Shout for England after Germany knocked out England?

I bet The Saturdays management are reading this thread and thinking SO THAT'S HOW WE NEED TO DO IT!

 

 

 

(In regards to getting a song to have a high peak)

Edited January 2, 201213 yr by Martyn

I bet The Saturdays management are reading this thread and thinking SO THAT'S HOW WE NEED TO DO IT!

(In regards to getting a song to have a high peak)

 

He he, Regarding their next single... The Saturdays could give their fans an option of individually downloading the 5 vocals of the band, each one counting as a separate download! Lol

I really shouldn't be giving the Saturday's management any ideas!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just worry that it's going to set a dangerous precedent more than anything. How long before other so called YouTube stars look at Alex Day's success, want a piece of it themselves, realise that putting umpteen versions of your song on iTunes is an easy way to go about this and makes the chart a complete and utter mess. Ultimately the line has to be drawn somewhere and I don't see why the OCC don't simply have a rule of only the most downloaded x amount of versions of a song can count in a single week. It wouldn't even make a jot of difference in 99.9999999% (you get the idea) of cases. I don't know how many versions Alex Day had but I do think it was TOO many and inflated his chart position by at least several places.

 

And I put manipulating in inverted commas because it was just an easy word to describe it and I couldn't be arsed to think of another; it's not necessarily manipulation but it IS influencing the charts, which IS actually against chart rules - though, of course, there's no set definition of this rule and it's largely looked at on a case-by-case basis. Perhaps the OCC did look at Alex Day's sales though and verified them as within order, in which case it's whatever and I'll have to accept even if I think it was ridiculous, but I still hope to God the above scenario doesn't manifest itself - something like this happening more than once would be enough to drive me away from the charts for good if they start becoming more and more about how loony your online fanbase is.

 

I do agree - it seems like a crazy rule that just shouldn't be there. But hey, I'm unsigned and if it's all legal and above board to do it that way, I will. I even phoned the charts people to check. Anyway, I'm not a YouTube prankster trying to mess with things, I'm a musician trying to bring exposure to my music, and I definitely succeeded in doing that (for all the good it did, no radio play meant we dropped like a brick!)

 

To answer your question, I had fifteen versions in total including the original, HOWEVER: the song on its own was at number 4 on iTunes for a good few days, and just that original track sold at least 20k. The versions helped a lot, but the song would have been in the Top 40 even without the inflation.

 

And to whoever mentioned using the stems of a song to get the track higher up the charts - I looked into that and they said it wouldn't count because it would be too fragmented, and would fall into the rules of ringtones (selling specific segments of a song).

 

(I've been stalking this forum ever since Chartjackers, finally joined because I wanted to see what people made of all this and helpfully contribute to the discussion)

It's just a clever way of getting more sales out of a devoted fanbase - if people are willing to spend that much money/buy that many versions then they should all count towards the chart IMO. It's not manipulation, it's just proof of the artist's popularity.

 

 

I dont think it is. It's more proof of the fans' devotion.

I do agree - it seems like a crazy rule that just shouldn't be there. But hey, I'm unsigned and if it's all legal and above board to do it that way, I will. I even phoned the charts people to check. Anyway, I'm not a YouTube prankster trying to mess with things, I'm a musician trying to bring exposure to my music, and I definitely succeeded in doing that (for all the good it did, no radio play meant we dropped like a brick!)

 

To answer your question, I had fifteen versions in total including the original, HOWEVER: the song on its own was at number 4 on iTunes for a good few days, and just that original track sold at least 20k. The versions helped a lot, but the song would have been in the Top 40 even without the inflation.

 

And to whoever mentioned using the stems of a song to get the track higher up the charts - I looked into that and they said it wouldn't count because it would be too fragmented, and would fall into the rules of ringtones (selling specific segments of a song).

 

(I've been stalking this forum ever since Chartjackers, finally joined because I wanted to see what people made of all this and helpfully contribute to the discussion)

 

 

The biggest slide, not just of the week, but of more than 59 years of chart history, comes from Alex Day, whose Forever Yours dives to number 112 (4,938 sales), a week after entering a number four. No single in chart history has fallen out of the Top 75 from a higher position.

 

Well you have made chart history :D post taken from MW sales report.

Yep - biggest loser the chart's ever seen, officially. I basically did a flashmob of the charts. Oh well.

Yep - biggest loser the chart's ever seen, officially. I basically did a flashmob of the charts. Oh well.

 

 

I'd still rather listen to your music than Chasing Cars or I Gotta Feeling.

Edited January 2, 201213 yr by tonyttt31

Yep - biggest loser the chart's ever seen, officially. I basically did a flashmob of the charts. Oh well.

 

The biggest loser would be someone who didn't make the chart at all! You should be proud of what you achieved. You had no record label pushing you, no performances on national TV and no real airplay but got up there with Coldplay and Rihanna. No shame in that.

So these have dropped TOP 20 -> out (excluding FONY which always returns):

 

Alex Day – Forever Yours (#4, 2011)

Wet Wet Wet – Weightless (#10, 2008)

Leeds United Team & Supporters – Leeds Leeds Leeds (Marching on Together) (#10, 2010)

The Chemical Brothers – Loops of Fury EP (#13, 1996)

John Barrowman – I Made It Through the Rain (#14, 2009)

Royal British Legion – 2 Minute Silence (#20, 2010)

 

 

Any more?

The biggest loser would be someone who didn't make the chart at all! You should be proud of what you achieved. You had no record label pushing you, no performances on national TV and no real airplay but got up there with Coldplay and Rihanna. No shame in that.

 

Indeed! Top 5 is a great achievement no matter what.

 

I've never listened to the track in full, but the clip on iTunes seemed decent enough! #4 - #112 is quite the achievement. :lol: Bur you did well to make the Top 40 officially even with your highest version alone! :D

Aww, thank you! Look how nice you all are. I like this forum.

As if we've got a Top 5 charter on our forums - not something you can say everyday! :o

Edited January 2, 201213 yr by ROBOT

Aww, thank you! Look how nice you all are. I like this forum.

 

Have you not been approached by any record lables yet showing an interest after 'Forever Yours' made the top 5 a fortnight ago?

 

I don't see why an act like you can't do well. You've clearly got a devoted fan base. You'd think record companies would be going "£££ *. * £££" at the prospect. Of course, depending on your stance, that's the problem. It's them who stand to rack in the money out of you despite you doing all the hard work.

 

In fact, there's a lad called Hamza Robertson who has recently joined the company where I work. He's basically doing a 9 to 5 sales job to provide for his family, yet he's also a (semi) relatively successful Islamic singer. He's been offered record deals over the last 3 years but none of them were tempting enough because the record lable weren't willing to give Tom a decent percentage of any profits made.

 

Therefore I actually salute you for achieving what you did, even if the track was only in the official chart for 1 week. Like Tony posted earlier, 'Forever Yours' is a decent song.

Have you not been approached by any record lables yet showing an interest after 'Forever Yours' made the top 5 a fortnight ago?

 

I don't see why an act like you can't do well. You've clearly got a devoted fan base. You'd think record companies would be going "£££ *. * £££" at the prospect. Of course, depending on your stance, that's the problem. It's them who stand to rack in the money out of you despite you doing all the hard work.

 

In fact, there's a lad called Hamza Robertson who has recently joined the company where I work. He's basically doing a 9 to 5 sales job to provide for his family, yet he's also a (semi) relatively successful Islamic singer. He's been offered record deals over the last 3 years but none of them were tempting enough because the record lable weren't willing to give Tom a decent percentage of any profits made.

 

Therefore I actually salute you for achieving what you did, even if the track was only in the official chart for 1 week. Like Tony posted earlier, 'Forever Yours' is a decent song.

 

Oh yes, much label interest. I'm not really expecting too much though, because right now I want to develop my own creative instincts as a songwriter and a producer, and I want to focus on singles instead of albums because they allow me to turn every individual song of mine into its own event (and makes more sense with the digital distribution model, which I can also do myself). A good label would be able to offer me a lot of exposure opportunities, and it'll be easier to get radio play if I'm on one, but that's provided the label would make me a priority and know what to do with me, which to be honest I doubt they do. Apart from XL, I don't think any label would know how to do things differently enough for it to work with the way I run things, and I'd especially worry about them stifling and dictating my YouTube content, which it's taken me five and a half years to build up on my own.

Oh yes, much label interest. I'm not really expecting too much though, because right now I want to develop my own creative instincts as a songwriter and a producer, and I want to focus on singles instead of albums because they allow me to turn every individual song of mine into its own event (and makes more sense with the digital distribution model, which I can also do myself). A good label would be able to offer me a lot of exposure opportunities, and it'll be easier to get radio play if I'm on one, but that's provided the label would make me a priority and know what to do with me, which to be honest I doubt they do. Apart from XL, I don't think any label would know how to do things differently enough for it to work with the way I run things, and I'd especially worry about them stifling and dictating my YouTube content, which it's taken me five and a half years to build up on my own.

It's quite a brave approach that you appear to be taking the reins yourself when it comes to your career, but it's got you a Top 5 single, so it's clearly working. And, you appear to be very aware of the business that's in front of you too. Out of interest, aside from label interest which it's clear you've thought about, have you been approached by other songwriters and producers?

Aww, thank you! Look how nice you all are. I like this forum.

By releasing the song when you did you missed out on the chance to read about yourself in my weekly ramblings :lol: For what it's worth, I would have had some kind words to say as I rather like the song. I look forward to hearing more.

So these have dropped TOP 20 -> out (excluding FONY which always returns):

 

Alex Day – Forever Yours (#4, 2011)

Wet Wet Wet – Weightless (#10, 2008)

Leeds United Team & Supporters – Leeds Leeds Leeds (Marching on Together) (#10, 2010)

The Chemical Brothers – Loops of Fury EP (#13, 1996)

John Barrowman – I Made It Through the Rain (#14, 2009)

Royal British Legion – 2 Minute Silence (#20, 2010)

Any more?

 

Shut Up And Dance - Raving I'm Raving (from #15).

So these have dropped TOP 20 -> out (excluding FONY which always returns):

 

Alex Day – Forever Yours (#4, 2011)

Wet Wet Wet – Weightless (#10, 2008)

Leeds United Team & Supporters – Leeds Leeds Leeds (Marching on Together) (#10, 2010)

The Chemical Brothers – Loops of Fury EP (#13, 1996)

John Barrowman – I Made It Through the Rain (#14, 2009)

Royal British Legion – 2 Minute Silence (#20, 2010)

Any more?

 

Garbage - Shut Your Mouth (#20, 2002)