ASDA announced today (Wednesday 23rd May) that it plans to phase out the sale of CD singles in all of its 336 stores across the UK due to a boom in break-through albums -sales of which have more than doubled in the last year*.
The supermarket will end its love affair with the 'cd single' which first hit ASDA's shelves more than two decades ago.
Ever popular with chart followers over the last 20 years, it will now take it's place in the industry's history books, alongside vintage vinyl and the cassette craze of the 1980s.
Instead, ASDA will add another string to it's bow, concentrating on increasing its range of new and affordable music which could see some of Britain's hottest new bands debut from as little as £7.97.
As a result, twice as much space will be dedicated to promoting new, up and coming artists such as Amy McDonald, Grace, Tiny Dancers and The Twang.
In addition, it will also work closer than ever with its suppliers to support new local talent, including an open access system where UK bands, colleagues and customers can approach ASDA with a potential new act.
Andy Powell, ASDA's music buyer, said, "We're reluctantly saying goodbye to one of the most important products in music history.
"The single will always be a historic icon in the music world, but the fact of the matter is, customers want more than just a song from their favourite artists - they want the whole album at an affordable price, whether it's new, established or local acts."
Andy added, "There's a huge talent base in the UK and we believe customers will want to buy local music in the same way they want to buy locally sourced food grown in Britain.
"That's why we want to do all that we can to encourage new bands and local artists to come forward."
The move has been pre-empted by physical single sales dropping from 26.5m in 2004 to just 13.6m last year, and, thanks to the emergence of affordable album music and digital downloads, the trend looks set to continue.
