Posted April 12, 20187 yr Okay let me set the scene... Say from Friday to Wednesday inclusive, I've been streaming a track I quite like. On Thursday, I decide to buy the track. That track purchase will obviously count towards the chart. But will the streams I'd given it on the prior days now be discounted for that week's chart?
April 12, 20187 yr Author Another question... ...what happens to Thursday streams? We know that for the Friday chart, Thursday streams are estimated. But are these estimations then corrected at a later date for all-time sales? I wonder if Thursday estimations have changed anything big in the chart (such as a number 1 or song going top 40).
April 12, 20187 yr Okay let me set the scene... Say from Friday to Wednesday inclusive, I've been streaming a track I quite like. On Thursday, I decide to buy the track. That track purchase will obviously count towards the chart. But will the streams I'd given it on the prior days now be discounted for that week's chart? I'm pretty sure this doesn't happen, and I don't see why they would do it either, they're still valid streams! You don't have to pick one platform or the other. I download all songs I enjoy but I still stream via Spotify Premium on my phone when I'm out (cause my iPod died). Another question... ...what happens to Thursday streams? We know that for the Friday chart, Thursday streams are estimated. But are these estimations then corrected at a later date for all-time sales? I wonder if Thursday estimations have changed anything big in the chart (such as a number 1 or song going top 40). I'm quite sure they're lost forever - the OCC don't like rewriting history so they will keep the upweighted sales for totals. I don't think it's ever made too drastic a difference, but I seem to recall in 2015 it stopped Mariah Carey from re-entering the top 10 - she was #11 on Christmas Day's chart, meaning the crazy Christmas Eve streams were lost! (obviously she re-entered in both 2016 and 2017 so it's not too drastic in the grand scheme of things). I think it would only matter when there's an anomaly, otherwise their system probably predicts Thursday streams quite well.
April 12, 20187 yr Author Thanks Joseph! Another question I thought of thanks to the Kylie fans... If you've bought a track from an EP - say for instance you bought "Dancing" alone, and then decided to buy the rest of the EP in one swoop (on iTunes theres the 'make up my album' option, which reduces the cost by the cost of the track you've already bought). Will that 'make up' purchase add one whole purchase on - on top of the one you'd already made, or will your single track purchase be taken off and your full purchase be added on (so fundamentally -1 sale, +1 sale, cancelling it out)?
April 12, 20187 yr If a single is release as a double a side how would it chart Sales of the double A go towards track 1, for example any purchases of Drake's 'Scary Hours' "EP" (only 2 tracks long, yet he called it an EP) go towards 'God's Plan' as that is track 1.
April 12, 20187 yr Thanks, before it used to be that track would go towards the double a side and track b would chart separately, so they’ve basically switched it to double a side goes towards track a and track b charts separately
April 12, 20187 yr Another question... ...what happens to Thursday streams? We know that for the Friday chart, Thursday streams are estimated. But are these estimations then corrected at a later date for all-time sales? I wonder if Thursday estimations have changed anything big in the chart (such as a number 1 or song going top 40). I always thought that they went towards the next weeks chart. It’s really crap if they are lost.
April 12, 20187 yr What would happen if two songs entered the chart with exactly the same "sales"? How do they decide a tie for new entries?
April 12, 20187 yr What would happen if two songs entered the chart with exactly the same "sales"? How do they decide a tie for new entries?It happened back in 2010 (prior to the inclusion of streaming data) when tracks from The Beatles became available to download from iTunes. Two titles shared the same sales and from the limited information available the tie-breaker was the titles (both new entries) being placed in alphabetical order: UK Singles Chart w/e 27/11/10 118 Blackbird 2019 119 I Am The Walrus 2019 I don't know how the OCC apply the rules for new entries with equivalent download and streaming sales but it wouldn't surprise me if the same rule was applied if it was an exact tie, though I'd imagine with streaming sales the use of decimal points would be easier to use as a tiebreaker (with total sales being rounded to the nearest whole figure) unless two or more titles really did have the exact same download sales and total streams... and of course back in the days of physical sales the tie-breaker for new entries was more straightforward due to the way overall sales were calculated. Edited April 12, 20187 yr by Robbie
April 12, 20187 yr How would they know it's the same person? That sounds like too much effort, the OCC just make it up as they go along anyway lol I have a question too :P So we know that Thursday streams don't count (I think), but if I bought Dancing from iTunes right now, at 22:38, would that be counted? I'm 99.9999% sure the answer is yes but just to be sure :P
April 12, 20187 yr How would they know it's the same person? That sounds like too much effort, the OCC just make it up as they go along anyway lol I have a question too :P So we know that Thursday streams don't count (I think), but if I bought Dancing from iTunes right now, at 22:38, would that be counted? I'm 99.9999% sure the answer is yes but just to be sure :P Yes, it would count. There are generally no problems with reporting sales data right up to the midnight deadline. It's just streaming data that is problematic.
April 12, 20187 yr Why is it so difficult to report streaming? Surely Spotify have very sophisticated computers?
April 13, 20187 yr Thanks, before it used to be that track would go towards the double a side and track b would chart separately, so they’ve basically switched it to double a side goes towards track a and track b charts separately I don't think they've changed that. There just haven't been any double A-sides in about 10 years! It doesn't really work in the digital era. You just release two singles at the same time.
April 13, 20187 yr I'd say Diplomatic Immunity was essentially a B-side. If this were still the physical era it would be the B-side and wouldn't have charted separately.
April 13, 20187 yr Author I agree with Dan ^^ I think a modern AA single would be "Shape Of You" / "Castle On The Hill"... and to illustrate how they work in the digital era, well, they were released simultaneously but separately! I can only think of one time that happened in the physical era - Manic Street Preachers back in 2001 (I think).
April 13, 20187 yr There's one thing I've been dying to get a definitive answer on for so long. Spotify streams. Are the daily stream figures (i.e. the ones specified in the Spotify chart thread) based on the 10 per day cap, or is it based on the actual streams it got (even if someone had streamed it more than 10 times)?
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