Imports are still allowed in the chart AFAIA. None have actually charted anywhere significant on the singles chart recently but on the album chart the first 2 Glee albums and Bruno Mars' debut album both charted on imports.

Maybe in case they forget?

If they forget they can't have wanted it that much? I'd never pre-order anything, I might have gone off it by the time it's released!

Holding stuff back for weeks isn't fair (vs OA/OS releases), but pre-orders themselves are entirely fair. It doesn't bloat sale figures, so I don't really where the potential for unfairness comes from?

Scrap pre-orders I say, they make the charts really boring and predictable. I miss the days of seeing newly released songs climb from #1500 to #1 like they did in 2012.

Scrap pre-orders I say, they make the charts really boring and predictable. I miss the days of seeing newly released songs climb from #1500 to #1 like they did in 2012.

 

Pre-orders still happened then, just in a different form.

They're pointless anyway since the stock can't run out.

I wouldn't say they're pointless, they play a huge part in the opening position of a song I think. The concept of pre-ordering on iTunes does seem redundant so I see your point though :P

 

A pre-order isn't a sale because no money has been taken and it can be cancelled before release.

 

It's just an agreement that iTunes will take £0.99 as soon as the song becomes available.

 

What's the big deal?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pre-order isn't a sale because no money has been taken and it can be cancelled before release.

 

It's just an agreement that iTunes will take £0.99 as soon as the song becomes available.

 

What's the big deal?

 

If it isn't a sale it shouldn't be taken into account on an Itunes chart then.

A pre-order isn't a sale because no money has been taken and it can be cancelled before release.

 

It's just an agreement that iTunes will take £0.99 as soon as the song becomes available.

 

What's the big deal?

It kills the entertainment, suspense and excitement of the charts, it's like when you're with your partner and something happens prematurely.

 

Using chart battles as an example Cheryl Cole vs MAGIC! from July could have been a really good and unpredictable showdown if pre-orders didn't exist (at least in the first half of that week anyway).

 

Clean Bandit's rise to the top would have been quite epic to witness as well.

Edited October 19, 201410 yr by Sheikh Abdul

Using chart battles as an example Cheryl Cole vs MAGIC! from July could have been a really good and unpredictable showdown if pre-orders didn't exist (at least in the first half of that week anyway).

 

He says, having predicted it wrong anyway :P

 

I don't see the big issue with them being in the chart at all, if you want to be surprised then don't look at the iTunes chart.

If it isn't a sale it shouldn't be taken into account on an Itunes chart then.

You know the iTunes Top 100 Songs isn't an official chart :lol:

 

It's just a rundown of what happens to be popular that hour / morning / day that we all spend WAY too much time obsessing over :lol: .

 

 

Clean Bandit's rise to the top would have been quite epic to witness as well.

But 'Rather Be' reaching #7 on pre-orders was pretty epic, was it not?

 

I don't see the big issue with them being in the chart at all, if you want to be surprised then don't look at the iTunes chart.

This is what I do. ^_^

 

With the exception of Rooney's starting response, some good feedback. Thanks. It was just a just something I thought as I walked back in from a smoke earlier and I didn't think it was such a bad thing to suggest that it warranted the first comment but anyhow some people like a whine don't they? :-)

 

Pre-ordering a song doesn't mean you're going to actually buy it during the week of release or in the future. After all preordering music just means iTunes actually tells you the week of release that the song you pre-ordered weeks ago is finally available to purchase, it's like an alarm... But you can choose to not buy the song even if you pre-order it.

Pre-ordering a song doesn't mean you're going to actually buy it during the week of release or in the future. After all preordering music just means iTunes actually tells you the week of release that the song you pre-ordered weeks ago is finally available to purchase, it's like an alarm... But you can choose to not buy the song even if you pre-order it.

No, you're definitely charged as soon as it becomes available.

I don't see the argument here. If someone preorders a track, they don't pay for it or own the song until release point and its at that point its counted as a sale. Its hardly unfair.

No, you're definitely charged as soon as it becomes available.

 

That's because you've settle iTunes like this... In my case it doesn't. I'm asked if I still want to download the pre-ordered song.

 

The last sing I pre-ordered was CSL and I remember the message clearly.

Edited October 19, 201410 yr by Carlos V

I personally think the whole pre-order thing is ridiculous, it makes the charts boring and predictable and caused a big drop in sales this year until streaming was added.

 

I know its how things worked up until downloads really took off but thats the point. Back in the 90's, for the majority you couldn't get hold of music another other way than actually buying it from a shop when it got released so you had no choice but to wait. But now there just is absolutely no point in holding a song back for 4-6 weeks when people can just download it anywhere, also in the day and age we live in now people don't want to wait to buy things as soon as they see them and thats how music should be people should be allowed to buy a song as soon as its released to radio and not have to wait for several weeks for it.

 

Rant over lol.

 

Pre-orders have been going for years. I don't see why they'd have caused a big drop in sales this year :lol: iTunes had EP pre-orders as the "in-thing" until some point last year, I don't know why you think pre-orders alone would suddenly cause a drop in sales.

I def think pre orders and holding back tracks for ridiculously long periods of time helped stifle sales between 2011-2014.

 

Thankfully since this topic was created last year the chart has changed(after weeks of one week No1s) so that the people at the top have made pre orders less relevant apart from the biggest tracks. It has made record companies think of better ways to release their tracks - for example Blame & the old OAOS release for a big return like Shake it Off!