Classical music chart to run for first time on Radio 3

LONDON – BBC Radio 3, a bastion of high culture on Britain’s broadcasting landscape, will from next week run a classical music…

LONDON – BBC Radio 3, a bastion of high culture on Britain’s broadcasting landscape, will from next week run a classical music chart for the first time.

The company which compiles the chart said yesterday that sales of specialist classical music across all formats were up by 80 per cent in early 2010 compared to the comparable period in 2009.

Breakfast presenter Rob Cowan said: “The great thing about this new initiative is that it allows us to keep tabs on what people are actually buying. It should prove thoroughly entertaining and enlightening, and I’m sure it’ll scupper some crusty old preconceptions!”

Compilations and soundtracks are excluded from the chart. – (Reuters, PA)