The number of releases making the UK singles chart started to pick up again in 2010, having hit a three-decade low just the year before.

 

Some 638 tracks entered the OCC Top 75 last year, a 10.1% increase on 2009 when only 579 releases made the chart, the lowest tally since 1978 when 457 releases charted, new Music Week research reveals.

 

However, despite the improvement, the number of tracks charting was still a long way short of 2004 when 1,069 different releases charted.

 

The total then dropped in each of the following six years, a period in which the UK singles market became increasingly dominated by downloads.

 

The rise of digital on the singles sector has had a significant impact in slowing down the chart with a number of tracks such as Kings Of Leon’s Sex On Fire and I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas having enjoyed extensive chart stays. This has had the effect of “blocking out” chart positions that might otherwise have been taken by new entries, giving fewer opportunities for new recordings by both new and established acts to chart.

 

But although the number of entries rose in 2010, some of the 579 singles charting during the year were not new releases but oldies returning as one-track downloads.

 

These included tracks re-charting through TV commercials, as well as programmes like The X Factor.

The dramatic increase is mostly the work of Glee I'd imagine...

Obviously the number has gone up anyway but Glee made it go up by a huge amount.

 

The number of top 100 hits has increased to 818 from last year's 740. 67 of these were Glee songs.

^^yeah nowadyas classic artists and bands could be guaranteed top 40 positions due to cd sales even if they didnt have much longevity eg kylie, the manics and morrissey but theyre all struggling now!!

A little addition... from MW.

 

Rock falls to historic low on annual singles chart

Source:MW

12:31 | Friday January 7, 2011

By Ben Cardew

 

The number of rock songs in the singles charts fell to its lowest tally in half a century last year, with only three tracks appearing among the 100 biggest hits in the UK. This was the lowest tally in 50 years and underlines what has been a difficult year for new acts, with few commercial breakthroughs.

 

The three tracks – led by Journey’s vintage Don’t Stop Believin’ at 25 – meant rock had a 3% share of the top 100, down from 13% last year - far behind hip hop / R&B (47%), pop (40%) and dance (10%).

 

This was its lowest tally in 50 years and underlines what has been a difficult year for new rock acts, with few commercial breakthroughs; a phenomenon that led Absolute Radio COO Clive Dickens to proclaim guitar-based music was “in a real lull” in 2010, while Radio 1 head of music George Ergatoudis said “brilliant” rock songs were few and far between.

 

Rock used to challenge pop for leadership of the singles chart and as recently as 2008 it accounted for 27 of the 100 biggest sellers.

 

 

On the top 100 albums, rock fared better, recording a 27% share, down just one percentage point on 2009. But there was still a paucity of rock acts at the very top of the charts, with only one rock act in the top 10 albums of the year – Mumford & Sons at 10 (although a case could be made for Florence + The Machine at eight).

 

The news comes as many in the industry are predicting a resurgence of rock music in 2011, pointing to the high-profile signings of Mona, Brother, The Vaccines and Yuck in late 2010, with debut albums due this year.

 

Of these acts, all save Brother appear on the BBC Sound Of 2011 longlist, although only The Vaccines made it into the five-strong shortlist.

A little addition... from MW.

 

The number of rock songs in the singles charts fell to its lowest tally in half a century last year, with only three appearing among the 100 biggest hits in the UK, This was the lowest tally in 50 years and underlines what has been a difficult year for new acts, with few commercial breakthroughs.

 

That's probably because per capita, rock and indie fans are more likely to illegally download tracks than fans of pop/urban/R&B artists. It's only really the rock songs that have massive crossover appeal, like Sex on Fire/Don't Stop Believing, that will sell well.

Anyone know what those three are?

 

Since Sex on Fire and Use Somebody came out, there's been hardly any rock at all in the charts - it's all pop/urban. The only major hit I can think of in the last two years is Muse's Uprising.

 

(and no, I'm not counting Scouting for Girls or Diana Vickers :P)

The number of rock songs in the singles charts fell to its lowest tally in half a century last year, with only three appearing among the 100 biggest hits in the UK, This was the lowest tally in 50 years and underlines what has been a difficult year for new acts, with few commercial breakthroughs.

 

:cheer:

 

Out of interest, which 3 rock songs made the top 100? I find the definition of a rock song to be very narrow tbh anyway. Like with a lot of songs in the charts, you can say "This is pop influences", and nobody complains, "It also has dance influences", nobody complains, "It also has hip hop influences", nobody complains, "It also has RnB influences", nobody complains, "It also has rock influences", and the typical response is "No it doesn't! It's a terrible song! It's urban! It's not a rock song! Not all songs with guitars are rock songs! If this is a rock song, rock music is dead!" :lol:

 

Although I guess the OCC use what genres the records are registered under to determine how many rock songs are in the year-end top 100? So it'll be songs eligible to chart on the weekly Rock chart?

 

But let's put it this way. According the OCC, Game Over is a dance song.

Edited January 11, 201114 yr by Eric_Blob

I just found the full article on MW about this, edits post 8

That's probably because per capita, rock and indie fans are more likely to illegally download tracks than fans of pop/urban/R&B artists. It's only really the rock songs that have massive crossover appeal, like Sex on Fire/Don't Stop Believing, that will sell well.

 

I'd disagree there actually, rock and indie fans I'd think are more loyal when it comes to their band probably because they feel an idenity compared to the usual stuff that comes out on ITunes that's urban/R&B and sounds the same as the stuff that has came before it

 

for example, bands like AC/DC have a massive following and bands like the Manic Street Preachers (not on the same scale) have their loyal fanbase who will buy every single/album and go to every tour. I guess what I'm trying to say is somebody might like a song by an artist on ITunes (lets say it's Far East Movement or that Glee song which is in the top 10) but are they guaranteed to like the next thing they put out? I would say not. Whereas fans of the Manics will buy the album, go to the tour and buy the singles that come from that album despite having the album that those singles come from

 

I'm not saying somebody like Rihanna might not have the same sort of thing but I'd think rock band fans are more likely to do it because they might think "if I don't, then this band might cease to exist if the sales aren't good enough" whereas Rihanna sells lots of copies of her albums so casual fans might think "she's sold enough, doesn't matter if she loses one sale". AC/DC is probably the wrong example to use at the start actually as they have millions of fans and I doubt everybody buys everything they put out or go to the tours but I'd guess the Manics are probably a good example

"Rock" songs in the Top 100 were Journey - Don't Stop Believin (25), Train - Hey Soul Sister (84) and Florence & The Machine - Dog Days Are Over (93)

Train as rock :lol: I love that song, but it's MOR as hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll :lol: Florence is more pop/indie too.