Do you guys think that "End of Beginning" will be reset this week? The song is over 3 years old now, and has to be reset manually.

Edited December 2, 2025Dec 2 by DanielCarey

1 hour ago, Hadji said:

So you’re happy for Wham! to get Christmas number 1 every year are you? If you do, you need to give your head a wobble.

Stop being so judgmental.

2 hours ago, Julian_ said:

I’d actually take Wham! over an October #1 hanging on by default or an Amazon exclusive that most of the public hasn’t heard and can’t even access.

The ‘most of the public can’t even access’ is a bit extreme - they can command 50% of the streaming market due to their Alexa device, subscription and prime deals over the festive period.

They also have free 1 and 3 month trials at the moment so it’s hardly like they are hiding songs away from anyone.

15 hours ago, GreyAsh said:

We just listened to ‘NOW! That’s What I Call Christmas’ instead - but as you said, that would mostly cover the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Have the cassette of the original Now Christmas album from 1985!

 

8 hours ago, Henessy Lake said:

To me its like you start counting down to Christmas on the 1st so like why does it bleed into November. Oh well its here now, just hoping it's not the predictable wham at 1 every week

Agree with this about it ‘bleeding into November’ it’s like people have stopped waiting and given into mass consumerism and follow what the shops say (they start much earlier because of ££££). Just let things be when they are meant to be and stop moving on too quickly to the next event!

 

7 hours ago, 777666jason said:

Personally as much as i love Kylie I do think its a dirty trick to promote the album but leave off the song they are actively pushing just to push the song more the week after

Like couldn't it of not been added to physicals (maybe not streaming for the first week artists alter the streaming versions all the time)

It’ll be added as a deluxe version next October.

7 hours ago, Mr. C. Joel said:

I’m the same I’ve pre-ordered all 3 versions of Xmas but I’ll just stream the album instead.

I wonder if most have done that instead? Although it seems to be selling well on Amazon it hasn’t left the top 70 in bestsellers in CD/Vinyl so that’s a good sign

Ive ordered the cd and vinyl largely for collection purposes, im not a huge fan of christmas albums in general and kylies album has few decent songs but the music is different to what i really like from her in her normal output, i will be streaming aswell to support.

11 minutes ago, Steve201 said:

It’ll be added as a deluxe version next October.

Oh probably but this is already the 3rd different release of the same album ,

As @Mr. C. Joel said yes its on the amazon exclusive but people are gonna be buying the over versions to realise its not on there is a bit shitty

23 hours ago, Jessie Where said:

I think a takeover each year in the streaming era is natural and I don't mind it to a point, I just wish it didn't completely obliterate 6 whole chart weeks of the year.

I’d be more ok with it if it was different Christmas songs every year or few years, but it’s the same year in year out. It’s always the same playlists that barely change. Last Christmas, AIWFCIY, Santa Tell Me, Rockin Around The Christmas Tree. I do like a few of these, but it’d be nice to see a change.

Gwen Stefani an first UK Top 40 hit potentially since 2007?

Christmas is very US based now, Slade, Wizzard and even Kirsty/Pogues became less successful in last years.

Had The OCC banned any songs from the chart after spending 100 weeks on it, Mariah and Wham! would have been affected this week.

I personally am not bothered about the Christmas take over, I just think it's boring that it is generally the same songs that chart and that is pretty much because of the playlisting of said songs, not because people are genuinely seeking out a certain song. I do enjoy when a Christmas song I love re-peaks like Kelly Clarkson and Elton John's so I guess I can't really complain.

I will die on a hill in my argument that playlists should not count towards the charts just like radio play doesn't count towards the charts though. It's exactly the same as turning on the radio to listen to whatever they choose to play for you, it's passive and not an actual reflection of what people are actively choosing to follow / enjoy etc. I have no idea how you get around that though, for example only accepting "sales points" from people actively seeking out the artists page so I get why it's probably not viable.

I think the relevance of playlists has faded in general, however for specific holidays it's the opposite because why would anyone bother seeking out songs for Halloween or Christmas if the whole purpose is just to be in a festive mood.

1 hour ago, Sour Candy said:

I think the relevance of playlists has faded in general, however for specific holidays it's the opposite because why would anyone bother seeking out songs for Halloween or Christmas if the whole purpose is just to be in a festive mood.

Yeah, especially if you want Christmas music playing in the background for like 6 hours. Maybe a lot of us would enjoy making a playlist that long as we are really into mainstream music, etc, but for normal people it's an extreme amount of effort, you can't blame them for just choosing a playlist or letting autoplay do its thing. But yeah it sucks for what it does to the charts.

I don't mind the Christmas takeover let's be honest it's what most of the population are listening to. My argument is at the very least the streaming services could totally mix up the playlists each year, No doubt Wham! and Mariah would still be the front runners but at least it would change up the order of the rest of the songs. Get the newer Christmas songs higher up the playlists. It's so boring when the playlists are all virtually in the same order year in year out.

21 hours ago, Big Mistake said:

So whats the solution? Disqualify it just because it annoys some people

Yes please!

19 hours ago, Ongarboy said:

I think an issue some have with the annual Christmas invasion is that artists and labels pretty much hold off on releasing any music for the entire last quarter of each year nowadays because just as a song starts gaining traction or momentum in the charts in Oct or Nov, it then gets swallowed by the Christmas rush and has to try harder to regain that momentum again in January after a 6 week hiatus of not being played, streamed or discussed as part of the public consciousness and potential listeners or fans just move onto other more brand new music released in January. It means the non-Christmas popular music calendar has all but shrunk by a quarter. Is that a good thing?

As others have said, I think it's more that it's pretty much the same songs every time more or less in the orders that they are in on these curated playlists. I'd be very interested to see what would happen if that order had shake-ups every year or so. Highlighting and prioritising key new Christmas releases towards the top half of the playlist (mixed in with the "classics" ofc) it's just boring and predictable every time now.

--

I wonder how much Taylor's "ERA's Tour Documentary" will impact her album sales from the 12th? We're also (finally) getting to see the ERAs tour with the TTPD set in! Plus with the rumour of 'Opalite' getting a "Christmassy" music video around then too...

Tbf i dont think the difference was that huge when the original eras tour dropped on Disney but any boost is good 🙌

I guess a way to get around it in terms of playlists is to make it mandatory that curated 3rd party playlists are played on shuffle. And obviously if you are a paid subscriber you can actively change the song to one you want.

If it’s your own playlist then you have chosen those songs so you should be allowed to play it in your order if you wish.

This would eliminate the favouritism that passive plays gives to a certain order of songs. But I can see it undermining the record labels who pay promote their artists to the top.

Edited December 3, 2025Dec 3 by Knightr634

I do also think that even advertising doesnt help like Mariah has been made defcato face of christmas, you couldn't even get a pack of cheese and onion crisps 2 years ago without seeing her face 😅

2 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

I do also think that even advertising doesnt help like Mariah has been made defcato face of christmas, you couldn't even get a pack of cheese and onion crisps 2 years ago without seeing her face 😅

I don’t see that as necessary a problem. That’s been going on forever. Remembering the days of Spice Girls being on practically everything. You couldn’t move in any type of shop without seeing some kind of spice girls branded item.

At least with promotion, it means that you are more likely to seek it out for yourself rather than it being on the background.

But we’ve always been steered by playlists. From radio to tv channels. Remembering how the number of a music video would come up at the side of the screen and looking to see if that was for the artist you want.

Edited December 3, 2025Dec 3 by Knightr634