March 18, 201312 yr ISTM the answer is obvious - the UK chart, as it's based *solely* on what music fans are actually buying, not which songs radio stations are 'influenced' into playing!
March 18, 201312 yr Author ISTM the answer is obvious - the UK chart, as it's based *solely* on what music fans are actually buying, not which songs radio stations are 'influenced' into playing! what about delayed release? Song A release on radio and on sales at the same times and got 70,000 sales (On Air On Sales) in week X Song B release on radio for 5 weeks before going on sales and sold 71,000 sales (withhold to boost sales) in week X Is Song B more popular since it sold 1,000 more copies in week X? Edited March 18, 201312 yr by Dust2
March 18, 201312 yr In terms of measuring POPULARITY of a song, then the Hot 100 is the better measurement as it takes into account streaming/youtube/radio/sales. I don't think that's the best measure of compiling chart though, sales based all the way for me.
March 18, 201312 yr There are songs that are massively popular but they're not in the charts because they are not released yet. It is quite weird when a song is HUGE, you hear it everywhere, people play it all the time on youtupe or spotify or illegaly, and the track doesn't show up in the charts... At least, when airplay and streaming are included, popular songs doesn't have to be released for their popularity to be translated into the charts, therefore it's a better indication of what is really "hot" at the moment. I'm not saying I would like airplay and streaming to be counted towards the UK charts, but both systems have their positives and negatives.
March 18, 201312 yr what about delayed release? Song A release on radio and on sales at the same times and got 70,000 sales (On Air On Sales) in week X Song B release on radio for 5 weeks before going on sales and sold 71,000 sales (withhold to boost sales) in week X Is Song B more popular since it sold 1,000 more copies in week X? ITSM the real issue is one of overall sales, not temporal distribution. In any case, manipulation of 1st week sales is hardly a new phenomenon... :P
March 19, 201312 yr what about delayed release? Song A release on radio and on sales at the same times and got 70,000 sales (On Air On Sales) in week X Song B release on radio for 5 weeks before going on sales and sold 71,000 sales (withhold to boost sales) in week X Is Song B more popular since it sold 1,000 more copies in week X? But that's not the fault of the way our chart is measured, that's the fault of record labels manipulating the chart. If record labels manipulated releases in the US as they do over here then the Hot 100 would be similarly skewed.
March 19, 201312 yr The point is there have been thousands of songs held back for 5/6 weeks to try and jump into the top 10 but don't as well.i think all songs should be released on air on sale and radio would eventually get used to it it would mean a lot of artists would begin entering the radio 1 playlist in the alist on the first week it would be good for the charts as it would lessen illegal downloads and also artists especially marketed pop acts would start making more effort as it would be about the music and the songs released rather than the marketing!!
March 19, 201312 yr The point is there have been thousands of songs held back for 5/6 weeks to try and jump into the top 10 but don't as well.i think all songs should be released on air on sale and radio would eventually get used to it it would mean a lot of artists would begin entering the radio 1 playlist in the alist on the first week it would be good for the charts as it would lessen illegal downloads and also artists especially marketed pop acts would start making more effort as it would be about the music and the songs released rather than the marketing!!
March 19, 201312 yr Sales don't mean popularity, it's just what ppl are buying. Popularity for me means that you as a consumer have a possibility to influence the chart till you really like the song/album/video even without repurchasing it. For this adding streaming or even your iPod plays would be more accurate than the sales only chart.
March 19, 201312 yr Sales is the only component that really measures popularity since YouTube views only shows the popularity of a video... I think the addition of YouTube views on the BB Hot 100 totally ruined the charts since it lead to a situation where the biggest selling song in the US by far Thrift Shop was denied of number 1 because of a viral 30 second video showing people randomly dancing to a random song that people didn't even bother to spend 1.29$ on , aka Harlem Shake.... A song's success is defined by sales not by radio airplay or viral videos, that's why i think the UK chart formula is the best and most representative... Edited March 19, 201312 yr by Big Mistake
March 19, 201312 yr Sales is the only component that really measures popularity since YouTube views only shows the popularity of a video... I think the addition of YouTube views on the BB Hot 100 totally ruined the charts since it lead to a situation where the biggest selling song in the US by far Thrift Shop was denied of number 1 because of a viral 30 second video showing people randomly dancing to a random song that people didn't even bother to spend 1.29$ on , aka Harlem Shake.... A song's success is defined by sales not by radio airplay or viral videos, that's why i think the UK chart formula is the best and most representative... The problem with "Harlem shake" is that they added the views of all the amateur videos, which makes no sense. Streaming on platforms such as spotify is a far better indication of what's popular though.
March 19, 201312 yr What I listen to has no impact on the UK charts, because I haven't bought any music in years. But if I lived in the US, the stuff I listen to would be included in their charts. This applies to most people I've met at my uni as well. I never seen anybody using iTunes, and trust me, many people here listen to music 24/7, and we're constantly on each others laptops. But the OCC have said themselves that the singles chart isn't a representation of what is popular, and it's not supposed to be.
March 19, 201312 yr Popularity is a subjective thing and is very hard to measure representatively. Both charts show somehow what is popular of course in different ways but neither charts are 100% accurate. Why? Other members already answered that. So to compare the two charts is bit "stupid" imo. The sales charts always shows what is bought and will not show what is really loved because some songs are not available at the period the chart was compiled, the Billboard chart is still manipulated by radios because of the influence of the airplay.
March 19, 201312 yr stating the obvious I know... Ones a total sales chart (UK), the other isn't (US). Edited March 19, 201312 yr by seanster
March 19, 201312 yr The point is there have been thousands of songs held back for 5/6 weeks to try and jump into the top 10 but don't as well.i think all songs should be released on air on sale and radio would eventually get used to it it would mean a lot of artists would begin entering the radio 1 playlist in the alist on the first week it would be good for the charts as it would lessen illegal downloads and also artists especially marketed pop acts would start making more effort as it would be about the music and the songs released rather than the marketing!! But the point is irrelevant to the topic at hand. The question asks which method of chart formation is more accurate, not which country manipulates their chart method more. Of course a country that manipulates its chart is going to be more skewed, but that doesn't mean the formula of that country's chart is less accurate than the formula of the country where labels play fairly. Of course we could compare any other country thats chart is solely a measure of sales (France for example is purely sales but still always OA/OS) but then anything barring the UK/US is alien to most on here.
March 19, 201312 yr The thing with sales are - they are totally objective, being precisely measurable, whereas streaming & airplay are subjective, at least in terms of their sales equivalence.
March 19, 201312 yr The thing with sales are - they are totally objective, being precisely measurable, whereas streaming & airplay are subjective, at least in terms of their sales equivalence. Streaming's only subjective if you have it combined with a sales chart. The number of streams a song gets is very much precisely measurable, and I'd argue a far more accurate measure of popularity than a sale.
March 19, 201312 yr Streaming's only subjective if you have it combined with a sales chart. The number of streams a song gets is very much precisely measurable, and I'd argue a far more accurate measure of popularity than a sale. It really depends on precisely what you think the chart should measure though. Also, what's to stop, say, tens of thousands of Justin Bieber fans organising a campaign to stream his songs hundreds of times a week, thus manipulating the chart?
March 19, 201312 yr Also, what's to stop, say, tens of thousands of Justin Bieber fans organising a campaign to stream his songs hundreds of times a week, thus manipulating the chart? Like the vast majority of chart campaigns, time, a lack of co-ordination and a preponderance of better things to do, I'd say.
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