imagine the uproar when Paul McCartney dies and a Beatles song is denied #1 because of ACR too. though I suppose the OCC will conveniently leave that bit out and the general public will be blissfully unaware.

That's honestly one of my least favourite things about ACR, the fact that there's absolutely no indication that it's in effect or not outside of parsing it from the chart runs. I often have to check the chart countdown thread to keep track of it :P As a chart that the general public, it's very misleading for them to present the chart as if it's not manipulated. All these chart rules seem to be working with the idea of ironing out any oddities, as if they're not the most exciting things in the chart. The only real work around is if all popular music eventually reaches the irrelevance of the rock charts, and everything is on ACR, so it's like nothing is :magic:

 

imagine the uproar when Paul McCartney dies and a Beatles song is denied #1 because of ACR too. though I suppose the OCC will conveniently leave that bit out and the general public will be blissfully unaware.

And maybe there'll be as many Wings tracks in the chart as Beatles tracks :')

If we are all reading this correctly then this is basically what I've been hoping with regards to new rules. If the influence of streaming on the chart keeps increasing then at Christmas it'll just be the same songs every year due to people just rotating the same playlists and they basically had to do something to stop Mariah Carey from being Christmas #1 this year (sorry I know lots of people really want that to happen) but when it appeared every year before that was due to new people buying it so as it was a sales chart based on the number of unique people buying different songs you didn't need any special rules particularly as big songs were always mainly current songs.

 

I know this and ACR in general have their critics but what could they do instead? The chart has to represent what's popular but they have to make sure it stays interesting and mainly focused on new music.

If we are all reading this correctly then this is basically what I've been hoping with regards to new rules. If the influence of streaming on the chart keeps increasing then at Christmas it'll just be the same songs every year due to people just rotating the same playlists and they basically had to do something to stop Mariah Carey from being Christmas #1 this year (sorry I know lots of people really want that to happen) but when it appeared every year before that was due to new people buying it so as it was a sales chart based on the number of unique people buying different songs you didn't need any special rules particularly as big songs were always mainly current songs.

 

I know this and ACR in general have their critics but what could they do instead? The chart has to represent what's popular but they have to make sure it stays interesting and mainly focused on new music.

But that IS what's popular at Christmas

They are rewriting history. If those songs are the most popular at Christmas, they are what prople are listening to and the charts should reflect that.

 

No matter. The top40 is almost dead. People look at itunes or spotify charts and assume the no.1 there is the no.1 full stop.

Really don’t see the need for the 3 year rule.

 

Here I was hoping Mariah might finally get AIWFCIY to #1 within the next few years.

But that IS what's popular at Christmas

Yes and because of that popularity it'll be in the chart anyway as many people will buy it as well as stream it but the official chart needs to mostly represent the most popular songs of now. The Christmas chart isn't the big deal it was but if they don't do something about it then it's just gonna end up being the same songs in the top ten every year if streaming continues the way it is now.

Yes and because of that popularity it'll be in the chart anyway as many people will buy it as well as stream it but the official chart needs to mostly represent the most popular songs of now. The Christmas chart isn't the big deal it was but if they don't do something about it then it's just gonna end up being the same songs in the top ten every year if streaming continues the way it is now.

Then I'd rather they remove them completely than give a false representation of their populaity

I imagine Three Lions will remain on SCR until it hits ACR again, but then it can't ever go back to SCR.

 

This is clearly being done to stop Christmas tracks completely dominating the chart every December then. Knew something like this would happen but still, ugh. That won't just hold back the classics but the new ones that take a few years to really get going like 'Santa Tell Me'.

Do we know if 'Three Lions' is still on SCR? It's not top 40 and wasn't on Monday either when I had expected it to sneak into the top 40 at some point this week. I would have thought that the new chart rules would have applied to older tracks which are on SCR from last Friday.

 

Yes and because of that popularity it'll be in the chart anyway as many people will buy it as well as stream it but the official chart needs to mostly represent the most popular songs of now. The Christmas chart isn't the big deal it was but if they don't do something about it then it's just gonna end up being the same songs in the top ten every year if streaming continues the way it is now.

 

As it should be, as opposed to some shitty X Factor fakery at the top

If we are all reading this correctly then this is basically what I've been hoping with regards to new rules. If the influence of streaming on the chart keeps increasing then at Christmas it'll just be the same songs every year due to people just rotating the same playlists and they basically had to do something to stop Mariah Carey from being Christmas #1 this year (sorry I know lots of people really want that to happen) but when it appeared every year before that was due to new people buying it so as it was a sales chart based on the number of unique people buying different songs you didn't need any special rules particularly as big songs were always mainly current songs.

 

I know this and ACR in general have their critics but what could they do instead? The chart has to represent what's popular but they have to make sure it stays interesting and mainly focused on new music.

 

Why do they?

 

If that's what they want, they should make their own chart and just drop the 'official' element, which seems more and more like a bunch of kids drawing up new rules on the back of a napkin and swearing that's the constitution because they say so.

 

How can 'the official chart, the only chart that counts' in the country that tries to paint itself as the authority on what's most popular in the country ACTUALLY only describe what's not the most bought, nor the most streamed, not popular among the same people necessarily, that has to be under three years old otherwise bye bye you don't count for as much? Sure, that might lead to more new acts being played on the radio, but it's only 'official' in a 'because I say so' way.

Do we know if 'Three Lions' is still on SCR? It's not top 40 and wasn't on Monday either when I had expected it to sneak into the top 40 at some point this week. I would have thought that the new chart rules would have applied to older tracks which are on SCR from last Friday.

It was reset last week to SCR but now you mention it, it does seem to be back on ACR this week!

It was reset last week to SCR but now you mention it, it does seem to be back on ACR this week!

After reading the new chart rules I did have a feeling it must have gone back to ACR. Do you know if it is anywhere near the top 40 or has it taken a big fall down the chart? It does of course get two bites at the cherry as the OCC decided (wrongly in my view) to amalgamate sales (and presumably streams) of the 1996 and 1998 versions.

 

After reading the new chart rules I did have a feeling it must have gone back to ACR. Do you know if it is anywhere near the top 40 or has it taken a big fall down the chart? It does of course get two bites at the cherry as the OCC decided (wrongly in my view) to amalgamate sales (and presumably streams) of the 1996 and 1998 versions.

#63 in today's update, will be interesting to see how much of a boost it gets in tomorrow's update!

This is a really disheartening move, not the least it makes it look even more manipulative but for the effect. I understand to an extent with the Christmas songs as though I've never minded them, it would clearly make it look a bit overly dominant and give new songs a chance amongst them. But ANY song over three years old? That means that tributes to big pop stars who have died, songs revitalised in advert campaigns or songs that reflect the media and atmosphere of the time will all be affected if they fall into that bracket.

 

I've always liked that the UK charts reflect musically the cultural and topical climate of the time and can be influenced by outside events like the World cup, a big news story etc. so you occasionally get oddities, and this rule would be a step towards lessening that and making it less representative of outside events and, in my opinion at least, a lot less interesting.

This is a really disheartening move, not the least it makes it look even more manipulative but for the effect. I understand to an extent with the Christmas songs as though I've never minded them, it would clearly make it look a bit overly dominant and give new songs a chance amongst them. But ANY song over three years old? That means that tributes to big pop stars who have died, songs revitalised in advert campaigns or songs that reflect the media and atmosphere of the time will all be affected if they fall into that bracket.

 

I've always liked that the UK charts reflect musically the cultural and topical climate of the time and can be influenced by outside events like the World cup, a big news story etc. so you occasionally get oddities, and this rule would be a step towards lessening that and making it less representative of outside events and, in my opinion at least, a lot less interesting.

 

Exactly, it is one of the things that has made our chart so interesting in the past. Wouldn't have had great campaigns like the Rage Against The Machine one if this was around then, or songs like Don't Stop Believin' becoming a huge hit almost 30 years after release. At least it is just restricted to streaming so the songs can still have a decent impact if they get great sales, but still feels a bit off.

The UK charts have stopped being a real popularity chart a long time ago.

 

And just when you think they can't possibly sink any lower, they surprise you and keep proving you wrong.

How annoying is that, the charts should reflect what people are listening too at the time even if that means older songs cropping up every so often.

 

As for Christmas songs in the charts, I don't mind it as it reflects what people are listening too. Plus it has been exciting to see a couple of new tracks grow each year like Santa Tell Me, Underneath The Tree and One More Sleep.

 

One More Sleep has a great peak, but it would have been nice to see Santa Tell Me and Underneath The Tree gain better positions.

Exactly, whatever the reason is, if it's the most popular song that week it should be #1. I agree that the reason I used to love following the chart is things like when a song used to be used on X Factor and it'd launch up the chart randomly, just the thought that each week there could be a totally random forgotten, underperformed or just "why not sing this again" kind of song :lol: I get ACR for hits that won't go away but when something comes to the forefront because of say a huge episode of a TV, an event like the World Cup or a musician's death, it shouldn't be the same deal.

i think it's silly that old songs like Zombie failed to re-chart this year cos the song was on acr the week Dolores died, the song did chart for >10 weeks before but on cd sales not on streams, acr is something to cap streams so that they don't count forever and it's right to apply it to one kiss and paradise, but why apply it to Zombie when it has never charted on streams? makes no sense to me, and now it's even worst, it can never get normal ratio