The Hit Parade

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. Every time the song starts I think "Oh yeah this isn't bad, can't remember what it is though. Then Mneck starts singing and I remember. :( His solo singing isn't the worst I've ever heard but the bits where they're singing together are just awful. He should have let her sing the whole song.

I presume the "Wembley Edition" means he's stuck on a live album from my local stadium.

It was even on the actual news when that Oasis album came out. Though not everyone would remember it of course.

My uncle's album didn't get to Number One either. Does that mean he deserves a Number One next time?

Surely the gap is for a show that showcases music that isn't (yet) popular - that's what TFI have done here since all those songs have been around for weeks without charting, and two of them have already been and gone from the Radio 2 playlist. Is 'Better Love' the one with the VERY SHOUTY backing vocals trying to drown her out?

Or maybe he hasn't rehearsed it yet? I know TFI Friday had to be pre-recorded in the 1990s because Shaun Ryder kept swearing when it was live.

I saw a Turin Brakes album that was £799.99 on Amazon downloads once. Don't think anyone bought it at that price.

Remember that Ed Sheeran will get performers' royalties as well as songwriters royalties. But yes, it is fractions of a penny per stream and obviously that's a lot less than you get paid for a sale or radio play. But then again, with the volume of streams that the biggest songs get, it can really mount up.

I was wondering why Radio 2 were playing some rejected old Erasure song... then I realised it was the new Take That single.

Thanks, that makes sense actually. And I'd forgotten about the Zayn factor in this particular case.

I'm not saying you're wrong - in fact all the evidence seems to be that you're right - but I don't quite know how that works. Surely if you're a fan and it's a new song you haven't got, you want to buy/stream it anyway, whether or not there's been a single before it? And if you're only a casual listener, you probably don't care how far they are into an album campaign.

Nowhere near as much as they used to, mind you. I'm sure most of this year's big hits would sell a number greater than zero CD singles. It's unlikely that many would sell enough to recoup the cost of the sleeve artwork though. Not to repeat myself too much, but almost every major hit in, say, 2007 was released on CD single and yet sales of the format were nowhere near what they had been in 1997 [even accounting for the distortion of 'Candle In The Wind '97'] which very strongly suggests that a lot of people had stopped buying them (or at least reduced the number they bought). I know I did.

But the theory was (inadvertently) tested circa 2000-2008, when physical singles remained pretty consistent in availability but sales dwindled.

I heard a bit of it on Radio 2 today (even Steve Wright couldn't bear to play it in full). It sounds pretty much as you'd expect.

It's not actually "from" Spotify (they and YouTube are rivals) but yes it is an official "streaming" video (from Warner Music) and those presumably only come down if the song is also being deleted from streaming, which obviously doesn't happen often.

I suppose he can't promote a new single in competition with the Bond theme, but the record company still want to take advantage of the publicity.

November 2004 was when the Official download chart started though, wasn't it? I presume they started adding downloads after that to sales totals.

Surely getting an exclusive Gay Barlow song was supposed to be trying?

Radio 1 don't even play it on the chart rundown, do they?

IME most albums sold at gigs are handing over a tenner to a junior roadie as you shuffle out, if you think you've got time before the last train. Maybe that says something about the sort of gigs I go to.

Can I be the pedant who points out that there was an actual band called The Cramps who had a Top 40 hit? pwnZDakp_v4 Thank you. We new return to your scheduled programming.

Also, surely everybody in the world already has the Robin S version, after all the times it's been reissued? I've got three copies on my computer and I don't even like it.

Possibly the Movie Medley's not in R2's playout system, as it's never been officially released on CD. They still could have sourced it from vinyl though.

Yeah, and the same obviously applies to Elvis: they've only included the Jailhouse Rock EP because that was one of the few that appeared in the (Record Retailer) singles chart. I presume only EPs that showed on the singles chart are in the relevant OCC database. Magical Mystery Tour is only 19 minutes, by the way. I know there are albums shorter than that, but not many.

Kids in Scotland are already back at school aren't they?