New independent music charts to launch

 

Charts aim to benefit up-and-coming indie acts

 

A set of new albums and singles charts are set to be launched in the UK with the aim of benefiting bands on independent record labels.

 

From June 29 the UK Independent Charts will launch for both singles and albums. Music released through a label that is at least 50 per cent owned by an independent, non-major company will be eligible for the charts.

 

In addition a new set of charts, the Independent Breakers charts, will launch and will feature music by acts yet to breach the higher echelons.

 

Releases from acts that have not scored a top 20 release in the UK charts will be eligible for the Breakers Charts.

 

According to the Official UK Charts Company, who are launching the new charts, the Independent Breakers Charts would have benefited acts including The Horrors, Friendly Fires and Patrick Wolf if it had launched earlier in the year.

 

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/45352

This is a very good idea imo, but I thought an independent chart already existed :o

Yeah, I thought there was already an indie chart, unless this will exclude pop acts on indie labels? (Steps had about 10 indie number ones back in the day...)

Releases from acts that have not scored a top 20 release in the UK charts will be eligible for the Breakers Charts.

Singles? Albums? Or both?

 

EDIT: Sorry, it was both. :hithead:

Edited June 21, 200916 yr by FunMaker11

this will be good at bringing unappreciated artists to get more fans.

Great news!

Would have been brilliant for the Horrors, Patrick Wolf and Friendly Fires, as said in the article. :wub:

Especially Patrick - so underrated!

I have the MW report on this

 

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The OCC is overhauling the indie charts for the first time in their 30-year history to create a new promotional platform to the independent sector.

 

From this coming Sunday (June 21) the independent singles and albums charts will be based on new criteria for independence: under the new rules a download or CD will be eligible for the Official Independent Charts if released on a label that is 50% or more owned by an independent company (ie not by one of the four majors).

 

This replaces the old chart rules, which defined an independent release as any record released by a label with independent distribution.

 

In addition, the OCC is launching two new charts: the Official Independent Breakers Top 20 and the Official Independent Album Breakers Top 20. These charts will follow the same criteria for independence as the main indie charts, but will not include any act that has charted within the top 20 of the Official Singles or Albums national charts.

 

From June 29 Music Week will be running the Official Independent Charts for singles and albums in the magazine every week and will alternate between the two Independent Breakers Charts in print. All four charts will be available on Musicweek.com.

 

Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot explains that changes to the independent sector since the indie charts first launched in 1978 – when major record companies were self-distributed and smaller labels used alternative routes - mean that the indie charts have long needed an overhaul.

 

“The criteria haven’t changed at all since the chart launched,” he says. “It was massively debated in the early to mid Nineties. For quite a long time there were some really entrenched views that didn’t allow for reasonable debate but things have moved on from that.”

 

Talbot explains that the new chart is intended to reflect an independent business where Dramatico’s Katie Melua sits alongside Domino’s Arctic Monkeys. This is very much a business-to-business chart,” he adds. “It’s not a sound chart.” As a result, the OCC is also working towards producing market share figures for the independent sector.

 

Test charts for week 23 reflect the eclectic mix of independent talent, with Dizzee Rascal’s Bonkers topping the Independent Singles Chart, ahead of the likes of Prodigy, You Me At Six and Patti Lupone.

 

In the test albums chart for the same week The Prodigy’s Invaders Must Die tops the chart ahead of a Top 10 that contains Madness, Rancid and Gurrumul.

 

“An authoritative chart is a great platform for independent music,” adds BPI director of independent member services Julian Wall. “And the Breakers Chart brings a dynamism to the exercise that a simple sales listing doesn’t have.”

Cool, that clears it up a bit. But how many labels would be counted as independent here? What about XL (part EMI I beleive) or Island (part Universal?)

If they post the test charts for week 23 tonight, I post them up.