7 hours ago, jimwatts said:

I think it's more a sign of the times thing (read: death of the monoculture part 289). The singles market in the 1990s would have been maybe 2-3 million sales per week? Whereas now it's over 30 million units, however the amount needed to reach #1 has stayed roughly the same via the OCC's streams to sales conversion metrics. Every #1 now commands a much smaller fraction of overall consumption than it used to. That might make it sound like the bar for #1 is relatively lower now, yet fewer songs are breaking through to a position where they can get there than ever before. 'Rein Me In' has not had spectacular sales numbers during its weeks at #1, yet for most of that time it has been virtually unchallenged.

Without the exact numbers to hand, I don't think it owes its time at #1 to the same people wanting to stream it over and over more than usual for a chart hit. I just think it's reached a bigger audience than most, for example 'drop dead', which still displaced it for a week and has continued to stream very well, but I would think far fewer people in the UK are aware of its existence in order for it to continue to pick up the odd stream here and there. There's a combination of factors that got 'Rein Me In' in that position, not least benefitting from Olivia (Dean)'s breakthrough from last year into this, and taking the reins(?) as her most visible song when the push for her own singles eased off earlier this year, then a lot of people will have become aware of it through Sam instead, and it's reached a critical mass. As I say the numbers aren't huge, but they don't need to be for 0.2% of the market at best.

Strongly agree of course and I think in this sense it's always worth analysing it from the opposite end of the equation. Like, sure, gone are those hallmarks of a hugely dominant #1 single that everyone knows (not necessarily the case in the first place, but hear, hear), but what were those hallmarks? Hearing the song in the shops? On the radio? Close associates talking about it? It poses the question of whether those signifiers really exist for any modern popular song nowadays and suggests that something must be most encapsulating that in the present day even if the degree is very small. Or alternatively, we have to consider that these factors correlate to a successful hit, but they're not actually the components that made the chart sales happen. Once upon a time it was people buying CD singles, now it's people listening to the song privately. Unless you stalk the CD section at the shops, both of these are largely invisible actions. Someone can very actively listen to the current #1 single in their own home without it making a ripple, and that doesn't make it any less valid.

Like I just don't buy the 'this song has been #1 for months on end and no one's heard of it' angle. That just tells me those people have largely cut themselves out of the conversation, which is very easy to do. I'd spend long periods of time not listening to top 40 radio and being oblivious to these hit songs I had no reason to ever hear in my teens (and only hear them afterwards because I became a chart nerd). Not that I was ever buying singles around that time ever, but it just meant the conversation was happening without me, and that's fine. It'd be disingenuous to act like the charts have to go through one's own purview to be validated, only to make it very clear from the outset that it's not even something someone wants to go along with. Like skipping out on watching a sport for a decade and suddenly being confused at why the biggest names are ones you've never heard of. Being baffled that Sinner & Zverev are higher ranked than Djokovic when I don't even know what they look like.

(Also the longer you spend outside the top 40 environment, the harder it's gonna be to get back into it. It's specifically pushed forward by the people whose very taste it has shaped).

Downloaded every version from iTunes now too!

Really hope he manages it!

I have a feeling this is going to come down to the OCC and their Thursday stream fairytales. If they want him to have the record he will

13 minutes ago, No Sleeep said:

I have a feeling this is going to come down to the OCC and their Thursday stream fairytales. If they want him to have the record he will

Bear in mind it's not even the OCC who actually compile the charts - the Thursday streaming obviously is an estimate but there's absolutely no basis for it being made up / falsified in any way.

Both songs are streaming consistently so I'd be surprised if the Thursday estimates made the difference in any way. It's more likely to be either Sam's download push winning it for him last minute, or Shakira's video streaming advantage giving her a helping hand.

1 minute ago, JosephStyles said:

Bear in mind it's not even the OCC who actually compile the charts - the Thursday streaming obviously is an estimate but there's absolutely no basis for it being made up / falsified in any way.

Both songs are streaming consistently so I'd be surprised if the Thursday estimates made the difference in any way. It's more likely to be either Sam's download push winning it for him last minute, or Shakira's video streaming advantage giving her a helping hand.

In theory yes but you could never convince me there wasn’t something fishy with the Mariah and Ava Max battle in 2018

9 minutes ago, No Sleeep said:

In theory yes but you could never convince me there wasn’t something fishy with the Mariah and Ava Max battle in 2018

Oh dear! Not another Mariah Carey fan with a conspiracy theory. 🤦🏼‍♂️

 

1 hour ago, gasman449 said:

Current closest gap is 8 sales between 1 and 2 in 1990 - would be mad if it got closer!

Surely ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ and ‘Joker’ were officially on identical sales in 1990? That was what was reported at the time anyway.

And early on in chart history, I’m sure there were some joints number 1s.

On 29/07/2026 at 16:46, Hadji said:

You forgot number 64 in the US where it’s probably peaked 🤣

You really are contradicting yourself now without realising it. You complain that RMI has ‘only’ done well in the UK/Ireland/ARIA and not the US and that it’s top of all the streaming playlists to demean it when in the US charts songs do well because a radio station plays them (and it likely paid by record labels to play them) and that counts towards the chart.

 

On 29/07/2026 at 17:28, Hadji said:

Aside from vinyl, CD sales are slowly going up again for whatever reason. Don’t know if like me, they’re getting fed up with streaming but I’m seeing CDs being glamorised all over social medias lately

It’s because people who were born in 2010 have prob never experienced cds and are now 16 so think it’s cool and retro to listen to them, same as with vinyl 15 years ago. Same with the kids who aren’t buying AirPods and want earphones or earphones with wires again.

Amused by the "Dai Dai will have its time again at the next World Cup" chat on the day the World Cup tears itself apart 😅

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by rio309

4 minutes ago, Henessy Lake said:

Closest sale figures ever perhaps a 1 and 2

We always think that with these, and it ends up being something like 3k.

1 hour ago, GreyAsh said:

Oh dear! Not another Mariah Carey fan with a conspiracy theory. 🤦🏼‍♂️

 

Surely ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ and ‘Joker’ were officially on identical sales in 1990? That was what was reported at the time anyway.

And early on in chart history, I’m sure there were some joints number 1s.

There were 4 joint number 1s in the 1950s - Dec 53 / Feb 57 / July 58 / Dec 59

1 hour ago, GreyAsh said:

Surely ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ and ‘Joker’ were officially on identical sales in 1990? That was what was reported at the time anyway.

I'm sure someone else knows the story better than I, but as I recall - both songs tied on so called 'panel sales' and it was reported that The Joker won out because it had the biggest increase from the previous week, but it later transpired that the panel sales were actually rounded to the nearest whole number and The Joker was 8 copies ahead.

There was one in 2007 where Kate Nash missed the top by 16 copies, I think that's the closest official one I know of.

I think Bastille and Lily Allen in 2013 was also super close, but I can't recall exactly what the difference was.

13 minutes ago, Jessie Where said:

There was one in 2007 where Kate Nash missed the top by 16 copies, I think that's the closest official one I know of.

I think Bastille and Lily Allen in 2013 was also super close, but I can't recall exactly what the difference was.

December 2013

Lily Allen - 80917

Bastille - 80257

gap = 660