Ah thank god it doesn't count from this week. I don't want it to happen at all though.

Streaming counts from next Sunday though as the first chart to include streaming, unveiled on Sunday 6 July will be based on sales and streams from Sunday 29 June to Saturday 5 July. This week will be the last week where the resulting chart will be purely sales based.

 

I wonder if the midweeks will include streaming data? If so, the first chart to be affected will be the midweek chart published at 9am on Tuesday 1 July. The following day, Wednesday 2 July, Radio 1 will be announcing what could be the first ever midweek chart update to include streaming data.

 

If the midweeks don't inlcude streaming data then it could make the Sunday chart less predictable. especially for tracks lower down the chart where sales are normally much closer than at the very top end of the chart.

Streaming counts from next Sunday though as the first chart to include streaming, unveiled on Sunday 6 July will be based on sales and streams from Sunday 29 June to Saturday 5 July. This week will be the last week where the resulting chart will be purely sales based.

 

I wonder if the midweeks will include streaming data? If so, the first chart to be affected will be the midweek chart published at 9am on Tuesday 1 July. The following day, Wednesday 2 July, Radio 1 will be announcing what could be the first ever midweek chart update to include streaming data.

 

If the midweeks don't inlcude streaming data then it could make the Sunday chart less predictable. especially for tracks lower down the chart where sales are normally much closer than at the very top end of the chart.

I assume the mids will include streaming. Otherwise it would be a bit like announcing half-time football scores with own goals not being counted.

I'm curious to know, what will happen to the songs that have already premiered but are scheduled to be released after the 6th of July?

Well the way I see it, they can change the methodology of certifications but they can't just change the methodology of a 'million sellers list' when it is defined by the very name of the list. If they are counting streaming to the all-time list it will cease to be a million sellers list (presumably a separate list of purely sales based million "sellers" would still be kept anyway in the same way the sales-only chart isn't being discontinued when streams are incorporated into the official chart).

Definitely. Are there other countries that combine sales/streaming to their charts, and if so how have they addressed this issue? All I know is that sales are the only thing the RIAA counts cumulatively, even though the Hot 100 includes airplay and streaming as the official weekly chart. Keeping track of cumulative chart points/units has never been a thing; Billboard does keep track of it but the quantities are never published, only cumulative sales. I think the OCC will do this similarly: take each song's sales/streaming total for a given week and use it strictly for that week's chart, and anything beyond that, including the end-of-year chart, will use the separate quantities for sales and streaming.

 

I really will never understand why Billboard (and other world charts) genuinely consider airplay to be an indicator of popularity. They're literally saying 'radio executives think this is popular therefore it's popular'. Thankfully the OCC are sensible about this.

Obviously I agree with this as well but it's part of a formula that was implemented before technology was truly capable of calculating popularity like it is today. I can appreciate that airplay has remained a component to maintain consistency in the aspect of how a song gets to #1. Likewise the UK Singles Chart has been historically a sales chart until this point, as this will be the first time after how many decades that a song can be #1 without being the highest-seller. But even with streaming the chart will still be a credible measurement of music consumption, perhaps even more so. And I agree that this is a sensible way for them to introduce streaming. (Except for certifications :P)

Excited by this news and curious to see how it shakes up the chart, even if it will most likely drag older songs up. The 100:1 ratio seems obviously skewed towards sales at the moment, but I wonder if that'll quickly change. I was just looking at the Spotify numbers, and just 6 months ago, the top streamed songs were getting around 600,000 plays, but Waves has gone over 1,000,000 for the past 2 months, so if the trends continue, streaming's impact will greatly increase. Interesting though.

I'm curious to know, what will happen to the songs that have already premiered but are scheduled to be released after the 6th of July?

We might see some of them enter the top 100 before they're released, if they're already on streaming sites and making a big enough impact there. The general consensus is that they'll have a low entry position and stay near the bottom of the chart, then have a massive climb into the top 40 on its first week of sales. But we'll have to wait and see! :D

 

This could have a bad impact on Ministry Of Sound releases as they don't currently allow their music on Spotify.

 

Sounds like a very strong incentive to change that policy, then... :)

 

just when the UK are starting to become fast and interesting again, the streaming inclusion will make it as slow as the Billboard Charts.... such a shame...

 

Not so - don't forget Billboard includes airplay too.

 

 

Finally!! The announcement will make me switch 100% to streaming now - Just set up my premium EE/Deezer account in celebration!

 

Not me - I'm quite happy to have music that I can retain permanently on my iPod!

 

That''s going to make my job harder every Monday morning :lol:

 

Tell me about it! :drama:

 

I fear I may have to radically rewrite my spreadsheets... :(

 

I just hope the OCC have measures in place to prevent abuse - e.g. boy/girlband fans streaming songs hundreds of times a week to push them to a higher position than their actual popularity deserves...

I just hope the OCC have measures in place to prevent abuse - e.g. boy/girlband fans streaming songs hundreds of times a week to push them to a higher position than their actual popularity deserves...

The OCC are going to limit the amount of streams that count to, if I heard this correctly on Radio 5 Live this morning, 6 streams per song per user per week. The 5 Live story also mentioned that all streams of 30 seconds or longer of songs will count.

 

I'm sure the OCC will soon publish a revised set of Singles chart rules, to incorporate the rules on streaming which will clarify the above. I expect Music Week to provide a fuller explanation of the new rules sometime this week, possibly even today.

Edited June 23, 201411 yr by Robbie

I just hope the OCC have measures in place to prevent abuse - e.g. boy/girlband fans streaming songs hundreds of times a week to push them to a higher position than their actual popularity deserves...

 

This has already been addressed in this thread (streams are capped anyway but honestly I don't really see why they should be, the numbers involved are so large that it will not be any easier for fanbases to push songs up the chart this way than it already is, the absolute most that one person can contribute to a song's sales in a week via streaming is about 25 units and realistically no one is going to care enough to do that).

Just watching BBC breakfast they were saying that a song had to be listened to for 30 seconds to count and that the amount of listens that count per user is 10 although didn't specify the time frame for that, I hope it's daily. Otherwise it could take 10 weeks for a song to reach the 1 sale mark. Also how will rounding be implemented? The traditional way? Or always rounded up or down?

This has already been addressed in this thread (streams are capped anyway but honestly I don't really see why they should be, the numbers involved are so large that it will not be any easier for fanbases to push songs up the chart this way than it already is, the absolute most that one person can contribute to a song's sales in a week via streaming is about 25 units and realistically no one is going to care enough to do that).

You don't think mad One Direction fan wouldn't just plug in an old phone and have it streaming their latest single constantly so they could give them 25 sales a week? If enough of them did it it would have an effect. That's why they need the cap.

If 100 streams = 1 sales, streaming shouldn't give more than a +10,000 sale boost in a week (since they say only a very few songs have reached the 1 million mark on streaming in a single week). And that's considering most songs will benefit from it anyway, so relatively, the boost won't even be that important. Maybe something like +5,000 at best. It won't dramatically change the charts.

 

As for cheating, I'm sure they will have some restrictions toward repetive listens.

 

TBH I'm quite excited about this news. I'm very curious how the first chart incl streaming will look like. Surely some old tracks will climb, plus some new ones (like Nico & Vinz) will appear without being released as a single.

As for cheating, I'm sure they will have some restrictions toward repetive listens.

 

Steaming is capped to 1 play per day per listener, luckily

 

Yeah, this news is quite exciting now I know the full story. Even if a song does get 1mil steams = 10k sales, most songs will get SOMETHING from streaming, so I can't see it making a huge difference.

Steaming is capped to 1 play per day per listener, luckily

 

Oh this is perfect then. :)

TBH I'm quite excited about this news. I'm very curious how the first chart incl streaming will look like. Surely some old tracks will climb, plus some new ones (like Nico & Vinz) will appear without being released as a single.

 

Is this confirmed?

I remember when downloads were first included, they would only be counted when a physical copy of the single was released.

I can see them counting streaming only for songs that have been released, no?

Report from MW, edit this seems exactly like the OCC report

 

 

Official UK Singles Chart to count streams for first time next month

by Tim Ingham

Source: MW

 

The Official Singles Chart is to include audio streams for the first time from next month (July).

 

The first Official Singles Chart to incorporate streams will be unveiled from 4-7pm on Sunday July 6 by BBC Radio 1. The full Top 100 will be published on OfficialCharts.com at 7pm.

 

The total number of weekly audio streams selected by UK music fans has grown from 100 million a week in January 2013 to 200 million a week in January 2014 - to up to 260 million currently.

 

The move to include streams in the Official Singles Chart was made possible by the agreement of on-demand audio streaming services including Spotify, Deezer, Napster, O2 Tracks (powered by Musicqubed), Xbox Music and Music Unlimited and rara (powered by Omnifone), all members of the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), co-owners of the Official Charts Company, to supply weekly streaming data. To reflect the difference in weight between streaming and purchasing, 100 streams will count as equivalent to 1 single (download or physical single) in the chart compilation process.

 

The move has also won support from key media partners of the Official Chart - BBC Radio 1, MTV, Music Week and more.

 

George Ergatoudis, Head Of Music at BBC Radio 1 said: “We are moving from an era of music purchasing to one dominated by music streaming and it is vital that the Official Singles Chart evolves to reflect this. Radio 1’s young audience continue to download digital singles, but increasingly they’re listening to the music they love on services like Spotify, Deezer, Napster and O2 Tracks, so I strongly support the decision to include streaming data in Radio 1’s Official Chart. It future proofs the Official Singles Chart and helps to guarantee its status as the definitive weekly measure of the UK’s most popular singles.”

 

Daft Punk’s Get Lucky became the first track to be streamed 1 million times in a week last spring, but 2014 has already seen nine tracks generate more than 1 million streams in a single week, including two tracks passing the 1.5 million weekly barrier - Rather Be by Clean Bandit and Waves by Mr Probz.

 

Meanwhile, The Official Breakers Chart will be launched to reflect the fastest growing new tracks. The rundown will showcase the 10 biggest new tracks of each week which have seen an increase in sales and streams.

 

In turn, the BPI (co-owners of the Official Charts with ERA) will also update the famous Platinum, Gold and Silver Certified Awards programme which it administers, to ensure that streams will now also count towards certifications of singles.

 

Official Charts Company chief executive Martin Talbot said: “Audio streaming has grown at an extraordinary rate over the past year – and the time is now right to take this important step.

 

“The UK’s Official Singles Chart is culturally among the most important and influential in the world. We have been looking at this possibility for some time and now feel comfortable that our methodology is correct and that summer 2014 is the time that we should take this step.

 

“The Official Singles Chart is (and always has been) the most trusted and definitive measure of Britain’s music tastes. Just as it has evolved through the years to reflect the most popular music in the UK, from 10 inch to 7 inch, vinyl to cassingles, CD singles to downloads, this is the latest stage of that progression – and will align the Official Singles Chart with the consumption habits of the future.”

 

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive of record labels association the BPI, added, "The Official Charts are respected around the world as the authoritative measure of UK musical popularity, so it's vital they continue to reflect the new ways that fans are consuming their favourite music. With streaming becoming ever-more popular, the time is now right to ensure this exciting new format is included in the way our charts are compiled.

 

"At the same time, we are updating the BPI’s Platinum, Gold and Silver Certified Awards programme so that from now on, streams will count towards awards certifications for singles.”

 

Kim Bayley, Director General of the Entertainment Retailers Association, said, “ERA’s members have invested tens of millions of pounds in creating the services which now allow millions of music fans to stream the music they love on demand. ERA’s members are delighted to share their data with the Official Charts Company to make possible this latest evolution of the Official Singles Chart. Britain’s retailers and digital services will continue to make music available in new and exciting ways."

 

Official Charts Company chairman Korda Marshall (the founder and head of Infectious Records), said, “'The UK charts are so important to contemporary British culture and the vibrant music business that we currently enjoy. The charts have helped develop and break many important long term international artists for UK plc and the way the charts are compiled has changed many times over the last 50 years as the various technologies have developed. This is just one more important step on that road.

 

“The decision to move away from a pure singles sales chart to a combined chart including streaming is a very significant change and clearly reflects the importance of online music consumption today. It also signals how far we have come from the days of retail record shops and 7 inch vinyl and helps us fully understand the number of times people actually listen to a track rather than just buying it and this has to be a good thing for the future.”

I'm just curious to see if we get any new entries inside the top 40 every week, that will really slow the chart.

Is this confirmed?

I remember when downloads were first included, they would only be counted when a physical copy of the single was released.

I can see them counting streaming only for songs that have been released, no?

Oh if this is the case I'll be very sad :(