but there's a difference between passive streams vs made-up streams by Alexa

 

not the same thing at all...

I must admit, I do hate how the chart gets flooded with Christmas songs for basically 6 whole weeks these days. 3 weeks or so would be absolutely fine, but that's just too much.

 

This week is the first with at least one song in top ten so there's basically 4.

 

Dec 4

Dec 11

Dec 18

Dec 25

 

I don't think Xmas songs will stay beyond Dec 26 even this year.

This week is the first with at least one song in top ten so there's basically 4.

 

Dec 4

Dec 11

Dec 18

Dec 25

 

I don't think Xmas songs will stay beyond Dec 26 even this year.

 

The top 40 had loads in last week, so let's call it 5. Also assuming they'll be hanging on in the chart after Christmas too, that makes it 6.

Well, that's probably the one benefit to Mariah being permanently stuck at #2. "Will she finally get the #1 this year?" is basically the only storyline we have to follow every Christmas.

 

Yep but it will happen this year and then every year after then what is the storyline? I mean she is super close the first week of December already.

 

I think if you swapped Mariah for not a buzz jack fave female who was potentially in the position of being Christmas number 1 for years to come everyone on here would be demanding change or calling it a farce.

 

 

If it was anyone other than Mariah that was the top Christmas song every year, people would be calling for a change in the rules. People complained about Ellie Goulding being #1 last year thanks to Alexa, but Mariah similarly benefits from "passive" playlist plays.

 

Yes, it's undoubtedly genuinely the most popular Christmas song, but it still has an unfair advantage over everything else. All Christmas songs have an unfair advantage just due to the fact Christmas exists and comes round every year. And we don't need the chart to tell us that people listen to Christmas songs at Christmas. The whole point of it is a promotional tool for the music industry - and now it's useless for a few weeks of the year.

 

 

That's basically spot on, and taking the X Factor out of the equation that usually brings added exposure for live acts during the last 3 months of the year, plus Covid has had a huge effect on the music business this year.

Christmas is now the only time I'm particuarly interested in the singles chart :lol:

I don’t mind it as long as it sticks to December but the commercialisation is so great now that families give in too easily and put decorations up the week after Halloween and start listening to Xmas music instead of having the period of November slightly separate still.

Yep but it will happen this year and then every year after then what is the storyline? I mean she is super close the first week of December already.

 

I think if you swapped Mariah for not a buzz jack fave female who was potentially in the position of being Christmas number 1 for years to come everyone on here would be demanding change or calling it a farce.

Well yes, the fact that the Christmas charts will get quite dull if Mariah ever starts to actually hit #1 consistently is the point of my post. It's OK (at least for me) now because, despite the general inevitability of Christmas domination, there is speculation to be had about exactly how it will play out.

 

That said, I'm surprised to see people so negative about the Christmas charts altogether anyway. They are worse than the rest of the year in terms of predictability but the majority of the top 40 still won't be Christmas songs, and there is interest to be had in watching the performance of non-festive songs be warped around the season.

I don’t mind it as long as it sticks to December but the commercialisation is so great now that families give in too easily and put decorations up the week after Halloween and start listening to Xmas music instead of having the period of November slightly separate still.

 

Don't forget this year could be a temporary blip ;) as everyone was in lockdown before the 2nd, and people had a lot of free time on their hands. :lol: and decided to put their Xmas decor up and started listening to Christmas music. -_-

Sia says hi

 

I don't think that awful mumble song will ever be seen as a Christmas classic.

It's a shame in the respect that very few 'new' hits can be generated in December now, early December used to be when all the major pop acts unleashed their final singles of the year but now they do it in October/November. A few hang on in the upper reaches but I suppose most are scared off from getting buried under the Christmas songs and then never picking up afterwards. Not everything can be like Blinding Lights, many songs released in December now will just pass by unnoticed and it's probably safer to wait until January to release.

 

I do love seeing old favourites in the chart every now and then, but it is crazy now it has become the majority of the top 40 and dominating the upper reaches too. The late 00s was the perfect balance with eight or nine scattered throughout the top 40 that were being actively revisited year after year and finding new buyers. But now it's all or mostly passive, it's a bit crazy, nobody denies that Mariah, Wham and Pogues would be most popular anyway, but I'm not sure the Liam Payne and Meghan Trainor songs in the top 100 at the moment for example particularly 'deserve' their place there! And that's without even getting into the Alexa exclusives debate.

 

I'm not sure what the answer is, I sort of like and dislike it in equal measure so the OCC are damned if they do and damned if they don't :lol:

If streaming didn’t exist and downloads were still the mainstay it would have been more interesting to see how thing played out and how songs went out of fashion but with streaming it will likely be the same songs each year whether we like it or not!

Don't forget this year could be a temporary blip ;) as everyone was in lockdown before the 2nd, and people had a lot of free time on their hands. :lol: and decided to put their Xmas decor up and started listening to Christmas music. -_-

 

 

I think it’ll be the norm unfort!

The best part of the Christmas charts, is the first week of January, when they all disappear just like that, and the fresh music comes back with a blast. :lol: Cough Blinding Lights, Dance Monkey Cough :lol:

If streaming didn’t exist and downloads were still the mainstay it would have been more interesting to see how thing played out and how songs went out of fashion but with streaming it will likely be the same songs each year whether we like it or not!

 

I agree, plus Beverley Knight would be top 40 again possibly :cry:

Edited December 3, 20205 yr by Simon.

In last week's sales chart they lined up as follows (new Xmas songs in brackets)

 

Pogues

Mariah

(Dancing Binmen)

Wham!

(Robbie Williams)

Michael Buble

(Boyz On Block)

Shakin' Stevens

Kelly Clarkson

Wizzard

Leona Lewis

Chris Rea

Band Aid

Elton John

 

This tells us that Buble/Kelly/Leona are the most actively purchased of the recent Xmas songs.

 

In 2007 they lined up as follows on the peak week for Xmas songs in the top 40:

 

Mariah

Pogues

Wham!

Wizzard

Andy Williams

Slade

Shakin' Stevens

Band Aid

Chris Rea

John & Yoko

 

All this tells me that Slade and Andy Williams have dropped out of favour (Wizzard a bit too, but less so), and Shaky and Elton John's songs have grown in popularity. Other than that it's mostly the same or thereabouts 13 years on.

Edited December 3, 20205 yr by gooddelta

Trust me the novelty will wear off when you stop bothering to even check the charts during December

I stan Mariah though, so seeing her get success each year with a classic is amazing. Despite the repetitiveness of it.

In last week's sales chart they lined up as follows (new Xmas songs in brackets)

 

Pogues

Mariah

(Dancing Binmen)

Wham!

(Robbie Williams)

Michael Buble

(Boyz On Block)

Shakin' Stevens

Kelly Clarkson

Wizzard

Leona Lewis

Chris Rea

Band Aid

Elton John

 

This tells us that Buble/Kelly/Leona are the most actively purchased of the recent Xmas songs.

 

In 2007 they lined up as follows on the peak week for Xmas songs in the top 40:

 

Mariah

Pogues

Wham!

Wizzard

Andy Williams

Slade

Shakin' Stevens

Band Aid

Chris Rea

John & Yoko

 

All this tells me that Slade and Andy Williams have dropped out of favour (Wizzard a bit too, but less so), and Shaky and Elton John's songs have grown in popularity. Other than that it's mostly the same or thereabouts 13 years on.

 

Thanks for the overview of the sales chart, was that the top 100 from last week?

 

Yeh I wonder if Slade and Wizzard have decreased in popularity or they are not as prominent on more world wide based playlists on Spotify or the likes?

 

In last week's sales chart they lined up as follows (new Xmas songs in brackets)

 

Pogues

Mariah

(Dancing Binmen)

Wham!

(Robbie Williams)

Michael Buble

(Boyz On Block)

Shakin' Stevens

Kelly Clarkson

Wizzard

Leona Lewis

Chris Rea

Band Aid

Elton John

 

This tells us that Buble/Kelly/Leona are the most actively purchased of the recent Xmas songs.

'Santa Tell Me' was of course starred out last week so I'll be interested to see where that lands this week, currently has two versions in the iTunes top 100

 

Gutted about the declining popularity of Wizzard - one of my favourite Christmas songs :(

Christmas songs clogging up the chart doesn't really bother me, particularly because the Christmas market does change over time (albeit slowly). The list of Christmas songs charting now is quite a bit more diverse than that from 2007 when they were first allowed to chart, even if the old favourites are still there.

 

What I really think did damage was the 10 years or so of reality TV almost monopolising the Christmas Number 1 spot with unassailable sales, which I think killed off the impetus to produce a great modern day Christmas hit for a while. At least now there is scope for someone to write a brilliant song and try for the Number 1 with it - yes instead we've been getting Ladbaby but there's no reason someone couldn't compete with that if they really put their mind to it.