HMV is today pulling the Official Charts Company singles chart from its racks after deeming the countdown no longer relevant to its in-store offer.

 

The music specialist is making the move in light of new rules introduced last week, which allow all digital sales to be counted towards the combined singles chart, irrespective of the availability of a physical format.

 

As a result of the changes, around half a dozen digital-only tracks that would have been previously excluded were yesterday (Sunday) expected to make the Top 40, leaving high street retailers still stocking the Official chart with a stocking dilemma.

 

To avoid leaving empty spaces on its chart walls, HMV UK & Ireland managing director Steve Knott says the retailer, which has supported the national singles chart in store since the Sixties, has decided to drop the OCC countdown and display its own-compiled physical singles chart instead, as it already does with albums.

 

"We’ve always stringently followed the OCC/MW chart," Knott says. "Now we can’t do that because a percentage of the titles are not available physically, but we’re not going to have gaps in the chart wall because we’re going to have our own physical chart."

 

The decision further reduces the public presence of the Official singles chart, which only last year lost one of its most high-profile outlets with the axing of BBC TV’s Top Of The Pops, which weekly featured a rundown of the chart.

 

It also means the chart will now be virtually non-existent on the high street as HMV and a number of independents were the only stores left racking the chart, with others either featuring their own singles chart or not stocking singles at all. Some indie stores are expected to follow HMV’s lead and ditch the OCC countdown in favour of their own chart.

 

Knott, who is also chairman of retail trade organisation the Entertainment Retailers Association (Era), says, "You will now not be able to go into a record shop and see the national chart. You’ll see different versions of the chart or a collection of titles. One of the biggest jobs in our record shops on a Monday was changing the singles chart.

 

"It was an exciting thing for our staff to do and people came in to look at the new chart, but that won’t happen any more."

 

The first OCC singles chart not to feature in HMV stores was due to include the return of a handful of big hits that had previously been removed because of a rule that declared that any track would be automatically excluded two weeks after being physically deleted.

 

With that rule no longer active, Fiction/Polydor’s Snow Patrol hit Chasing Cars was expected yesterday to re-enter the chart in the Top 10, nearly two months after being barred. Other Top 40 returns were also set to include the Warner Bros-issued Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, B Unique/Polydor’s Monster by The Automatic and Geffen/Polydor’s Maneater by Nelly Furtado.

 

The Top 40 was further housing a number of tracks that have been newly deleted physically, including Universal chart-toppers America by Razorlight and I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ by Scissor Sisters, although the major’s commercial director Brian Rose says the decision here to delete these is not part of a "sea-change" because of the new rules, but part of the normal run of moving on projects to a next single rather than because of the new regulations.

 

Several tracks previously excluded were also expected to chart, including the Polydor-issued 50 Cent track You Don’t Know, which had been barred because its physical format breached chart qualification rules over the inclusion of stickers, but can now qualify via its digital sales.

 

Meanwhile, outside of the Top 40, the decision to allow digital-only tracks to count meant the likes of RCA’s digital-only seller Auld Lang Syne by Gay Gordon & The Mince Pies and Parlophone’s Queen oldie Don’t Stop Me Now were challenging for Top 75 places.

 

In a chart that was yesterday noticeable for the lack of new entries to the Top 40 – with the exception of 50 Cent, the Mercury-handled U2 single Window In The Skies and the same company’s presently digital-only JoJo single Too Little Too Late – the OCC’s head of operations Meriel Blackburn believes it is too soon to tell what the long-term impact will be of the new regulations.

 

"I don’t think the impact on the Top 40 is huge," she adds. "In the Top 40 there are about five tracks that have been previously starred out and the 50 Cent single, but the top end of the chart has not been hugely changed."

 

However, once the singles market kicks into gear in 2007 with more new releases – some of which could now be digital-only singles – the new rules are expected to make a far greater impression on the shape of the rundown.

 

From Musicweek

Seems that HMV are going to have there own physical chart like Woolworths do.

This is just cos they've probably got a load of overstock gathering dust in the back!

This is just cos they've probably got a load of overstock gathering dust in the back!

But that's probably been the case for years. They've only made this decision the week that the chart rules changed. They are linked.

 

The stores have been complaining about the gaps for several years - that's why there have been various rules over the last few years (the deletion rule, the week before release rule) to limit the number of empty spaces on their racks.

 

These rules don't exist anymore so they have to change. Otherwise it would look like HMV weren't able to stock enough.

Bah. :( The singles chart is gonna become a mess soon tbh... I was hearing on GMTV this morning that they EMI or someone is planning to release all the Beatles' songs available for download, and is likely that the Beatles could make the whole top ten! :rofl:

Bah. :( The singles chart is gonna become a mess soon tbh... I was hearing on GMTV this morning that they EMI or someone is planning to release all the Beatles' songs available for download, and is likely that the Beatles could make the whole top ten! :rofl:

That wouldn't be the end of the world, though.

 

Enough Elvis fans bought songs they already had to keep an Elvis song (albeit a different one every week) in the top ten for months in 2005. People on this site complained but records were sold and there were no rules to stop those Elvis songs charting. (Well, one was disqualified.)

This is the same principle.

Edited January 8, 200718 yr by Tim

I keep reading that thing about The Beatles could have the whole top 10 if they are made to download, I would hate that, i think they are one of the most over-rated acts ever,,,

im sure many record stores are totally against the new rules

To see HMV's new Singles Chart...go to HMV.co.uk then click on 'SINGLES' tab then Top 40 singles chart- link on the left of that page.

 

It has at NUMBER ONE!!!

 

U2- Windows In The Skies !!!!

So does this mean that HMV sales don't count towards the chart? :o

I've always said that the physical chart will never die completly. There will always be a demand for the actual CD itself by die hard fans like you say in the case of the Elvis/Wacko Jacko reissues. But I think this is a good move - I trust HMV will do a MUCH better job of compiling their own chart than Woolworths anyway. Perhaps we should ditch $h!tworths and post the HMV one when it starts up :lol:

I keep reading that thing about The Beatles could have the whole top 10 if they are made to download, I would hate that, i think they are one of the most over-rated acts ever,,,

 

The Beatles over-rated :lol:

They were ahead of their time

 

I think acts such as McFly, Westlife, R&B and Hip-Hop acts are over rated

They don't make MUSIC just noise

 

So does this mean that HMV sales don't count towards the chart? :o

No. It means that when you go into HMV singles will no longer be positioned in the official places, but their own chart (like Wollworths, Asda etc)

I actually think this is quite a good idea, it won't really make a major difference though, all the same singles will be there but just in a different chart order!

If the singles chart isn't on the high street and there isn't a Top of the Pops anymore, then how is it even a chart anymore? It's just something posted on this site every Sunday. It's a shame but it does feel like it really doesn't matter at all anymore.

If the singles chart isn't on the high street and there isn't a Top of the Pops anymore, then how is it even a chart anymore? It's just something posted on this site every Sunday. It's a shame but it does feel like it really doesn't matter at all anymore.

 

It matters because it's want other people are really buying.

 

It really does matter, but whether stores choice to use it or not is up to them.

It is published in papers every Monday though, I think a new show, like TOTP should be aired, to save the Official chart! before it get killed by all these 'brilliant' new changes to the chart! <_< :angry:

Edited January 9, 200718 yr by Rikrokk

I believe the new rules affect the stores... but they show a more realistic chart... anyway Downloads are increasing and they will end up replacing the physical released (just like in the US)

 

 

Bah. :( The singles chart is gonna become a mess soon tbh... I was hearing on GMTV this morning that they EMI or someone is planning to release all the Beatles' songs available for download, and is likely that the Beatles could make the whole top ten! :rofl:

 

That's just propaganga by the Beatles record company. There's no way they're going to release the whole back catalogue at once - releasing them a few at a time would be more effective.

The physical single will - eventually - become obsolete. The soon will eventually happen to the album.

 

A real shame though!