XL sized fortune

Phenomenal sales of Adele’s 21 pushed the profits of Independent label XL Recordings up to £41.7m in 2011. As previously reported, Adele’s second album was released in January last year and went on to outsell Michael Jackson’s Thriller, becoming the fifth biggest selling album of all time. The album has sold over four million copies in the UK and more than tem million in the US, spending 78 consecutive weeks in the Billboard Top Ten.

According to this report in the New York Times, which also contains more specifics about figures and dividends paid out by the label, a spokesperson for XL said: “The next Adele album may not come for some years, and it’s impossible to predict its likely sales. We therefore regard this year’s figures as exceptional.”

The sales of the album saw the company’s bank account climb from £3m to £32m in 2011, with Beggars Group Founder Martin Mills (pictured speaking at Generator’s Know How event in 2011) saying: “We’ve sold 25 million copies of ’21’ around the world. When you sell that many records everyone makes money. Not just Adele and the label, but distributors, retail, everyone.”

Mills also added that Beggar’s share of the money would be used “to invest in our future.”