I was wondering if it's possible for someone to create theoretical streaming /official charts for before 2000 and see if people agree what could have been different about the official charts had Streaming existed in the 80s and 90s.

 

My example would be on 11 October 1998 had streaming existed alongside sales I think Aerosmith would have been the biggest streaming song and been No.1 on the Official Chart, I am not sure Billie with Girlfriend would have been a highly streamed song and I think a big rock band with a movie hit could easily have been a huge streaming song,

 

Official Chart dated 11 October 1998

1 New GIRLFRIEND Billie

2 1 B'WITCHED Rollercoaster

3 New FATBOY SLIM GANGSTER TRIPPIN

4 4 AEROSMITH Don't Want To Miss A Thing

 

Just a thought it might be a bit of fun to see if any stats brains on here might be able to recalculate and reimagine the week's charts.

Edited June 11, 20232 yr by steveh31

If stream had existed, Westlife would have 0 number #1s :)

Doubt.

 

They’d have still had a few number ones through similar methods to what Lewis Capaldi is doing now I’d think.

A couple would probably have genuinely caught on with the public too, like You Raise Me Up.

 

For sure the charts would have looked very different indeed, especially in the late 90s, where going by the 1998 example the No.1s would have probably included Aerosmith, Savage Garden, Brandy & Monica, Will Smith etc…and less of the fleeting dance songs (Spacedust) and pop act fanbase songs from the likes of Boyzone and B*Witched, although I think No Matter What and C’est La Vie still would have been huge.

My Heart Will Go On would've probably spent longer than two weeks at #1

and songs like Kylie's Can't Get You Out of My Head or some of Gaga would have been #1 for ages and ages

Also, some rock acts would've done better, namely Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit etc.

Westlife would still have had some fanbase chart toppers probably but Better Off Alone would surely have made up the 500 copy deficit over If I Let You Go.

The chart travesty that was everybody wants to rule the world not reaching no.1 would hopefully have been avoided.

I feel like it really depends on how you're constructing this hypothetical. Like it's either such a massive infrastructure shift that it completely warps the charts beyond recognition, at which point label priorities would shift completely in terms of what they're promoting and how, which warps it further. Or if you just put it as an addition to that infrastructure, then sales are still so enormous that it'd barely change.

It's really quite hard to predict something like this using modern metrics like which songs are the most streamed (e.g Aerosmith, Nirvana) as they aren't accounting for the fact, they were brand new at the time and a lot of these were slow burners took time to became classics and grow on the public. The music landscape was so different.

 

Although the old iTunes charts from before downloads were introduced to the charts fully could probably give you a good picture, especially from 2004/5.

If stream had existed, Westlife would have 0 number #1s :)

 

I doubt it. They had songs in the year-end top 10 before didn't they? I'm sure those would've got #1 regardless.

 

I think what's more interesting is how the album tracks would've done. Oasis probably would've had Ed Sheeran level domination at some point. :lol: And as a result things such as future singles might have been different and so on. And there might have been other Kate Bush moments which just wouldn't have been detected in the charts back then when it was only physicals.

I doubt it. They had songs in the year-end top 10 before didn't they? I'm sure those would've got #1 regardless.

 

I think what's more interesting is how the album tracks would've done. Oasis probably would've had Ed Sheeran level domination at some point. :lol: And as a result things such as future singles might have been different and so on. And there might have been other Kate Bush moments which just wouldn't have been detected in the charts back then when it was only physicals.

 

Champagne Suoernova might have benefited.

Edited June 11, 20232 yr by steveh31

Thank God that they didn't have streaming back then as a lot of my favourite artists (the likes of Tori Amos, Bjork, PJ Harvey etc) would have hardly have any top 40 hits at all!

 

Plus the likes of Savage Garden ('To The Moon and Back' excepted) having MORE weeks in the charts.... :puke2:

 

Guess it depends if you are talking about the period where streaming had just started being counted and sales were still relevant or now where they really aren't apart from the odd charity/novelty single.

Edited June 11, 20232 yr by Smint

If stream had existed, Westlife would have 0 number #1s :)

 

Cry cry :cry: :cry:

 

We would have ‘sold’ three-four times more though cause back in the day we were deffinitely one of the hot names in UK’s music scene. PS: Westlife maintain the milestone of having the first ever official download #1 song.

and songs like Kylie's Can't Get You Out of My Head or some of Gaga would have been #1 for ages and ages

Definitely and their sales would far higher. Kylies CGYOOMY opened with over 300,000 physical sales, I wonder what that would translate to in todays market.

Spotify doesn't support AOR music and doesn't support boybands, so definitely Westlife wouldn't have been supported

It's like Hello My Love a few years back peaked at #13 only, back in the day it would have been an easy #1

Spotify doesn't support AOR music and doesn't support boybands, so definitely Westlife wouldn't have been supported

It's like Hello My Love a few years back peaked at #13 only, back in the day it would have been an easy #1

 

That’s not really a fair comparison though as Westlifes popularity peak was far behind them by the time Hello My Love came out. They are now aimed at a much older audience. . Streaming doesn’t support Boy bands now because they simply aren’t “in” right now but late nineties and early noughties were the peak boyband phase.

Kids and teenagers of the late nineties would have been streaming Westlife during their peak of 1999 to 2001

 

I’m sure One Direction would have had a few big streaming hits if streaming had kicked in properly a bit earlier

 

 

Isn’t this just making the charts up? There’s no way we’d know what they’d look like.

 

I’d argue that Westlife would have potentially been more prominent. They certainly wouldn’t peak in week one and all the crazy fans would stream them for weeks on end. Pretty much the same way they do with their modern equivalent, Ed Sheeran.

Isn’t this just making the charts up? There’s no way we’d know what they’d look like.

 

I’d argue that Westlife would have potentially been more prominent. They certainly wouldn’t peak in week one and all the crazy fans would stream them for weeks on end. Pretty much the same way they do with their modern equivalent, Ed Sheeran.

What is wrong with "making it up" it's just an idea of what people think would have happened of course it's made up because we can never know.