1. What is an 'instant grat'?

 

On iTunes, almost all albums are added as a pre-order a couple of weeks to a couple of months before release. (Why this is when digital albums have infinite stock is a different matter, but that's just the way it is). In an increasingly popular trend, many artists make songs available to download off the album tracklist before the album comes out - these songs are not given a 'single release', it's just like cherrypicking but a bit early. This song will automatically download when you pre-order the album and is thus called an 'instant grat' (short for 'gratification'). Sometimes more than one song is available as an instant grat from the same album.

 

2. What are the chart rules regarding instant grats?

 

Before the start of this year, no instant grats were allowed to chart at all. This led to awkward situations like Coldplay's 'Paradise' being excluded from the chart for six weeks when it would have been comfortably top 40. The OCC were prompted to change their mind when David Bowie's 'Where Are We Now?' was looking like a #1 contender that could have been excluded from the chart. (In the event, it ended up at only #6, but that's besides the point). However, the rules have only changed for when there is ONE instant grat track from an album. If there is more than one, only one of those tracks will be able to chart. This is usually the first one to be made available but is officially the one that the record label 'nominate' as the one chart eligible instant grat.

 

3. But wait, these are free downloads, surely they should be ineligible?!

 

This is a common misconception. Instant grats are not free at all - if you pre-order an album with an instant grat attached, it will immediately charge you 99p (or £1.98 or £2.97 etc. depending on how many tracks there are) for the instant grat track and the rest will just be charged when the album comes out. In addition, these songs *can* be downloaded separately without pre-ordering the entire album.

 

4. But if they can be downloaded separately, why can't all instant grats chart? Can't they just only count the separate sales?

 

Well, theoretically they can, but the leading theory is that they are just too lazy to chase Apple down for the split sales info. It's easier for them to just exclude songs entirely than only count some of their sales. (This isn't a problem for when there's only one instant grat because in this case album pre-orders are counted as sales for the songs).

 

5. If they charge 99p for the instant grat and then the rest of the album later, isn't that the same as just buying the album?

 

It is, yes, but by the same logic purchasing a pre-album single that isn't an instant grat and then taking advantage of the 'Complete My Album' feature means you didn't technically buy the single at all. Just because it's automated doesn't make it any different.

 

6. Aren't single sales deducted from their total when 'Complete My Album' is used?

 

This does happen in other countries (leading to the hilarious week where Taylor Swift sold -83,000 copies of 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' in the USA) but as far as observational evidence shows, the OCC does not deduct single sales for the use of 'Complete My Album'. This might just be another case of them being lazy.

 

7. So how come only certain artists are restricted to one single charting and others aren't? If Lady Gaga is only allowed to chart with 'Applause', then how come One Direction are allowed in with both 'Best Song Ever' and 'Story Of My Life'?

 

Whether or not more than one song can chart depends on how the record label goes about distributing pre-album singles and promo tracks. Lady Gaga did not release any 'singles' prior to the release of 'ARTPOP' - 'Applause', 'Do What U Want' and 'Venus' were all released as instant grats so only one of those ('Applause') is allowed to chart as per OCC rules. However, One Direction released 'Best Song Ever' as a single (well, an EP, but same thing) separate from the pre-order for 'Midnight Memories', then made 'Story Of My Life' available as an instant grat. This means both are allowed to chart. If 1D add any more instant grats to the 'Midnight Memories' pre-order than they will not be eligible to chart, unless the label decides to nominate them as the single instant grat instead of 'Story Of My Life' (which would lead to the hilarious situation of 'Story Of My Life' disappearing from the chart, possibly from #1. MAKE IT HAPPEN).

 

8. So will these other instant grat songs never be allowed to chart?

 

Instant grats will only ever be chart ineligible while they are still instant grats. As soon as the album they're attached to is released they will become eligible for the chart. This might mean they'll end up with a much lower peak than they may otherwise have managed (for example Katy Perry's 'Walking On Air' entered the chart at #80 when it would have been at least top 40 with ease had it been previously eligible), but from that point onwards there's nothing to be confused about.

 

9. Are their sales still tracked while they're ineligible?

 

Apparently, yes. Music Week revealed the sales for Lady Gaga's 'Do What U Want' in its first week of availability as a chart ineligible instant grat, so it does appear that the OCC track their sales but just don't allow the songs to chart.

 

10. Does this mean those sales will be added onto its official total even though they were 'ineligible sales'?

 

This remains unclear but it seems the answer to that is no. Chart ineligible sales do not seem to ever count towards a song's official total sales. (If they did Coldplay's 'Paradise' will be becoming a million seller soon - I'm just gonna go ahead and pretend it is one anyway regardless of what the OCC say).

 

11. Okay now I'm just confused. Eminem DID release singles and he DID chart, but now he's suddenly ineligible? What's up with that?

 

In this particular case, the OCC's rules are showing how ridiculous they can sometimes be. Eminem did not put up a pre-order for his album 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2' until one week before its release. Three singles were released from the album before this - they were all separate single releases and therefore all of them were eligible to chart. However, when he put up the album pre-order, all of the singles were deleted from iTunes and all three - as well as a new track, 'The Monster' - were added as instant grats instead. As such, all 3 will now be excluded from the chart until the album release (which will incidentally be exactly one week, meaning 'Berzerk', 'Rap God' and 'Survival' will have a one week gap in their chart runs where they vanished from the entire top 200 before suddenly returning almost back where they were before. That'll be a fun one to explain to people in the future looking back at the charts of October/November 2013). 'The Monster' is the new 'nominated' instant grat song so is able to chart.

 

12. Is anything going to be done about this?

 

Sadly it appears the answer is no. We'll just have to hope that record labels realise these are the rules and stop releasing in ways that make tracks ineligible. Or, yanno, hope that they don't change at all, if you're someone who'd rather not see 4 Eminem songs in the top 40. But that's a different matter.

I hope this answers any questions people have about instant grats as there have been a lot of them recently. :D