I don't mind this rule on the whole but I find it ridiculous the number of top 20 genuine hits that have fallen straight out of the top 40 from the low teens :/

I like the new rules. Granted, it does turn the chart into more of a "these are some of the most popular songs at the moment in no necessary order" from "this is the definitive countdown of the UKs most popular singles" but in the grand scheme of things the chart is a lot better now in terms of track longevity and new entries. It does get ridiculous at times (looking at songs such as Thunder, Malibu, Bad Liar, Know No Better) but it also allows many songs that would otherwise avoided the top 40 (More Than You Know, There For You, Most Girls, Without You).

 

It's a mixed bag, but in my opinion, the new rules are a welcome addition to the chart.

Yeh they simply had to tweek the rules to highlight that continued streaming for older songs doesn't necessarily show the most popular songs of the week anymore!

I'd like it more if the ACR drop was a bit more gradual. The drops are too harsh/unnatural looking for my liking.

 

Rita's team has shown that a well-timed 59p reduction can completely avoid it on more than one occasion, but this has actually started to irk me. They've managed to manipulate a very healthy 17 weeks within the Top 20 for it, but if they'd surrendered to the rules like most other hits, it'd have fallen away 2 months ago. It doesn't seem right that she's around 10 places higher than Unforgettable and Feels, both of which currently feel a hell of a lot bigger than Rita's single does at this point. Yet the chart doesn't reflect that. She's even above Despacito. :')

 

It's not all bad... it's nice that some songs are getting a chance at Top 20 / Top 40 / Top 100 peaks that otherwise wouldn't have, even if it's achieved quite artificially.

Instruction, Came Here For Love and Malibu going from Top 20 to out of (or almost out of) the Top 40 have been the only ones who have annoyed me so far. I'm sure it'll happen more frequently, Demi is probably next :(

 

I just think it should be more gradual, as a whole I like the new rule though as it stops endless weeks of Unforgettable, Feels, Wild Thoughts, Despacito and Mama clogging up the Top 10.

Basically what Jay said, it's so easily manipulated and it just makes it a random list of popular songs in no particular order which is not what a chart is supposed to be.

 

It's certainly nicer to listen to and pleasing to see how fresh they sound but I don't really get the point in it anymore? I can go anywhere and get a playlist of some popular songs and stick them on shuffle which is pretty much what the charts feels like now :lol:

I don’t really like the state of the singles market at present. Many songs still hang around far too long and others don’t reach the top 40 despite selling reasonably well physically. After inducing the 9th week rule, some songs suddenly descend the chart. There also seems to be a distinct lack of new material filtering into the charts resulting in little movement. The singles charts of the 80s and 90s were far more exciting and quality of songs was better.

Edited September 23, 20177 yr by slowdown73

Yes, I'll admit I did like the chart better once New Rules entered the Top 40 and even more when it reached number one.

Edited September 23, 20177 yr by jafetsigfinns

As I (and others) have posted, the new rules shouldn't be applied to tracks in the top 10. Had Dua Lipa sold about 1,000 fewer copies last week she wouldn't be at number 2 this week. Instead the track would have been on ACR and would have fallen out of the top 5 on Friday. The performance of a top 10 track shouldn't be judged against the market as a whole since most streaming sales are from tracks outside the top 10 (indeed, they are from tracks outside the top 100).

Edited September 23, 20177 yr by Robbie

Overall I would say it is for the better with the new rules. They aren't perfect and I do think the switch to ACR should be more gradual, but I think it has done a good job in terms of helping new songs break into the top 100. Streaming was (and still is) causing a huge clog up of tracks in the top 100 so at least this has reduced the long term impact of this.

 

I would change the max number of tracks per artist rule to 4 or 5 tracks instead of 3 as well, though I am glad to see something like this in place. Don't really want to see another situation like when Ed released Divide again. Ideally it would be be restricted to nominated singles from the label preventing album tracks getting in, though it is becoming more difficult to define what is a single nowadays so I get why they stuck to keeping it simple.

My opinion now is that no, it hasn't made the chart better - HOWEVER - it shows there is potential to manipulate it to be better than it was, if they only choose the correct attributes to manipulate.

 

The 150:1 to 300:1 is too sharp, and as mentioned many a times previously I think it should be staggered so that the ratio increases week-on-week once it reaches ACR until a certain maximum ACR point (which I think should actually be higher than 300:1).

 

Also the point at which a song moves onto ACR seriously needs a look into. Rita Ora, Lil Uzi Vert and Post Malone have managed to avoid it when songs that have been bigger have been punished. It just doesn't make sense.

I dunno if kinda makes a mockery of chart when the overall number 1 isn't even number 1 on either downloads or streams I.e. (Wild thoughts and feels) but it does make the chart fresher

Much better! For me, from the start of 2016 to about mid 2017 has been incredibly painful to follow. It's like after a while everything stagnated by default.

I guess it depends on how you define 'better'.

 

It may be more fast-moving, but that's at the expense of being less representative of current popularity.

 

It's also become harder for casual fans to follow, with exclusion criteria & ever-changing sales ratios...

as said a million times, putting a cap i.e. 50 streams per song per person in total, would be better but the ACR does more the same

Despacito had more streams than Wild Thoughts but cos those streams for Despacito were uncapped, there has to be a way for capping and ACR does the job even if not perfect... think Shape of You, how many people are streaming it for the first time ever this week? probably no one... possibly most streamers of the song are on stream number #925 ;D so caps or ACR are much needed... a mockery of the chart was the previous situation, songs being #1 cos streams counted til infinity and beyond

Edited September 24, 20177 yr by Bjork

What happens when an artist does have more than 3 songs and the 4th song can't be on the chart. Do sales and streams still get counted that week and added to the total sales of that song?

What happens when an artist does have more than 3 songs and the 4th song can't be on the chart. Do sales and streams still get counted that week and added to the total sales of that song?

Yup, total sales are unaffected!

So theoretically it could get to the stage a song could get certified possibly even platinum without ever charting

I think the new chart rules make the chart much more enjoyable and gets rid of the songs that have stayed in the upper echelons of the chart too long.

 

At the same time the rules regarding SCR to ACR is too drastic. I think they should increase the ratio by 50:1 from 150 each time the sales drop so that the chart decline wouldn't be so obvious.

 

The next issue is the amount of weeks before ACR is applied. They should change it to 5 weeks instead of 3. Reasons behind this were down to watching Imagine Dragons 'Thunder' dropping ridiculously from their peak position of 20 to right out of the top 40. A drop in sales could be down to a platitude of reasons but to set it at a small amount will make the song suffer more than is necessary.

 

Im on the fence regarding songs having a strangle hold on number 1. Anything longer than 5 weeks and I tend to lose interest. Then again, its nice to see a song that the public generally like and it should be reflective in the chart.

The next issue is the amount of weeks before ACR is applied. They should change it to 5 weeks instead of 3. Reasons behind this were down to watching Imagine Dragons 'Thunder' dropping ridiculously from their peak position of 20 to right out of the top 40. A drop in sales could be down to a platitude of reasons but to set it at a small amount will make the song suffer more than is necessary.

The main downside I see to this is with songs like Your Song, Congratulations etc. which have either manipulated or avoided ACR by luck. If their sales increase and their weeks get reset, it'll take another 5 weeks to hit ACR making their chart runs even more stagnant.