unrelated to the discussions but I think it’d worth posting a reminder here as it has been the busiest and most active thread, no spoilers at all for tomorrow please, weather it’s an alleged figure you see or from the page on twitter please don’t share it here until the chart is unveiled!

Christmas chart sales and streaming official now close

14 minutes ago, Dj Cheeky magpie said:

Christmas chart sales and streaming official now close

Yes and wishing Kylie the best of luck for tomorrow.

Im excited and nervous for the chart reveal tomorrow.

Maybe next year our Leona can do it, with a new OMS version fot Amazon?! Or Mariah Carey, with a nee amazon verdion of ha sang but as a duet or somethin

Santa Baby is an interesting one as depending on the radio station they play a different one. Radio 1 tend to play Kylie, Radio 2 the Madonna version and the Eartha Kitt 1953 original charts due to Spotify 🤣

 

41 minutes ago, conorw said:

unrelated to the discussions but I think it’d worth posting a reminder here as it has been the busiest and most active thread, no spoilers at all for tomorrow please, weather it’s an alleged figure you see or from the page on twitter please don’t share it here until the chart is unveiled!

Yes, what an epic Christmas chart thread of nearly 40 pages, we haven’t seen that since rage vs Joe in 2009, is that right?

2 minutes ago, Steve201 said:

Yes, what an epic Christmas chart thread of nearly 40 pages, we haven’t seen that since rage vs Joe in 2009, is that right?

We’ve had busy ones in recent years… especially ones where a lot of people were (rightfully) expressing their dislike and annoyance at LadBaby 😂😂

And this year too the xmas chart thread had many pages, but because the graphic aspect of the forum has changed I don't know how this number of pages compares with previous years threads

Friday/Sunday Chart Prediction threads at Christmas:

2025 - 39 pages (766 replies)

2024 - 11 pages (205 replies)

2023 - 21 pages (407 replies)

2022 - 57 pages (1.1k replies)

2021 - 16 pages (304 replies)

2020 - 25 pages (498 replies)

2019 - 20 pages (393 replies)

2018 - 25 pages (483 replies)

2017 - 13 pages (254 replies)

2016 - 14 pages (260 replies)

2015 - 19 pages (365 replies)

2014 - 16 pages (301 replies)

2013 - 13 pages (244 replies)

2012 - 11 pages (202 replies)

2011 - 15 pages (286 replies)

2010 - 26 pages (505 replies)

2009 was spread across three threads, 947 replies overall (Thread 1, Thread 2, Thread 3)

2008 - 23 pages (452 replies)

2007 - 18 pages (340 replies)

2006 was spread across two threads, 373 replies overall (Thread 1, Thread 2)

I'm a little surprised that 2022 generated more discussion than 2009! 2025 is the third most active Christmas chart week predictions thread.

Was 2022 the Sam Ryder year?

Sam Ryder's Christmas single is from 2023!

2022's Christmas chart:

1 LadBaby - Food Aid

2 Wham! - Last Christmas

3 Sidemen - Christmas Drillings

4 Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You

5 Ed Sheeran & Elton John - Merry Christmas

6 Raye feat. 070 Shake - Escapism

7 K**ts - F**k the Tories

8 Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

9 Central Cee - Let Go

10 Stormzy - Firebabe

Ah thanks @-Jay-. I must be missing something, as I can't see why 2022 in particular would've generated so much discussion.

2022 wasn't an easy road to victory for LadBaby so I expect much of that thread was people hoping they wouldn't manage it...!

Thanks Jay I do remember the 2009 CCP were spread out over various different threads which made me think it was at least 50 pages per thread!!

3 minutes ago, JosephCarey said:

2022 wasn't an easy road to victory for LadBaby so I expect much of that thread was people hoping they wouldn't manage it...!

Thanks @JosephCarey. Just searched the Sales Threads and found it. You're right it's a pretty close run race between the whole top 7:

01 65,335 LadBaby - Food Aid [4,967 CDs, 54,295 downloads, 6,073 streaming]

02 54,559 Wham! - Last Christmas

03 52,269 Sidemen - Christmas Drillings [9,947 CDs, 21,909 downloads] [total: 79,339]

04 51,370 Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You

05 48,377 Ed Sheeran & Elton John - Merry Christmas

06 47,932 RAYE feat. 070 Shake - Escapism.

07 46,101 The Kunts feat. Terry Edwards - F*** the Tories [36,850 downloads]

10 hours ago, Julian_ said:

I’m pretty glad wonderful Eartha Kitt isn’t being erased by a cover…

I actually really enjoy both Eartha's and Kylie's versions. I know it would never happen but it would be nice if they just had both versions of it on the playlist.

11 hours ago, December Dong said:

But hasn't it already died? Since X Factor? It never recovered, except for the RATM year

Well, that's debatable. People don't care about it very much anymore, but it is still a thing, in that it gets media coverage every year, and reminds people that the charts still exist. I think if the same record was #1 every year it would be the final nail in the coffin. I don't see OCC standing by and doing nothing.

But thankfully ladbaby kept his clean sweep of 5 from 5 🙌

I posted this in the Christmas #1 thread but thought it might be relevant here too.

I think regardless of the results of this week Kylie and Amazon have potentially breathed fresh life into the classic Christmas #1 battle.

Whilst it's still to early to tell, but if the streaming platforms make a few changes then we could get closer to the days of years gone by.

Imagine Apple and Spotify putting in the same amount of effort as Amazon do with there 'Amazon Exclusives'. I know Kylie has a fanatical fanbase who lap up anything and everything but imagine a 2026 Christmas Chart battle if the main 3 streaming platforms were all doing it. As an example Amazon could have Harry Styles or Lewis Capaldi, Spotify could have Lady Gaga or Dua Lipa and Apple could have Jade or Steps. Each act has a fanbase that would support them with physical purchases and with a proper UK centred playlist from Spotify (Apple already do this I believe) the days of Wham and Mariah dominating could be a thing of the past. Even more American artists could be used. Taylor, Sabrina, P!nk, Rihanna.

I know it's probably unlikely to happen but the foundations have really been set this year. I really hope it's not for nothing.

I like Madonna and Kylie versions of "Santa Baby", but my favourite :

56 minutes ago, Paddington James said:

I posted this in the Christmas #1 thread but thought it might be relevant here too.

I think regardless of the results of this week Kylie and Amazon have potentially breathed fresh life into the classic Christmas #1 battle.

Whilst it's still to early to tell, but if the streaming platforms make a few changes then we could get closer to the days of years gone by.

Imagine Apple and Spotify putting in the same amount of effort as Amazon do with there 'Amazon Exclusives'. I know Kylie has a fanatical fanbase who lap up anything and everything but imagine a 2026 Christmas Chart battle if the main 3 streaming platforms were all doing it. As an example Amazon could have Harry Styles or Lewis Capaldi, Spotify could have Lady Gaga or Dua Lipa and Apple could have Jade or Steps. Each act has a fanbase that would support them with physical purchases and with a proper UK centred playlist from Spotify (Apple already do this I believe) the days of Wham and Mariah dominating could be a thing of the past. Even more American artists could be used. Taylor, Sabrina, P!nk, Rihanna.

I know it's probably unlikely to happen but the foundations have really been set this year. I really hope it's not for nothing.

I don't think it's a simple as Spotify and Apple mounting a challenge with their exclusives...

Ultimately, Amazon are a significant outlier in the way their streaming model works, and that is the reason they (and their exclusives, in particular) command much higher numbers over Christmas than the rest of the year (and why labels obviously want their artists to get an Amazon exclusive track).

Spotify and Apple are much more personal-listening leaning. By that, I mean that their users are much more likely to listen on their own and probably throw on a playlist. Spotify's main playlist is very influential to the order of the chart because their main Christmas playlist order dictates it. I assume nuances in that order are mostly from other sources (Amazon seems to play the big UK hits, and Apple seems to be better with pushing regional hits [Leona is doing very well there, for example])

The big difference is that Amazon is almost certainly more background/group listening orientated (I don't know anyone that uses Amazon as their usual streaming platform, everyone seems to use either Spotify or Apple), and that is heightened around Christmas when more people have time off. They're home more, so will ask Alexa to play music more. This is probably why the Amazon exclusives make a sudden leap in the last couple of weeks before Christmas. As the music is on in the background, or when you're chatting with friends in the living room, you're probably less likely to skip the song than if you're listening in your headphones or whatever too.

Yes, you can configure your smart speaker to play from another streaming service, but realistically how many people will do that if Alexa plays the music you want anyway?

When you stick on a playlist, you don't get repeats. Apple has the option to start a station (and I've had repeats in that before) so if Spotify/Apple want to spam their exclusives, they would, but I don't think it would work as effectively for the way their listeners consume music - and would probably just end up irritating then.

I think the best thing they could do is shove their exclusives to the top of their Christmas playlists and prioritise them on autoplay, I just don't think they're particularly bothered as long as people are subscribed to them 😂

Edited Friday at 11:435 days by Juranamo