I don't think they should differentiate between paid/non-paid but I think you should have to 'select' the track to stream somehow or just not include streams in Spotify created playlists.

 

I'm not sure if you can add songs to your library etc on Spotify (I'm an Apple Music user) but I think that they should only be counted if you have added the song to 'my music' or your library.

That's what you'd have to do with a paid download to show that you'd invested, so why not with streaming?

People would still be able to listen to the Spotify created playlists and, if they liked something in the playlist, they could add it to their library for the streams to be counted.

 

I can't tell you the amount of parties I've been to where a Spotify playlist has just been put on where nobody has selected each track we're listening to.. but all those streams counted.

Edited July 25, 20168 yr by Kye

I don't think they should differentiate between paid/non-paid but I think you should have to 'select' the track to stream somehow or just not include streams in Spotify created playlists.

 

I'm not sure if you can add songs to your library etc on Spotify (I'm an Apple Music user) but I think that they should only be counted if you have added the song to 'my music' or your library.

That's what you'd have to do with a paid download to show that you'd invested, so why not with streaming?

People would still be able to listen to the Spotify created playlists and, if they liked something in the playlist, they could add it to their library for the streams to be counted.

 

I can't tell you the amount of parties I've been to where a Spotify playlist has just been put on where nobody has selected each track we're listening to.. but all those streams counted.

This sounds like a nice idea to the eye. You're right, you do have the option on Spotify to add to your own library and I agree it would be a good way of judging if people were invested in a song instead of just putting on a playlist and perhaps not being bothered to skip over a song that you're not particularly invested in. In a way, sticking on a playlist is pretty similar to turning on the radio - in both cases, you could just let the music play regardless of what's on or what you like, although of course you do know what music is to come on a playlist.

That would be an improvement by getting rid of passive streamers, though I also take issue that the number of times someone plays a track is a measurement of its popularity. Just because one person plays a track 50 times in a week doesn't mean that they love music more than someone who plays it fives times, or downloads it and influences the chart just once. Not all of us have the time or capacity to replay music endlessly, much as we would love to, so that gives a very heavy weighting of the charts towards those who do have the time (ie those not working for a living without time-consuming repsonsibilities). I love the records in my personal chart this week as much as anyone who streams, yet even though I have bought the vast majority and contribute towards the music industry, my taste in music is irrelevant because I don't stream.

 

everyone I know got bored with the singles chart long ago cos nothing much happens over very long periods. They can still like tracks within the chart, but they really don't know or care who's on top or in it, which is a massive pop culture shift from previous music fans who grew up watching TOTP and the Sunday Chart Show and kept on going. Those of us moaning arent doing it out of hatred for music, we do it because we passionately love music, especially great new music, but frankly I get more out of the BJSC every month than I do the singles chart, better quality and more of it, with a fast turnover from new artists. That's what the singles chart used to be...

 

I'm sad! :( :lol:

The general public just simply don't care for the music charts and it's been that way for a while. Removing streaming from the chart isn't magically going to make people interested again and get top of the pops back in the air.

 

I just feel passionate about streaming because I've had a premium Spotify subscription since late 2012 and I've never looked back. It's much better than downloading individual track but that's just my opinion.

everyone I know got bored with the singles chart long ago cos nothing much happens over very long periods. They can still like tracks within the chart, but they really don't know or care who's on top or in it, which is a massive pop culture shift from previous music fans who grew up watching TOTP and the Sunday Chart Show and kept on going.

I'm sad! :( :lol:

 

That's just because pop culture is everywhere, not just in your tv or radio or singles chart. It's in your cellphone, your iPad, your laptop, Youtube... You can watch the latest video by Beyonce almost everywhere whenever you like.

 

I don't understand how that can make someone sad? It's just called nostalgia.

 

Pop culture hasn't gone anywhere. Doesn't millions of teens going crazy when a new Bieber song appears prove that?

Edited July 31, 20168 yr by SKOB

The chart may not have been popular for years but there were at least some people interested. I work in a school and I used to hear kids talk about what was no.1 all the time and now that is no longer the case. The media used to make a big deal about the charts even when sales were at an all time low. That really hasn't been the case of late despite Drake's impressive feat.

 

I still hear people talk about the chart, but they think that the iTunes chart is the ACTUAL chart (maybe true between 2009 and 2014) - so some at work thought that Justin Timberlake had been number 1 for 3 weeks for instance.

 

Radio 1's reaction is quite amusing when you consider they have been trying to get their target audience age-group down for nearly a decade now, yet they continue see the average age of their audience rise inexorably (it was 30 in 2011, and is now 32). The fact is streaming is replacing radio as a means of discovering and listening to new music for millennials (15 - 19 year-olds) and it is completely the future and the most accurate way of measuring true popularity. More so than we have ever had actually!

 

Yes it is not perfect; however neither was the physical world where many shops were not included in surveys and some artists achieved concentrated sales over many different formats by a rabid fanbase, nor was the digital era with its unbalanced mix of OA/OS and (mostly British high priority) held-back releases, lower retail price point making newer unsupported artists struggle, the unnecessarily punitive action on those who downloaded illegally (how about ACTUALLY PUTTING THE RECORD YOU ARE PROMOTING ON SALE THEN GUYS??) and a music industry that was very slow to react to the rise of Napster et al.

all of the above comments are true. That doesn't though change the fact that streaming has wiped out non-streaming music fans from the singles chart. We haven't died, we haven't gone away, and we are NOT represented anywhere except the itunes charts and the albums chart. Despite the fact that in general we are high spend and streamers are very very low spend.

 

If the Uk singles chart continues to be based entirely on streamers playing habits, it will remain non-all-inclusive, and cease to have any influence (as it used to). Now maybe streamers don't care about charts at all (if they get their music elsewhere, as do I these days) but if that's the case why make so much fuss about having older peoples tastes featured (as they have always been from 1952 through to 2 or 3 years ago)....

 

you either do care about the charts or you don't, and Radio One does because theyve just lost half a million listeners now that flagship cornerstone of their schedule has died a death. Independant record companies also care because they are now at the mercy of the major-dominated streaming companies (who still don't make an annual profit) who can dictate what terms they get streaming on. The majors LOVE streaming, cos it's huge chunks of cash mostly for their own coffers, and they get to sell directly the latest Big Thing with promos.

 

The Big Acts dominate so completely minor acts are squeezed out. I don't care about huge stars, they are rich and get a huge slice of the media pie and money, I do care about up and coming stars though. 2016 has been very bad for breakthrough new acts, and I worry this will get worse year on year..

 

Good luck though with Bieber on top for the rest of the year though :lol:

all of the above comments are true. That doesn't though change the fact that streaming has wiped out non-streaming music fans from the singles chart. We haven't died, we haven't gone away, and we are NOT represented anywhere except the itunes charts and the albums chart. Despite the fact that in general we are high spend and streamers are very very low spend.

 

If the Uk singles chart continues to be based entirely on streamers playing habits, it will remain non-all-inclusive, and cease to have any influence (as it used to). Now maybe streamers don't care about charts at all (if they get their music elsewhere, as do I these days) but if that's the case why make so much fuss about having older peoples tastes featured (as they have always been from 1952 through to 2 or 3 years ago)....

 

you either do care about the charts or you don't, and Radio One does because theyve just lost half a million listeners now that flagship cornerstone of their schedule has died a death. Independant record companies also care because they are now at the mercy of the major-dominated streaming companies (who still don't make an annual profit) who can dictate what terms they get streaming on. The majors LOVE streaming, cos it's huge chunks of cash mostly for their own coffers, and they get to sell directly the latest Big Thing with promos.

 

The Big Acts dominate so completely minor acts are squeezed out. I don't care about huge stars, they are rich and get a huge slice of the media pie and money, I do care about up and coming stars though. 2016 has been very bad for breakthrough new acts, and I worry this will get worse year on year..

 

Good luck though with Bieber on top for the rest of the year though :lol:

 

Downloads are losing the importance because more and more people that used to buy singles now stream. I mean, just looking at the "sales" numbers every week and looking at the breakdown between real sales and streaming tells the story. The number of people that still download is getting smaller and smaller. Making the downloads count more would be just an attempt to hide the fact that downloads are being phased out. Making the downloads count more wouldn't suddenly convince people to go back to buying singles on iTunes. Non-streaming music fans aren't being wiped out, they are being converted into streamers. Some people adopted streaming really fast and some are changing their habits slowly. And then there are some that want to continue buying and those sales still contribute to the charts.

 

I understand that you don't like your preferred method of music consumption becoming more and more irrelevant, but it's time to accept it.

 

Also, the streaming revolution did make the charts stale, but the charts simply reflect what people want to listen to - they like to listen to what is familiar to them.

I still find it laughable that people think you can count sales and streams like for like.

I still find it laughable that people think you can count sales and streams like for like.

 

Oh I agree - but OOC had to find a solution that wouldn't be too complicated for a regular person to understand. Buying and streaming are two different ways of music consumption and I believe there is no perfect way to compare them. I would personally prefer if they kept the sales and streaming charts separate and simply declare the streaming chart to be the official UK singles chart and the sales chart only a side chart. But that would piss off the non streamers even more than the current solution.

Oh I agree - but OOC had to find a solution that wouldn't be too complicated for a regular person to understand. Buying and streaming are two different ways of music consumption and I believe there is no perfect way to compare them. I would personally prefer if they kept the sales and streaming charts separate and simply declare the streaming chart to be the official UK singles chart and the sales chart only a side chart. But that would piss off the non streamers even more than the current solution.

 

No, I would prefer them to be totally separate, that way the sales chart can stand alone and people will know exactly what the official streaming chart is.

 

Sales are now about the level they were at in 2006, and we weren't saying the charts were innaccurate at the time - the radio charts tended to reflect popularity of ongoing plays, and still do if you strip out the BBC and leave it as commercial/top 40.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/16424...sh-music-scene/

I was going to say we do have a pinned topic for all streaming discussion, instead of having endless topics regarding streaming :drama:

Yes it is! Drakes run was blatant chart manipulation. Put the song on as many playlists as you can and just watch the 'sales' roll in.

 

As an aside, I think this article referring to Mike Posner is a little harsh and misinformed

Actually British music is HUGE right now...

 

Streaming is a different question to how big UK music is.

Yes

Actually British music is HUGE right now...

 

errr... really :blink: we only had 1 British #1 this year... go figure

 

I find it horrendous that songs can spend the whole week in the iTunes top 40 but not even make the top 10 officially.

Something needs to change, that's evident. But what? I'm not sure. Answers on a postcard please.

If they could id reduce the ratio to say 1 per 500 and if possible only count listens from paid for listeners