Last week was expected to be a particularly good one for the record retail market, with the simultaneous arrival of albums by two of the top three contestants in last year's X Factor and the release of two Comic Relief singles expected to increase the usual galvanising effect of Mothers' Day, writes Alan Jones.
 
In the end, it was all a little disappointing, with the singles market dipping 1% week-on-week to 1,493,367 sales, while album sales were up 24.7% ...