Iain H

Download sales are in terminal decline but they will have a bigger influence on the chart if the streaming ratio is increased. The only logic in that is if the value derived from a stream has reduced. I suspect it has not and they're doing this to breathe some life into a static singles chart. It's going to make year on year sales comparisons more difficult and possibly unfair. This time next year the popularity of streaming might be such that we're back to square one anyway.

Shocked at this news. Hope Mark makes a full and speedy recovery. Mark presented the chart show in a very professional, unbiased and enthusiastic style. It hasn't quite been the same since he left in 2002 (I think!). But things change with the times. And not always for the better.

I have complained to the BBC, not that it will make a blind bit of difference but it's better to vent sometimes! About the Summer mix. Greg James recapping last week's top 4 and blundering so badly he actually revealed this week's top 4. Less and less time and enthusiasm being devoted to the chart. Friday's show had a distinct whiff of "It's such a pity we have to do the chart" about it. Absolutely needless to play 15 minutes of summer sh!t at the expense of playing five tracks in full, especially when they have Dance Anthems on later anyway. If anyone is interested in the response I get from the BBC, I will post it!

According to The Star (clearly a reliable source!) Zayn is down to 18 with a 90% decrease in sales. Nine new albums in the top 10 with 25 remaining for Adele. This is what happens when information goes to those who cannot analyse it properly. :rolleyes:

The purpose of the chart is to accurately reflect the popularity of music in the country. If streaming wasn't included, the chart would not serve its purpose. If tracks were excluded after 52 weeks, the chart would not serve its purpose. The chart is not a showcase for upcoming new music or acts breaking through. The charts today are more accurate than they have ever been.

Album sales looking relatively stronger than anyone would've predicted they would be for the start of 2016. The top end of the singles chart is looking particularly depressing. Zayn really doesn't deserve his success. He's too naive to realise he shoudn't criticise his One Direction past. He would be nowhere today without it. The Jonas Blue cover of Fast Car is unforgivabley bad. Rihanna sounds extremely intoxicated on "work". It would be really difficult for anyone to make it sound any worse. Maybe I'm just getting old!

21 is the album that made Adele, it is still selling and it is better than 25. I think 21 will always be Adele's biggest seller, not that it really matters. I don't think she will be too bothered either way!

In most cases, yes. However in Adele's case, streams for "Hello" do not count as no other tracks from 25 are available to stream.

Yeah, Alan Jones made it quite clear in his analysis that there was no data from Spotify. The OCC were very cagey about it, never provided an explanation and I believe they may have deleted any comments that made reference to it!

Re all the "missing data" comments. If streaming data is not available for certain days the OCC use an upweighting system to account for this. Streaming accounted for about two thirds of data this week, slightly lower than of late but sits about right on "giftcard week". So streaming had a lower effect on chart positions than we have become used to, and paid downloads a higher effect. Streaming data has most probably been upweighted every week since the chart moved to Fridays. Spotify cannot seem to provide their Thursday data on time. This almost certainly denied Mariah Carey top 10 last week because the upweighted data would have been underestimated given that Thursday was Christmas Eve. Last point - On the first week the chart moved to a Friday (the 5 day week) no data was provided by Spotify thus upweighting was impossible. Everything streamed on Spotify for this 5 day period was not counted. Please correct me If I'm wrong. I don't claim to be an expert but that is my understanding of things!

Question 1 -> Predict where this week's notable new releases* and climbers will chart this week. Use 101+ for a position outside the top 100. Do not use 76+. [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out. A prediction or result of 101+ will be counted as #101] 72 Chris Brown - Back To Sleep 38 Format:B - Chunky Question 2 -> Predict the Official Top 10 Singles of the week [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 01. Justin Bieber - Sorry 02. Jess Glynne - Take Me Home 03. Adele - Hello 04. Fleur East - Sax 05. MNEK & Zara Larsson - Never Forget You 06. WSTRN - In2 07. Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean? 08. Sam Smith - Writing's On The Wall 09. One Direction - Perfect 10. The Weeknd - The Hills Question 3 -> Predict the sales (including streaming) of the #1 single to the nearest thousand [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 100k Question 4 -> Bonii [all questions worth 5 points for a correct answer and 0 points for an incorrect answer] • Predict the biggest climber within the top 40 Jess Glynne - Take Me Home • Predict the fastest faller within the top 40 Coldplay - Adventure Of A Lifetime • Predict the number of entries (new or re-entries) in the UK Top 40 "3"

Question 1 -> Predict where this week's notable new releases and climbers will chart this week. Use 101+ for a position outside the top 100. Do not use 76+. [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out. A prediction or result of 101+ will be counted as #101] 18 Coldplay - ID 09 Fleur East - Sax 41 ID - Half The World Away [John Lewis Advert Song] 12 Jess Glynne - Take Me Home 03 WSTRN - In2 Question 2 -> Predict the Official Top 10 Singles of the week [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 01. Adele - Hello 02. Justin Bieber - Sorry 03. WSTRN - In2 04. Sam Smith - Writing's on the Wall 05. Drake - Hotline Bling 06. MNEK & Zara Larsson - Never Forget You 07. The Weeknd - The Hills 08. KDA - Turn the Music Louder (Rumble) [feat. Tinie Tempah & Katy B] [Radio Edit] 09. Fleur East - Sax 10. Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean? Question 3 -> Predict the sales (including streaming) of the #1 single to the nearest thousand [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 140k Question 4 -> Bonii [all questions worth 5 points for a correct answer and 0 points for an incorrect answer] • Predict the biggest climber within the top 40 Ariana Grande - Focus • Predict the fastest faller within the top 40 Little Mix - Love Me Like You • Predict the number of entries (new or re-entries) in the UK Top 40 "5"

Question 1 -> Predict where this week's notable new releases and climbers will chart this week. Use 101+ for a position outside the top 100. Do not use 76+. [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out. A prediction or result of 101+ will be counted as #101] 03 Ariana Grande - Focus 15 Lethal Bizzle & Stormzy - Dude 18 Lost Frequencies - Reality (feat. Janieck Devy) 56 Pia Mia - Touch Question 2 -> Predict the Official Top 10 Singles of the week [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 01. Adele - Hello 02. Justin Bieber - Sorry 03. Ariana Grande - Focus 04. Drake - Hotline Bling 05. The Weeknd - The Hills 06. Little Mix - Love Me Like You 07. Sam Smith - Writing's on the Wall 08. MNEK & Zara Larsson - Never Forget You 09. Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean? 10. Ellie Goulding - On My Mind Question 3 -> Predict the sales (including streaming) of the #1 single to the nearest thousand [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 240k Question 4 -> Bonii [all questions worth 5 points for a correct answer and 0 points for an incorrect answer] • Predict the biggest climber within the top 40 Little Mix - Love Me Like You • Predict the fastest faller within the top 40 Sleepy Tom & Diplo - Be Right There • Predict the number of entries (new or re-entries) in the UK Top 40 "4" Question 5 -> Halloween Bonii [5 points for the correct song AND the correct chart position within the error margin of 10 positions] • Predict the song and chart position of the highest Halloween song* in the UK Top 100 87. Michael Jackson - Thriller

Question 1 -> Predict where this week's notable new releases and climbers will chart this week. Use 101+ for a position outside the top 100. Do not use 76+. [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out. A prediction or result of 101+ will be counted as #101] 51 Flo Rida - My House 79 Years & Years - Eyes Shut Question 2 -> Predict the Official Top 10 Singles of the week [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 01 KDA Ft. Tinie Tempah & Katy B - Turn the Music Louder (Rumble) 02 Drake - Hotline Bling 03 The Weeknd - The Hills 04 Naughty Boy Ft. Beyoncé & Arrow Benjamin - Runnin' (Lose It All) 05 Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean? 06 R. City Ft. Adam Levine - Locked Away 07 Sam Smith - Writing's on the Wall 08 One Direction - Perfect 09 Diplo & Sleepy Tom - Be Right There 10 Jamie Lawson - Wasn't Expecting That Question 3 -> Predict the sales (including streaming) of the #1 single to the nearest thousand [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 55K Question 4 -> Bonii [all questions worth 5 points for a correct answer and 0 points for an incorrect answer] • Predict the biggest climber within the top 40 Little Mix - Love Me Like You • Predict the fastest faller within the top 40 Ben Haenow Ft. Kelly Clarkson - Second Hand Heart • Predict the number of entries (new or re-entries) in the UK Top 40 "2"

Question 1 -> Predict where this week's notable new releases and climbers will chart this week. Use 101+ for a position outside the top 100. Do not use 76+. [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out. A prediction or result of 101+ will be counted as #101] 24 Ben Haenow feat Kelly Clarkson - Second Hand Heart 93 Clean Bandit feat Marina & The Diamonds – Disconnect 15 Diplo & Sleepy Tom - Be Right There 02 KDA feat Tinie Tempah & Katy B - Turn The Music Louder (Rumble) 01 One Direction - Perfect Question 2 -> Predict the Official Top 10 Singles of the week [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 01. One Direction - Perfect 02. KDA - Turn the Music Louder (Rumble) [feat. Tinie Tempah & Katy B] 03. Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean? 04. Drake - Hotline Bling 05. The Weeknd - The Hills 06. R. City - Locked Away (feat. Adam Levine) 07. Naughty Boy - Runnin' (Lose It All) [feat. Beyoncé & Arrow Benjamin] 08. Sam Smith - Writing's on the Wall 09. Jamie Lawson - Wasn't Expecting That 10. Ellie Goulding - On My Mind Question 3 -> Predict the sales (including streaming) of the #1 single to the nearest thousand [10 points for a correct prediction, 9 points for one place out... 1 point for nine places out.] 60k Question 4 -> Bonii [all questions worth 5 points for a correct answer and 0 points for an incorrect answer] • Predict the biggest climber within the top 40 Little Mix - Love Me Like You • Predict the fastest faller within the top 40 Philip George & Anton Powers - Alone No More • Predict the number of entries (new or re-entries) in the UK Top 40 "5"