etjoset

I honestly feel like that about 3/4 of the chart, (must be the age ) so I don't find the Xmas songs that bad... :-) At least in the years 1995-2000 we had 15-20 new entries every week.

is it really up from 56?

Being of a certain age, watching the skipping of songs in the top 40 takes me back to 1994, when Bruno Brookes, played the full 8 minute version of "Wilmot" by the Sabres of Paradise. And he played the full top 40 (and even had newsbeat).

Elephant is for me one of the tracks of the century.

a bit, but it feels like a breath of fresh air in the charts.

And quite an excellent album it is.

Comes some 12 years too late :-) Absolutely deserved, been loving their music for ages.

True, but by that time we were used to it. I remember those first few weeks of 1997, it felt quite special. Especially Tori Amos hitting number 1.

absolutely me. I must have a tape somewhere of early 1997, wherein BBC R1 had a show discussing the charts having such a high turnover and 7 different number 1s in as many weeks. Bring those years back of 10-20 new entries per week.

When I used to buy a physical/download, I would generate value (by paying) to that entry. If I stream 1 song, I don't generate the revenue for 2 entities, namely, a single and an album (or more in case of studio album/greatest hits). In my view, labels should be required to indicate when a single is released and those streams be excluded from any album(s). Just my opinion.

I remember when Diana died, R1 kept playing "The Last Stand" by The Aloof. And that meant waiting for the Monday's update on the dotmusic website

When the Beatles went "to bed" with iTunes, everyone was thrilled...

I remember that until 2009-2010 that top 200 excluded between positions 76-200 all the tracks dropping sales for two weeks in a row. That made the chart far more interesting. I do listen to streaming, but mainly look for each track individually and play it. That should count more than just playing what a "3rd party" (being it another listener or able) has selected. One day Mariah may be finally number 1. There just needs to be demand/consumption for it.

Bad luck? I would rather class that as outstanding.

Honestly, I don't even have a clue of who Alexa is. Even if it is not the most popular (whatever that would mean in terms of chart), it was the one that sold the most copies. It even made me have to use a VPN to buy it, as I don't live in the UK and it's not available anywhere here. Would you then say that LadBaby was the most "popular" track of the week last week, because it was available on every other download/streaming platform? A drop to outside the top 50 shows me that it was actually a "fix". But it was number 1. Mariah will return next year again...

There's an aspect in what you write that I agree: to make the chart, music buyers used to go to a shop and purchase a single and you had a limited amount of titles in a shop. Now any (passive) listener contributes to the chart...

Nice for Ellie. I don't really understand the issue that many people appear to have with it only being available at amazon. For me it makes it even more special, it doesn't need the "machines" of Apple or Spotify, to make it the most consumed track of the week.

"Portugal NF always sounds the same every year." makes me think you never really heard them.

Communards' "Don't Leave Me This Way"

I bought the digital EP, I was particularly impressed by track 2 "Jingle (A Musical Interlewd)". Great instrumental.

1. Keep The Faith (from Dangerous) 2. Man In The Mirror 3. Earth Song 4. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough 5. Scream 6. The Way You Make Me Feel 7. Thriller 8. Bad 9. Cry 10. In The Closet