July 7, 201015 yr Yes, a little, because it seems we're going back to the days of first week peaks, and record companies releasing weeks after songs premiere. Added to that, many of the big acts of the last couple of decades are releasing material at the moment, which is obviously successful.
July 7, 201015 yr I chose 'I don't know'. However, it's easy to predict what kind of songs are NOT successful. Currently, rock and alternative and everything that doesn't click with younger audience who download songs. Also, when a new Glee episode airs their songs will chart the following weekend. The same goes with X Factor performances. Chart success is also a bit more polarised than before which means charts in each country are easier to predict. The core example has been Take That who are ultra-successful in the UK & Ireland but nobody cares elsewhere. Edited July 7, 201015 yr by SKOB
July 7, 201015 yr Author Yes, a little, because it seems we're going back to the days of first week peaks, and record companies releasing weeks after songs premiere. Added to that, many of the big acts of the last couple of decades are releasing material at the moment, which is obviously successful. I agree about the first-week peaks, and I'll throw 'lack of variety' into the mix...
July 7, 201015 yr I think it's easier to predict. Mainly because you can just go on facebook, youtube, etc. and see which songs everybody is most hyped up about. It was quite obvious that songs such as Frisky, We No Speak Americano, etc. were going to be big. And also, as others have mentioned, how there's now advertising campaigns that spend 2 months getting people hyped up about a new track, so everybody rushes out to get it the week it gets released. Think Katy Perry, JLS, etc. This is not a bad thing though.
July 7, 201015 yr Yes, because in the past year I discovered BuzzJack, and in the past few months, Radio 1 have done a mid-week update :kink:
July 7, 201015 yr Yes, because theres itunes and given that 98.7% of the singles chart is downloads, an itunes number 1 is very often a singles chart number 1
July 7, 201015 yr It's always been like that since downloads were introduced really, back in the days when they first used to include downloads a week before their physical release you could pretty much determine how they were going to do by how high they were, in what order they were and which had the bigger fanbase that would buy the physicals as they had more impact back then. Back in 2008 everything shifted about a place every week which was the most boring and predictable I'd ever seen it. Nowadays those of us who monitor the iTunes chart can pretty much predict a rough outcome of how it'll be even if we didn't have midweeks.
July 7, 201015 yr Back in 2008 everything shifted about a place every week which was the most boring and predictable I'd ever seen it. Maybe so but there were "only" 20 brand new UK no. 1 singles in 2008 - the vast majority of them were excellent, imo. :P The genuinely popular songs got to no. 1 and stayed there. I prefer to see songs topping the UK chart and staying there to prove they're worthy of topping the chart. A song going 01-20-39-OUT (like McFly in 2006) is absolutely ridiculous and completely non-deserved. Thus producing what I call a non-no. 1 -_-
July 7, 201015 yr Yes, because of I-Tunes. Before the download age, the only general rules we got since the Tuesdays mids was that rock songs tended to fall til Sunday, whilst dance songs climbed.
July 7, 201015 yr Maybe so but there were "only" 20 brand new UK no. 1 singles in 2008 - the vast majority of them were excellent, imo. :P The genuinely popular songs got to no. 1 and stayed there. I prefer to see songs topping the UK chart and staying there to prove they're worthy of topping the chart. A song going 01-20-39-OUT (like McFly in 2006) is absolutely ridiculous and completely non-deserved. Thus producing what I call a non-no. 1 -_- It's traditional for every year to have the odd low selling #1 that does worse than the rest, although that McFly one in question was ridiculous but I guess entertaining to see. :lol: The reason I think songs hung around at their positions longer in 2008 (including #1) is partly because of the digital age getting in full swing, but in that era mainsteam music creativity was at a really low ebb, and it was tedious. There's a bit more variety and spice now.
July 7, 201015 yr Yes, because of I-Tunes. ...but we had iTunes in 2008. Singles sales were admittedly lower than they are now (an average #1 in 2008 sold roughly 60k compared to 80-90k in 2010). This is the other thing I can't understand. Because of iTunes, the music is unlimited. It's not like physical cds that eventually sell out. The tracks are there to buy 24/7 yet still in 2010 we've had a faster paced UK chart. Yet ironically, the songs that do stick around for ages benefit the most from television. A song used on X Factor = sales boost. An Audience With Take That = sales boost. Performance on The Jonathan Ross Show = sales boost. Most of these songs that have managed to stand the test of time (particularly in the last six months) weren't UK no. 1 hits but tracks that peaked inside the top 5 ('Empire State Of Mind', 'She Said', 'Rude Boy').
July 8, 201015 yr Author Yes, because of I-Tunes. Before the download age, the only general rules we got since the Tuesdays mids was that rock songs tended to fall til Sunday, whilst dance songs climbed. While I acknowledge that the iTunes charts obviously makes the following Sunday's charts easy to predict, IMO charts are easier to predict even *before* songs appear there. This relates back to my earlier point about lack of variety. You can be almost certain that a collaboration involving one or more big name rappers, will sell well, despite polarization of opinions over the genre.
July 8, 201015 yr Yes, because downloads matter a lot more now, so we can easily predict the chart based on the I-Tunes positions
July 9, 201015 yr Yes, if its a rap song, it will go to no.1 or easily top 5 :heehee: Thats very true. Another rule as well: If your name is Eminem - anywhere from 2-15 If your name is Rihanna - anywhere from 1-15 If David Guetta is on your song - you are VERY likely to make top 20 (Estelle exempt) If your name is Take That - Anywhere from 1-20 If you come from Europe and your name is NOT David Guetta (France, Sweden etc) - At best #3 at worst nowhere to be found If you're on your third single release and not one of the above - expect to struggle.
July 9, 201015 yr Well, I think this week will be difficult to predict the top 5, but this is an exception. I think in general it's quite easy. I think Buzzjack, iTunes, etc. helps though. But even without them, I reckon it'd be easier. Especially in like the X Factor season.
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