Posted November 16, 201212 yr Reggie Yates says charts are 'healthier than ever' Source: MW by Rhian Jones BBC Radio 1 personality Reggie Yates has hit back at claims the singles chart is no longer relevant, saying that his Chart Show slot ‘is the most democratic programme on air’. Speaking in an NME blog post titled Does The Singles Chart Still Matter?, Yates explains: “The charts put the power in the hands of the public. In that way, my show on Radio 1 is the most democratic programme on-air, because we’re literally playing what people want – it’s the songs we’ve all been buying that week. “A lot of people ask me if iTunes and downloading have ruined the charts. In fact, I think these new developments have made it all more exciting." Yates was a presenter on Top of the Pops alongside Fearne Cotton and now presents The Official Chart show every Sunday from 4pm on BBC Radio 1. Speaking on the future of the charts and the impact of streaming services such as Spotify, he added: “A new generation of kids may be getting their music for free, but at the same time they are getting into more music than ever. For all these reasons, I think the charts are healthier now than they’ve ever been. “In most ways nothing has changed since the days of going down to Woolworths on a Saturday morning; it’s just that people tend to spend their fiver online now. The big difference is people don’t have to wait for labels to line up singles any more. It puts the power back into the hands of the people, and the record labels can’t stand it.”
November 16, 201212 yr The first line BBC Radio One "Personality", is a contadiction on it's own. Personality? What Personality? Quite hilarious! Relevance? Relevant to the age of those that purchase & download songs i.e. most under 40s. Albums much more relevant to a bigger age range, is what he should be saying & not about just "kids". Edited November 16, 201212 yr by davetaylor
November 16, 201212 yr Would you not agree this IS and will change more as time goes on - look at this year with the popularity of soft rock singles like Gotye being the years biggest seller! Edited November 16, 201212 yr by steve201
November 16, 201212 yr Would you not agree this IS and will change more as time goes on - look at this year with the popularity of soft rack singles like Gotye being the years biggest seller! What do you mean by 'soft rack singles'? :P
November 16, 201212 yr Who exactly has said the singles chart isn't relevant anyway? :lol: Plenty of people have said that although it is often based on the assumption that sales are as bad as they were five or so years ago.
November 16, 201212 yr The charts aren't irrelevant but I don't think they matter as much as they used to. I doubt many people know what song is #1 at any given time.
November 16, 201212 yr Indeed, i always have to correct them by saying more singles are sold now than in history of the the charts. The charts are democratic, but we need OA/OS releases for everything to make it fully accountable!
November 17, 201212 yr Surely its not the charts that have become irrelevant but more chart positions that have become irrelevant, as singles can now sell 1,000's every week without ever making the top 75
November 17, 201212 yr Opps rock i meant! Gotye's track is more indie/alternative than rock. It just happens to be one of those songs that ended up appealing to a lot of people outside of Buzzjack.
November 17, 201212 yr Plenty of people have said that although it is often based on the assumption that sales are as bad as they were five or so years ago. I was just coming in here to say this. A lot of people gave up on the singles market in 2004 and 2005 and it's sad. :(
November 17, 201212 yr Surely its not the charts that have become irrelevant but more chart positions that have become irrelevant, as singles can now sell 1,000's every week without ever making the top 75 I estimate the 1000/wk level is now around #280.
November 17, 201212 yr The BBC Four programme last night celebrating 60 years of the singles chart was very interesting. I don't think the Top 40 will ever be as popular as it once was, there were times in the 1980s and 1990s that over 7 million people listened every week- it's popularity has fallen dramatically and there is no longer the shared collective experience of finding out the brand new exciting Top 10. 1995 was the year that record companies became quite adept at getting singles (that wouldn't necessarily get to #1 under normal circumstances) to debut at #1 and from then on the chart hasn't really been a democracy but rather a prescribed/controlled entity and that has got increasingly predictable and boring over time. There are still surprises - but they are an anomaly. I mean Jessie Ware is one of the best new artists and has a Top 5 album to her name, but has she spent a single week inside the UK Top 40 on the singles chart..? No. The chart used to be the fastest moving chart in the world, and full of variety - now it is very bizarre to get anything that isn't mainstream into the Top 40. Chris' article in the Metaphorical Boat was a very well written explanation of this.
November 17, 201212 yr I totally disagree. While I feel there is an argument when comparing to the charts say, between 1997 - 2007, when it was all about plugging a track to death before release, it cannot possibly compare to the erractic and unpredictable charts of basically anytime pre 1995. I don't pay much attention to the charts (when you're pushing 30, this is what usually happens!). The charts are incredibly slow and singles can spend absolutely ages falling down the charts (this is my observation anyway) and I often find several consecutive top 40s look very similar.... and Reggie says the charts are exciting?? I'm glad he's done one! Edited November 17, 201212 yr by ScottyEm
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