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[danG]

This is the Spotify chart thread for Q1/2 2018, the go-to topic for UK Spotify chart discussion!

FAQs

What is streaming?

For streaming related FAQs read this thread.

How do I see today's Spotify chart?

To see the daily top 50 update on desktop, log in to Spotify, click 'Browse', then click 'Charts', then click 'United Kingdom Top 50', or click the link below. The desktop top 50 may update before anything else so is always worth checking if the website is not up to date. However recently it has been known to not to do, so do check all sources. Also note that the Spotify Website will update before external websites (Kworb, LivePopBars).

Useful links:

Spotify App [top 50]
Spotify Website [top 200]
Kworb [top 200 and extra data]
LivePopBars [top 200]

How often does the chart update?

It should update once every day, usually in the morning - although this is not 100% guaranteed. Sometimes the top 200 on the website will update but without the top 50 on the app updating, and sometimes there will be no update at all.

How many plays on Spotify equals one download sale?

150 plays. However you cannot simply play a song 150 times in one day to give it one sale, you are limited to 10 plays per day in terms of what counts to the chart. (Spotify will let you play a song on repeat 150 times if you really want to). This used to be 100 plays but the ratio was revised by the OCC at the start of 2017.

The number changes to 300 plays when a song moves to ACR. For more information on the rules of ACR see this thread. For information on what songs are currently on ACR and what songs will be moving to ACR, refer to this thread.

How much does Spotify contribute to the chart?

Streaming contributes approximately 90% to the singles chart as a whole, although good paid-for sales are still essential for making the very top of the chart in most cases. Spotify counts for at least 70% of all streaming sales, so doing well on Spotify is essential for doing well in the chart.

Why is my fave not doing well on Spotify?

Is it being promoted on one of Spotify's major curated playlists? If it isn't, it's unlikely to really take off! Hot Hits UK is the biggest of these playlists, with over a million followers. The playlist usually updates itself to include breaking hits once or twice a week, though there is no guarantee that your fave will get a place on the playlist.

Often sales hits don't cross over to being streaming hits, this is usually the case for songs with an older target audience (i.e. 'Love My Life' by Robbie Williams) or campaign songs (i.e. 'Liar Liar' by Captain Ska). Also keep in mind that it takes longer for a song to take off on Spotify than it would on iTunes.

Also keep in mind that the UK Top 50 is a largely followed playlist and that songs often experience a 'top 50 effect', when they enter the top 50 and get the additional exposure of being on the playlist.

My fave didn't debut high and is falling already, does this mean they're flopping?

Not necessarily. Most songs debut relatively low as they aren't instantly well-known, and experience a sharp decline on Day 2 as they no longer have the promoted 'New Music Friday' effect. A lot of songs manage to recover through gaining popularity and additions to playlists. Exceptions to the rule of course come from massively hyped artists/releases such as Justin Bieber/Ed Sheeran/Drake who will of course enter straight at the top.

What do the numbers mean?

The streaming figures cited in the daily chart are the number of streams each song received the previous day. Unlike the iTunes chart, Spotify is not a rolling chart so the numbers will only change once per day.

[FAQs written by Dan]

Revisit previous threads

2018: I, II
2017: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X
2016: I, II, III
2015: I, II
2014: I