Ah yes, the marketing ploy of the cheap first week CD single.

 

 

In 1981, only about 4% of hit singles peaked in their first week. By 1990 it was about 32%, by 1996 94% and each year from 1997-2005 over 96%. Since downloads have been charted, we're now down to about 67%

 

(All percentages are approximate because it depends on how interpret re-mixes, re-releases, re-entries etc. as new hits or just the same as old ones)

The thing is, some new-ish releases are reduced to 59p, like Paramore's 'Still Into You' for example, so it wouldn't be fair for them to lose all chart success. Also, it's only a handful of the 59p songs that actually make the Top 100 - there's many which don't even make it to the Top 1000 on iTunes!

 

They would have had multiple weeks at #1 if they were in this chart!!!

 

I don't think discounted songs should count for less than a full price song, since the official chart is simply a sales chart. A sale is a sale, and the chart shows what sells the most.

 

If it was a popularity chart, yes, you could argue a cheaper song that less a certain amount is less popular than a full price song that sells that amount, so in that case there is reason to have a discounted song count for less, but in the official chart, it's simply a list of how much each song has sold.