They sell well anyway so it's a significant boost."

He also thinks Emeli Sande was the main winner from the Olympics bounce.

He said: "She's a perfect blend of an artist who's new, fresh and credible but also has mainstream appeal."

The closing ceremony was directed by Kim Gavin, the man responsible for Take That's most recent stadium tour.

It was called A Symphony of British Music and featured performances by the Spice Girls, Tinie Tempah and Jessie J.

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