In principle, rather than iro specific songs?

 

Personally, I absolutely loathe them - IMO they undermine the long-term sales potential of albums by greatly diminishing the boost that post-album singles can give to them. Just look how many more albums now plunge precipitously down the charts in their 2nd week...

Neutral - they don't bother me in the slightest. They can definitely give album pre-orders a nice boost, but other than that, they're just *there*.

 

Besides, many albums have plummeted down in their 2nd weeks for ages now?? It's just the album market and the fact that the sales gap between the top 5 and #40, for example, is a lot smaller. Nothing to do with instant grats :lol:

Yeah I don't think there's any justification for linking instant grat singles and a (nonexistent) rise in the number of albums that plummet in their second week.

I think they are cool because you can kind of get a measurement of album pre-orders.

They don't really affect me. I don't see any negative implications of them other than the rare occurance of them causing some songs charting due to an iTunes error eg One Direction and Coldplay. (I can't remember if Coldplay actually charted in the Top 100 though)

I really don't like them, especially when the song in question is a single like 'Do What U Want' or 'A Sky Full of Heaven'. I suppose it's not bad if it's just a promo single but it just seems ludicrous for singles to be made instant grat and end up missing 3+ weeks of sales which, in the case of the two examples I gave, are the peak of the song's sales.

Oh yeah, I forgot some are actual singles. When that's the case (ie it's not the first instant-grat), I don't like them.

I really don't like them, especially when the song in question is a single like 'Do What U Want' or 'A Sky Full of Heaven'. I suppose it's not bad if it's just a promo single but it just seems ludicrous for singles to be made instant grat and end up missing 3+ weeks of sales which, in the case of the two examples I gave, are the peak of the song's sales.

They aren't necessarily the peak of the tracks sales though. Once an album has been pre-ordered then any further instant grat releases are automatically made available for the person who has pre-ordered the album to download. In effect they really are just like advances of the album's tracks. Most "sales" of Instant Grats #2 and #3 for Coldplay weren't actual purchases in the sense of the word that someone had to go and purchase or in fact do anything.

 

So in the case of Coldplay:

 

Order Instant Grat #1 - the customer pre-orders the album and the Instant Grat track is both immediately made available to download and also qualifies for the Singles chart

 

Instant Grat #2 - the track is automatically made available for the person to download. If the person has iTunes settings to automatically download a track or album once pre-ordered and the track or album becomes available then iTunes will automatically download the track without the person actually having to click on any link. If the customer has yet to take advantage of the pre-order promotion and decides at this point to do so then both Instant Grats #1 AND #2 are automatically made available to download.

 

Instant Grat #3 - as above. Again if the person is yet to pre-order the album, when doing so at this point all three Instant Grat tracks will be available to download immediately.

 

It is the fact that the consumer who has pre-ordered the album has to do nothing to obtain two of the three Instant Grat tracks that stops the OCC from allowing more than just Instant Grat #1 from being chart eligible. Beyond that, the album is basically being given away in advance of release in dribs and drabs. In fact., so long as one track remains available to download on the day an album is to be released, there is nothing to stop an act from giving away every other track as an Instant Grat and having everything qualify as an album sale. If the OCC was to allow all Instant Grat tracks to qualify for the Singles chart you can guarantee some acts would do the above just to maximise both Singles chart positions AND build up pre-orders for albums.

I see what you're saying, but I would rather instant grats didn't exist full stop, rather than them being allowed to chart.

Yeah, I don't particularly like them (and as I don't use iTunes I've only ever received one) but I don't think they're related at all to frontloaded album sales.

Like

I agree with excluding multiple instant grats from the chart if there's really no way to separate legitimate sales from album pre-orders but the likes of 'Do What U Want' and 'A Sky Full Of Stars' really did miss out on quite a few real sales from the weeks they were ineligible which is a little bit unfair. The system is still open to manipulation even as it is though (like Ed Sheeran getting away with lots of illegitimate sales being added at once due to waiting a few weeks before releasing his first instant grat).

I'm neutral to them chartwise, but it does annoy that they make the iTunes chart look really messy and I hate when loads of them just come out of nowhere all of a sudden, especially when it's a really popular artists where they constantly pop up in the weeks leading up to the album.

They're a pain in the arse and I wish they'd stop doing them, quite frankly.

They are okay but when too many artists are doing them at once they do bungle up the iTunes chart a bit so it can be really difficult to track what is going on, it got a bit too much last year.

 

Also, it's sad that songs like Paradise and Do What U Want could have significantly higher sales if it weren't for instant grats.

They're a pain in the arse and I wish they'd stop doing them, quite frankly.

 

I don't mind one from an album, but after that, they are just thowing away singles chart success.

 

A singles chart without a number of ineligible songs can only contribute to the decline in overall singles sales. :(

Well most of the "sales" for these songs are coming from the album pre-order anyway so they're not actual sales for the song...

 

Obviously songs like Do What U Want are exceptions, but 99% of the time, it's just the album pre-orders piled on and then they fall quickly.

It annoys me that the first instant grat isnt just the first official single from the album!

What I don't like about them is the term used sounds like they are free. When of course you pay for the track, this is then deducted from the price of the album.

They also cause confusion with the pre-order track, which is not purchased in the same week you order it. I would prefer it that pre-orders on iTunes were paid for at the time of pre-ordering rather than waiting till it's released to pay for it.

 

At the end of the day it's all to do with record companies and their obsession with iTunes and the fixation on album sales. This is at the expense of the singles market. They wouldn't do it if download sales were spread more evenly rather than now with iTunes being very greedy in the digital market.

I would prefer it that pre-orders on iTunes were paid for at the time of pre-ordering rather than waiting till it's released to pay for it.

 

I'd guess that the reason they do this is to make it easier if a pre-order is cancelled. They can just send out an e-mail without having to refund everyone's money.