Band Aid 30: Do They Know It’s Christmas already claims fastest-selling single of 2014

The powerful campaigning record is currently leading the race on this week’s Official Singles Chart, selling a massive 206,000 copies in today’s early sales flash since it was available to pre-order last week and officially released for download at 8am yesterday (November 17).

The figure means the track is on par with the impressive opening-day sales of previous Band Aid releases. The 1984 original shifted approximately 200,000 copies in two days, while Band Aid 20’s 2004 release sold a total of 297,000 in its full first week.

Today’s tally also marks the biggest start to the week of any single since Military Wives’ Christmas Number 1 hit of 2011, Wherever You Are, which went on to rack up 556,000 sales across the week.

The number also smashes the highest first-week sales record this year set by Clean Bandit’s Rather Be, which sold 163,000 copies in its opening week back in January.

Martin Talbot, Chief Executive of the Official Charts Company, said: "Band Aid 30 reflects all that is great about the British public and the British music scene. Everyone expected a strong start from Sir Bob Geldof and his team, but they have outperformed expectations with a truly exceptional first day’s sales which has put it on course to being a record setter once more in 2014.”

Band Aid 30’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? (2014) was recorded in just 24 hours at London’s Sarm Studios last week (November 15), where the original 1984 single was recorded. The song includes One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Elbow, Chris Martin, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith, Sinead O’Connor and Paloma Faith amongst its lineup.

The track – helmed by Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure - was first released 30 years ago and raised £8 million for victims of the 1984 Ethiopian famine. Proceeds from the 2014 version go towards the Ebola crisis in West Africa.

The original Do They Know It’s Christmas? remains one of the biggest selling singles ever in the UK, having shifted 3.75 million copies. A second version of the track – produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman - was released in 1989 and has sold almost half a million copies.

In 2004, Band Aid 20 was recorded by the likes of Will Young, Dizzee Rascal, Coldplay and Robbie Williams. Their version has sold 1.18 million to date.

Click here to download Do They Know It's Christmas (2014) on iTunes. Details of other ways to donate to Band Aid can be found at www.bandaid30.com.