The 2016 winner of The X Factor will not be able to see their debut single in stores like previous champions have done. Instead this year the official winners single will be released via download only, meaning the traditional CD release is no more.
The physical release usually includes the official winners single from the X Factor champion and also a few of the best tracks they have performed throughout the ITV singing contest, but this years victor will only have their song released via a digital only format.
The official single from this years X Factor champion will be available to download and stream straight after the final on Sunday December 11th. Profits from the sale of the track will be going to charity.
Fighting it out to be crowned the X Factor winner of 2016 are;
Emily Middlemas who is being mentored by show boss Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger’s Matt Terry, Sharon Osbourne’s Saara Aalto, and boyband 5 After Midnight who are mentored by Louis Walsh.
The winners single is usually a strong contender for the Christmas Number 1, but last years victor Louisa Johnson failed to top the charts as her cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’ peaked at number 9 making it the lowest charting single from an X Factor winner in the shows history.
The news that the ITV talent show have scrapped a physical release comes as little surprise as the physical CD single format has sadly been in decline for several years since the introduction of digital downloads to the charts in 2005 and streaming back in 2014.
But the CD single release usually gives a healthy boost to the success of an X Factor champion’s single. Last year’s winner Lousia Johnson had the best selling physical CD single of 2015, with her cover of ‘Forever Young’ selling 30,000 copies. And in 2014, Ben Haenow’s winning release ‘Something I Need’ sold 92,000 physical copies.
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