So you'd rather wait 2 months to buy a song just for a more interesting chart? Honestly I prefer how things are now in that sense. The charts are less interesting now but they represent what people are listening to more than ever, and I personally prefer being able to buy songs the minute they're released. The huge sales for #1s were inflated from holding a song back for so long - streaming sales are actually a way better indicator even if the majority of us don't seem to like the effect they have on the chart (myself included most of the time). Not that streaming is particularly relevant to this topic but it's the key reason for the slow chart as opposed to OA/OS anyway.

There's a saying that goes "good things come to those who wait" and I believe that to be the case when it comes to chart music. So if I wanted to help a song that I like get very high in the charts I wouldn't mind waiting for a few weeks to buy it, 2 months I agree would be too long to wait but 1 month is definitely manageable.

 

 

 

I have to agree with Houdini.

 

Also, held-back singles meant that lesser known artists could get big hits. It's so difficult for new artists to break through now.

There's a saying that goes "good things come to those who wait" and I believe that to be the case when it comes to chart music. So if I wanted to help a song that I like get very high in the charts I wouldn't mind waiting for a few weeks to buy it, 2 months I agree would be too long to wait but 1 month is definitely manageable.

The issue is, a wait of 1 or 2 months probably wouldn't be as useful nowadays anyway because if streaming isn't high from the word go, a high debut is unlikely. The days of songs entering at #1 with 100k sales including pre-orders are long gone and even if people tried to bring them back, I really don't think it would reach those highs because sales have decreased a lot.

And as a comparison you can see how lively the Box Office charts have been for decades with big name films going toe-to-toe with one another on a weekly basis. None of those films were released as soon as the production ended, they had months or even years of hype and build up before being released and it shows by how popular they were and how popular the movie industry as a whole is.

You can't compare the Singles chart to the Box Office chart. They're both two very different forms of media.

 

It would be more fair to compare the Box Office chart with the Albums chart, albums generally have months of hype and build-up and have singles to tease the album, like movies have trailers to tease the movie.

 

Even then it's still an unfair comparison, as films are only out for a limited time in the cinema but you can buy an album any time after its release.

I think held-back releases would work as long as every song was held back. If they built up the streaming on Spotify then released it when it was already high it could work. But obviously if it's just Sigala, it just looks like an abnormally short chart run compared to massive longevity from everything else.

It's so difficult for new artists to break through now.

I agree with this but I don't think reverting back to 'held-back' singles will solve this problem. Now that streaming dominates there really is no point to holding back.

 

I also believe that any truly big hit would become a big hit regardless of its release method. Look at the Jax Jones single now, in the download era that would've likely topped the charts after 2 months of buildup with a 100k+ first week sale. In the streaming era it 'only' gets a #3 peak but is still a massive hit.

 

All OA/OS does is prevent songs from artificially getting high peaks (except for the new problem of popular artists getting their entire album in the singles chart but that's another discussion).

Back when songs *were* held-back, just about everyone on BuzzJack was complaining about it. Now that they're not people are still complaining, you can't have it both ways :lol: You'd all complain again if held-back releases DID make a comeback.

I have to agree with Houdini.

 

Also, held-back singles meant that lesser known artists could get big hits. It's so difficult for new artists to break through now.

This is also true.

 

 

Sam And The Womp from 2012 comes to mind here. I'd never heard of Sam And The Womp before so when I heard "Bom Bom" on the radio one day I was thinking to myself "what on Earth is this and who made this song?" but eventually the hype for that song grew and it ended up debuting at number one with over 100 K sales in it's first week. In this day and age they would have no chance of even getting a top 10 let alone a number one.

Sam And The Womp from 2012 comes to mind here. I'd never heard of Sam And The Womp before so when I heard "Bom Bom" on the radio one day I was thinking to myself "what on Earth is this and who made this song?" but eventually the hype for that song grew and it ended up debuting at number one with over 100 K sales in it's first week. In this day and age they would have no chance of even getting a top 10 let alone a number one.

Read my comment about Jax Jones.

 

'Bom Bom' wouldn't be a hit today yes, but that's because that style of dance isn't very popular anymore.

This is also true.

Sam And The Womp from 2012 comes to mind here. I'd never heard of Sam And The Womp before so when I heard "Bom Bom" on the radio one day I was thinking to myself "what on Earth is this and who made this song?" but eventually the hype for that song grew and it ended up debuting at number one with over 100 K sales in it's first week. In this day and age they would have no chance of even getting a top 10 let alone a number one.

 

Why not? That song obviously took on a life of its own and was very popular. If a song is good, it will break through and become a hit regardless of its release strategy. In the past year and a bit, we've had breakthrough hits from Rag'n'Bone Man, Dua Lipa, Anne-Marie, Zara Larsson, Shawn Mendes and most notably Lukas Graham who had the biggest selling single of 2016 (pure sales only). Nobody knew who Lukas Graham were before 7 Years but that didn't stop it becoming a huge smash.

You can't compare the Singles chart to the Box Office chart. They're both two very different forms of media.

 

It would be more fair to compare the Box Office chart with the Albums chart, albums generally have months of hype and build-up and have singles to tease the album, like movies have trailers to tease the movie.

 

Even then it's still an unfair comparison, as films are only out for a limited time in the cinema but you can buy an album any time after its release.

 

+ Films take FAR longer to produce/make/distribute than songs and albums do and there needs to be a hell of a lot of hype and interest in order for the mainstream movie to make a profit against it's budget so it needs the months or pre-release hype. Plus they're not as at risk from illegal pirating as songs are, it's tough you'll get a good quality version of a movie online before it's reached the cinemas (even though that can be the case).

 

Held back releases can't work anymore because of Spotify, most songs aren't able to get a high debut there unless your name's Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber and so need to rely on building hype. OA/OS is the only way to do this, it's senseless holding back a release from purchase or streaming until everyone's over it, it's performance on iTunes will be brief and it won't do anything on Spotify cos chances are most people would be over it or already have it. I don't like that it makes the charts slow and isn't good for new artists, but it's the way things have to be and honestly, if it bothers some of you so much, just don't listen to the charts or search out music elsewhere.

Edited February 15, 20178 yr by Chez Wombat

Read my comment about Jax Jones.

 

'Bom Bom' wouldn't be a hit today yes, but that's because that style of dance isn't very popular anymore.

The thing to remember with Jax Jones is that it was around January when that got to #3 and January is possibly the month with the lowest sales anyway. It's only because of Ed Sheeran dropping 2 new songs around that same time that prevented Jax Jones from being #1 almost by default.

 

You Don't Know Me wouldn't have got anywhere close to #3 if it was impacting during a busier time of year.

Edited February 15, 20178 yr by Houdini

Without ed the no1 single will be around 40-80k normally with streaming especially as it gets bigger!

 

There was nothing unusual about Jax Jones sales, they rose as might have been expected with a popular on air release.

 

The highest no3 sale last year was on the 26/5/16 when Calvin sold 91k and January's sales were similar to this year!

Edited February 15, 20178 yr by Steve201