Music retail is hoping for a late Q4 surge after a sluggish start to the quarter.

At the most important time of year for physical sales, Music Week research has revealed a lack of momentum for recent album releases.

The seven-week cumulative sales total for the Q4 Top 10 albums to date is 299,050, compared to 528,715 for the same period in 2018 and 732,723 in 2017.

However, several major titles have only just been released (November 22), including albums ...