I've always wondered why so many members care about what the chart looks like anyway

Yeah, isn't it strange that people on a UK chart forum care about the UK chart???

Sorry but if a song was in the Top 20 on weeks on end I would not get frustrated about that fact at all

Yeah, isn't it strange that people on a UK chart forum care about the UK chart???

 

You're right, it's usually more of an issue for people who don't follow the chart. They just hate all these crazy changes.

I've edited the title to reflect the fact this doesn't seem to be a 100% confirmation.

If streaming was included, the #1s last year would have probably looked something like this:

 

will.i.am - Scream & Shout - 3 weeks

Macklemore - Thrift Shop - 4 weeks

Justin Timberlake - Mirrors - 8 weeks

Daft Punk - Get Lucky - 5 weeks

Naughty Boy - La La La - 1 week

Passenger - Let Her Go - 1 week

Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines - 8 weeks

Avicii - Wake Me Up - 7 weeks

Katy Perry - Roar - 3 weeks

OneRepublic - Counting Stars - 7 weeks

Lily Allen - Somewhere Only We Know - 4 weeks

Pharrell - Happy - 5 weeks

 

 

Sounds about right in terms of the biggest hits of the year and it stops the random one week no1s. The thing with uk artists not getting a look in like this is because basically music is more global now if a songs is massive in alot of countries it will be massive verywhere Passenger being the best example he was a uk artist who was massive everywhere else and then the uk lastly because for some reason the uk didnt pick him up until he went on tour with Ed Sheeran.

 

The US chart is a good example of this - if something gets to the top in america itll almost certainly be lapped up by uk stations!

Streaming to be included in UK Singles Chart 'as soon as this summer' - Ergatoudis

Source: MW

by Tom Pakinkis

 

The head of music at BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, George Ergatoudis, has said that the inclusion of streaming data in the UK's Official Singles Chart could come as soon as this summer.

 

Ergatoudis’ words came at The Radio Academy's 'What Makes a Hit in 2014?' event last night (February 17) where the BBC boss shared a panel with Absolute’s head of music James Curran and Columbia’s head of radio Sam Potts.

 

No specific timing was given, although in last week’s issue of Music Week (dated February 14), Official Charts Company CEO Martin Talbot said that the move was being looked at.

 

He warned, however: “We have a lot of due diligence to do before making what would be a significant jump in the UK.

 

“We are currently working out the ‘how’ before deciding on the ‘when’, taking into account the views of various stakeholders and partners. There are lots of considerations, including what kinds of streams should be counted and what multipliers should be applied to equate each stream to a download.”

 

While initial reports of the Radio Academy event focussed on Spotify and YouTube, Ergatoudis clarified on Twitter today that data would come from a number of different streaming services.

I'm pretty sure UK artists would still be able to go to #1, it's just that their song would have to be very popular to do so. For example Clean Bandit's 'Rather Be' would definitely be a #1 single under the new sales/streaming system. 'Let Her Go' and 'Pompeii' would have been #1s too, the latter did amazingly well on streaming.

One of the songs in the top 10 at the moment, the DJ Fresh song isn't available on spotify etc. So how wuold streaming sales being counted affect that's placing on the chart I wonder

One of the songs in the top 10 at the moment, the DJ Fresh song isn't available on spotify etc. So how wuold streaming sales being counted affect that's placing on the chart I wonder

Hopefully if the charts started including streaming then Ministry of Sound would see sense and put their songs on spotify, as I think the reason why they don't at the moment is to get their songs and compilations high in the charts.

Good news, the chart needs to move with the times and reflect that streaming accounts for a major share of music consumption in 2014. Combining sales and streaming data will provide a more accurate demonstration of the popularity of tracks ensuring that the Official Charts remain relevant. :D

 

It will be fascinating to see how they combine sales data with streaming data! Will the streaming data be converted into ‘sales’, or will there be a new measure of tracks popularity?

One of the songs in the top 10 at the moment, the DJ Fresh song isn't available on spotify etc. So how wuold streaming sales being counted affect that's placing on the chart I wonder

 

 

Hopefully if the charts started including streaming then Ministry of Sound would see sense and put their songs on spotify, as I think the reason why they don't at the moment is to get their songs and compilations high in the charts.

It's not just a matter of chart placing, it's also a question of revenue. Some bands (Public Service Broadcasting spring to mind as a particular favourite of mine) don't make their songs available for streaming because they cannot afford to lose sales.

I'm in two minds about this. The singles chart has always been a sales chart, so it would be sad to see that end. And also with sales still really high, it seems a bit unnecessary to do it right now.

 

However, it is inevitable that sales are going to fall and eventually be eclipsed by streaming, so it will have to happen sooner or later.

 

I don't think the argument that it will make the chart slower is relevant - what's important is that it reflects popularity. If you can get into the top 40 selling 6,000 copies how is that truly reflective of popularity? And why should people who choose to stream all their music rather than download not have a say in the charts?

One of the songs in the top 10 at the moment, the DJ Fresh song isn't available on spotify etc. So how wuold streaming sales being counted affect that's placing on the chart I wonder

 

They just wouldn't be counted I guess. Although if they count Youtube streams and other services like iTunes Radio then it can still get some streams.

 

In the US songs like Pour It Up/Loveeeeeee Song and I Knew You Were Trouble suffered a bit because they weren't on Spotify. But when Youtube got included part-way through their chart runs, they didn't seem to be hurting noticeably compared to other songs.

 

Same with Beyonce - Partition, it's not on Spotify, but was top 50 on the streaming chart in the US (and top 100 in the overall chart), and that's even without being a single. So songs can still do okay without being on Spotify, but surely if they want a high chart position they'll have to start putting their songs there.

I'm in two minds about this. The singles chart has always been a sales chart, so it would be sad to see that end. And also with sales still really high, it seems a bit unnecessary to do it right now.

 

However, it is inevitable that sales are going to fall and eventually be eclipsed by streaming, so it will have to happen sooner or later.

 

I don't think the argument that it will make the chart slower is relevant - what's important is that it reflects popularity. If you can get into the top 40 selling 6,000 copies how is that truly reflective of popularity? And why should people who choose to stream all their music rather than download not have a say in the charts?

 

Because the song in question is still the 40th most bought song of the week out of the millions of songs available. I remain ambivalent towars this idea, until I know how it is to be implemented.

I'm in two minds about this. The singles chart has always been a sales chart, so it would be sad to see that end. And also with sales still really high, it seems a bit unnecessary to do it right now.

 

However, it is inevitable that sales are going to fall and eventually be eclipsed by streaming, so it will have to happen sooner or later.

 

I don't think the argument that it will make the chart slower is relevant - what's important is that it reflects popularity. If you can get into the top 40 selling 6,000 copies how is that truly reflective of popularity? And why should people who choose to stream all their music rather than download not have a say in the charts?

Define 'popularity'. It's such a broad-based term. The most sold? The most listened to? Airplay?

Well it's a combination of them all of course but how you combine them into a chart I don't know. Not that I think airplay should *ever* be included but it is one of the factors that would be considered in defining the term.

If the OCC really want a chart that perfectly measures popularity, they also need to be including airplay in clubs, bars, restaurants, shops, and also mentions of a song on Twitter, posts about a song on Facebook, etc, and even mentions of song in daily converstation. There is some level of correlation between sales and popularity, but it's only telling a tiny part of the overall story.

But talking about a song and listening to a song are very different.

 

Also actively choosing to listen to a song is not the same as being forced to listen to one on Asda FM when you pop in to get some milk.

I don't think it's a completely bad idea, the question is how and with what method...? I would only include payed streamings.

 

In Germany Streaming was included from this year but the German single chart works differently. They are not counting units but revenue. Only payed Streaming was included where one song has a value of 1 Cent (that's 0.01 EUR). The price of a song on iTunes for example is between 0.69/0.99/1.29 EUR.

 

Well, the German method is more fair IMO. There are still lots of CD singles being released in DE/AT which have more weight on the chart.

i think it's too early to start including streaming in the UK chart, especially since download sales are still very high unlike Germany and France where single sales have become very low and irrelevant... In the UK it's a different story so no need to include streaming for now.... As for YouTube views, in case it was inevitable to add them, then only official/Vevo views should count and not 30 second parodies....

Edited February 18, 201411 yr by Dark Horse