Official Charts Related:

Martin Talbot will be leaving Official Charts Company as CEO.

https://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/after-almost-1-000-no-1-albums-singles-ceo-martin-talbot-to-step-down-at-official-charts-company/093784

Talbot has taken the decision to step away from the company which he has steered through a period of unprecedented change in the entertainment sector, as it prepares to launch a brand new, state-of-the-art data system later this year, following the largest infrastructure investment in the company’s history.

The new platform, built under the scope of a new contract with Kantar finalised in Spring 2025, is designed to build on the company’s reputation as a market-leading entertainment charts & data company and further drive its UK and international business, across music and film.

Compiling its charts purely from sales and streaming information gathered across all key distribution (or entertainment) channels including all major high street retail chains, independent stores, supermarkets, mail order internet retailers and digital music and streaming service providers. This market research sample equates to 99% of the total UK singles market; 98% of the total UK albums market and 90% of the total UK DVD market.

The new Official Charts’ gold standard data system has been rebuilt from the ground up, utilising new state of the art technology, machine learning-driven weighting methodologies and smart insights.

Will chart fans notice any difference? Will all the OCC database errors be removed? Will the DVD and Music Video charts be increased for charts before 1994?

OCC note on Music Video Chart; The data displayed for this chart goes back to 1994, however we hope to be able to offer deeper historic information at a future point.

Will the OCC use the upgrade as an excuse to start charging for access to the archive?