Budget-priced LPs

Budget-priced LPs were the cheapest commercial LPs on the market, usually well below the standard full price of a new album. These were often heavily promoted on TV by labels like K‑tel, Ronco, Arcade, Chevron, and various Pickwick subsidiaries. The RRP was roughly half the normal full price and the range offered typically compilations, “best of” sets, or reissues where copyright or licensing was inexpensive. The pressing quality and packaging were usually simpler (thin vinyl, basic sleeves). In the early 1970s the cost was often around £1.49–£1.99 and in the late 70s to mid‑80s, often £2.49–£2.99. Full‑price LPs were commonly in the £4.50–£6.99 range by the early 1980s.

TV-advertised albums released in 1972 and 1973 by K-tel, Arcade and Ronco were consistently reaching high spots in the UK Albums Chart. In 1973 the British Market Research Bureau overturned the decision they made in 1971 to allow budget and mid-priced albums to chart alongside full-priced ones. This meant that anonymous cover albums, like the Top Of The Pops range from Hallmark, and compilations listed as 'various artists' albums were taken out of the chart, but those billed as 'official soundtracks' (to films such as A Clockwork Orange and Cabaret) were kept in. As the Ronco-released tie-in to the 1973 film That'll Be the Day was listed as a various artist album and not as a soundtrack, it disappeared from the chart after its seventh week at number one.

According to the Official Charts Company rules, to qualify, an album “must be the correct length and price” and “must not be classed as a budget album.” A budget album is defined as costing between £0.50 and £3.75. Budget‑series compilations sold extremely well in supermarkets, Woolworths, and TV mail-order - but never charted.

In the late 1970s budget labels were selling particularly strongly in supermarkets and high‑street retail. TV‑compilation dominance continued during the early to mid 1980 but declined somewhat in the latter part of the decade as major labels emphasize their own catalogue reissues.

In 1983, the full-priced Now That's What I Call Music series was launched by EMI/Virgin, followed by CBS/WEA's rival Hits Album series a year later and Chrysalis/MCA's Out Now! in 1985. From this point in the 1980s, every regular edition of Now That's What I Call Music topped the albums chart (apart from Now 4 which was kept of the number one spot by the first ever Hits Album), with these albums from the three major-label joint-ventures joined in the charts by many albums from all the regular compilation specialists like K-Tel, Telstar and Stylus. As the amount of compilations in the chart were keeping out artists from reaching number one or charting at all, it was decided that all the various artist albums would be removed from the Official Albums Chart Top 100. In January 1989, all the various artist compilation albums were removed from the Top 100 albums chart and given their own Top 20 chart.

Labels