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Digital single ushers in new era
Source: Music Week


Black Eyed Peas were yesterday (Sunday) beginning a new chapter in the history of the UK singles chart, by achieving the UK’s first Top 40 hit based only on digital sales.

The Polydor act’s single Pump It was on course to arrive inside the Top 20 this week, after taking advantage of a newly-activated rule allowing download sales to count towards the main combined singles chart in the week before a physical version of the same release coming out. Until now, digital sales have been excluded from the countdown if there is not an equivalent physical format available.

The new chart rule, which came into effect with digital singles released last Monday, is expected to slow down the race towards a chart peak position for many releases. While at present most hits still peak in their debut chart week, the new rule is expected to see tracks which are released initially in digital form climb the chart in their second week when the equivalent physical version becomes available.

The Official Charts Company’s operations director Paul Want says there has been a positive response from record companies to the new rule. However, he notes, “They’re still weighing up when is the best time to release things digitally. Their main concern is they want digital sales to count [in the main chart] as soon as they’re in the market place.�

Polydor’s head of digital Mark Krendel says his record company’s own policy on when to take advantage of the new rule to achieve an earlier chart placing will be flexible. “It will vary on a case-by-case basis,� he says. “With Black Eyed Peas, this is the fourth single from Monkey Business, so it was already available on iTunes, HMV, Virgin and all the digital platforms.�

However, he says with some of its artists, such as development acts, it is more important to achieve the biggest chart impact possible in the first week. In these instances, Polydor will first make available a single in digital and physical formats at the same time.

Napster UK and international programming director Jeff Smith naturally adopts a somewhat less cautious approach to when tracks should become available digitally. “Ultimately, as soon as the record is in the public eye, it should be out there because, unfortunately, illegal services are going to have it,� he says.

Alongside the Black Eyed Peas’ Top 40 hit, Ministry of Sound’s Joey Negro single Make A Move On Me was set to break into the Top 75 on digital-only sales ahead of its physical release today (Monday). MoS A&R director Ben Cook, who expects the track to move into the Top 10 this coming Sunday, says charting on digital-only sales is a great indicator of how a track might perform once its full physical release happens.

The new rule introduced last week is part of a package of changes to chart regulations, which will include allowing digital albums to count towards the artist albums chart for the first time.

The new regulations have had to tread a careful balancing act between physical retailers concerned they could be put at a disadvantage if digital sales count too early in the main charts and label executives who largely want all download sales included without exception.

HMV product director Simon Peck says the rule change allowing digital singles in a week earlier is “an ideal compromise�, but it will need to be reviewed in the coming year or two.

In a further concession to high-street retailers, singles will be excluded from the chart two weeks after being deleted physically, thus removing tracks that continue to sell on digital only.

The OCC’s Want is anticipating fewer issues with the introduction later this month of digital albums into the main albums chart for the first time. He notes that downloads make up a much smaller proportion of this market than the singles sector.

In addition, he says, few albums are released digitally prior to a physical release. “When we introduced tracks into the singles chart they immediately made up 15% of sales, but on albums we expect it to be 2%,� he adds.