Even better
Stop counting once you reach the
Equivalent to 1 sale
(Not sure how many streams is that)

...How would you do that without reading people's minds?

I think the solution is just to make it so that people can only count 1 streaming sale to a song each year. So yes we might still get a mass influx like this week but unless a whole bunch of new people streamed Ed's album the next week they would all be gone from the chart. It would make the charts move fast again and would put emphasis back on an 'impact date' for a single, the week you want everyone to count their first and only streaming sale towards the singles chart.

Keep the album chart as is, so after people have used their 1 stream for a song, unless it is a stand alone single all the streams for it from that person then count towards its album streams.

remember it's 150 streams to the sale now.

I doubt it would make any noticeable difference as most people don't stream songs that many times.

It's not in Spotify's interests so remove so-called passive listens of their curated playlists from the chart, so I very much doubt that will happen.

A potential way to resolve the problem with the chart:

Introduce a new album tracks chart. The album tracks chart will list the most popular streaming album tracks. For example, all of Sheeran's album tracks will be at the top of that chart. However, his single release - Shape of You - won't be in that chart, it will be in the official Top 40 Singles chart.

Spotify will also introduce a new album tracks chart so Spotify users can see what album tracks are popular.

If the OCC and Spotify were to agree on this new album tracks chart I think the singles chart can retain its legitimacy. The record industry, the OCC and Spotify (and other major streaming apps) would need to come up with a strict rule regarding what is a single. And the single would not be eligible for the album tracks chart. For example, Shape of You would never chart in the album tracks chart.

You should end up with a pure singles chart and a new album tracks chart. Depending on your preference you can choose to follow the singles chart or the album tracks chart or both.

I always thought limiting a stream to 150 then not being counted again on an individual basis was a good idea but I doubt many people would listen to a song 150 times and even if they did it would take weeks. So they'd have to drastically reduce that number for it to reflect peoples listening habits.

That BBC article suggests adding airplay, if they think its bad now adding airplay will make it a million times worse.

I think from the sounds of it they should be looking at some of the methods that are used in countries where streaming is virtually the sole contributor to the charts and how they differentiate album streaming as opposed to individual tracks. The OCC imo have been lazy about the whole streaming scenario and seems like they are scared of having weekly single sales fall to the depths they were in the 2000s and are propping them up with inflated streaming sales. If anywhere needs any extra sales being pumped into it, its the albums market.

Also I think with playlists they should only be counted in two ways. Firstly individual playlists that people have created for their own personal use should be counted, Secondly the only other playlist that should count should be the Hot Hits playlist which is updated with new songs every week. All other playlists shouldn't be counted towards the chart and streaming should be merited from the artist's page/catalogue.

but then you'd have the situation of Galway Girl, the 2nd most popular song in the UK right now, not being in the chart because it's not an official single.