Robbie

Yes, the difference in sales will most likely be from streams.

The latest issue of Music Week (published today) gives a figure of 1,973,705 pure sales for 'Happy'. Other pure sales figures mentioned: She Loves You: 1.93m Anything Is Possible/Evergreen: 1,793,880 Moves Like Jagger: 1,554,613 Chasing Cars: 1,213,667

A chart controversy that isn't mentioned in the article is 'God Save The Queen' v 'I Don't Want To Talk About It' for the Silver Jublilee number 1 in June 1977. I think that one may have been done to death though. Plus the sales figures were never disclosed for that unlike for the Deee-Lite / Steve Miller Band controversy in 1990. In addition, despite what is written in the article, tied positions no longer exist as they vanished when Millward Brown took over from Gallup in compiling the chart back in 1994.

It's a good article. However, the author musn't be aware that by the time 'Please, Please Me' had been released, Record Mirror had stopped compiling its own chart and was publishing the Record Retailer chart which means that the single also peaked at number 2 in Record Mirror.

I'm wondering it it's a mistake? To gain 2.4m (4xP) in 6½ years without ever charting inside the top 100 sounds a bit unlikely. The track last made the top 100 11 years ago.

Not in the UK, but in the US 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer started as the B side to 'Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)'. The single flopped but the label noticed that the B side was attracting a number of plays, flipped the record and made 'I Feel Love' the A side. As mentioned above, the same happened to 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor which in the US started life as the B side to 'Substitute', a song that was charting in the UK at the time by a band called Clout. In the UK, the respective labels waited until the US labels had flipped the records and released the B sides as the A side.

Both these are from decades ago In 1990 Madonna released her 'The Immaculate Collection' album two weeks ahead of 'Justify My Love'. Even further back, in 1977, Donna Summer released her album 'I Remember Yesterday' a month before lead single 'I Feel Love' was released. I believe this was because the UK label didn't agree with with its US counterpart on the choice of lead single ('Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)', a slow song) which had 'I Feel Love' as the B side. Once the US label realised the first single was flopping yet the B side was very popular they promoted 'I Feel Love' to the A side and that's when the single was released in the UK. Even as far back as then it was quite a rarity for an album to be released ahead of the lead single.

The Radio Airplay Chart will look very different next Friday due to the current changes that are taking place with the music that radio stations are playing.

Hopefully kingofskiffle will see this but sometimes the owner (Chris) can take a few days to sort out subscriptions. I'd suggest sending an email just to double check everything is OK. Edit: I've just noticed you're a new member. kingofskiffle, who posts here, is one of the people involved with the publication. I've sent him a message.

After 37 weeks, Ed Sheeran's = moves ahead of Adele's 30 to top 2020s sales rankings by Andre Paine Source: Music Week Adele won the contest for biggest album of 2021 with her comeback 30 (Columbia). But, as we know, Ed Sheeran is an unstoppable force when it comes to streaming. As a result, Music Week can reveal that Sheeran’s = album (Asylum/Atlantic) has now overtaken Adele’s album in terms of UK sales, based on the latest data from the Official Charts Company. Now ahead of Adele’s 30 at the top of the 2020s albums sales rankings, Ed Sheeran’s = is on 732,425 sales to date (including 338,401 physical copies, 45,047 downloads and 348,997 from streams). It is No.3 for the sixth week in a row on the weekly chart. Adele’s 30 is on 731,414 sales to date (including 492,486 physical copies, 60,778 downloads and 178,150 from streams). Both albums were released in Q4 of 2021 and ended the year as the two biggest sellers. Adele was on top last year based on just six weeks’ sales; Sheeran made No.2 overall based on nine weeks’ consumption in 2021. Just to recap, Ed Sheeran’s = was released on October 29, 2021 and charted at No.1 the following week with sales of 139,107 (including 94,527 from physical and 25,286 from streams). Adele’s 30 was released on November 19, 2021 and landed at No.1 the following week with a massive 261,856 sales (including 176,421 physical copies and 44,190 from streams). It outperformed ABBA’s week one sales from the same month and immediately moved ahead of Sheeran’s = (then on 253,736 sales after three weeks). Following its chart debut, Adele’s 30 became the year’s biggest album within a fortnight (moving ahead of Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour) and never lost its lead for the rest of 2021. However, both the Sheeran and Adele albums suffered in comparison to the massive sales of their predecessors (= was the direct sequel to 2017’s blockbuster ÷), perhaps in large part because of the switch from a sales to consumption model. The performance of the Sheeran album in 2022 - including a return to No.1 in both January and February - has been key to its overall success. Of its four weeks at the summit, two were this year; Adele’s five weeks at No.1 were all in 2021. With 21 weeks in the Top 3 during 2022, Sheeran’s = has added 299,930 sales this year (77.2% from streaming), compared to Adele’s 131,357 (60.9% from streaming). At the halfway point of the year, Sheeran’s = was No.1 (it has since been overtaken by Harry Styles), while Adele’s 30 was at No.4 overall. Of course, Sheeran is a productive artist in terms of single releases and collaborations, which has helped maintain momentum for the = album in 2022. Ed Sheeran has 81.6 million monthly Spotify listeners, compared to 42.2 million for Adele. Unusually, Sheeran doesn’t currently have a Top 20 hit, but there are still seven entries for him in the Top 75 (three as a primary artist under chart rules, plus four as a featured artist). With the Russ collaboration Are You Entertained, Sheeran and his team at Atlantic registered his 66th hit last week. After 31 weeks of the year gone, Sheeran has already spent 152 weeks in the Top 75, boosting his career tally to 1,344 - the most of any artist in chart history. But who’s on top for combined album sales between Ed Sheeran and Adele? Across studio album releases, Music Week can reveal that Adele is in the lead with 12,493,940 sales across four LPs, compared to 12,053,318 for Ed Sheeran across five. The breakdown is below: Adele - 19 (2,550,476) Adele - 21 (5,381,393) Adele - 25 (3,830,657) Adele - 30 (731,414) Ed Sheeran - + (2,671,045) Ed Sheeran - x (3,768,100) Ed Sheeran - ÷ (3,948,680) Ed Sheeran - No 6 Collaborations Project (933,131) Ed Sheean - = (732,425) The Adele campaign will likely be reignited with a greater physical push later this year. She also has the rescheduled Las Vegas dates (November 2022 to March 2023) to help re-promote 30. Aside from the chart rivalry between the two major artists, it’s also an impressive result for British music with almost 1.5 million UK sales across both albums over just nine months. Harry Styles completes the trinity of British talent with Harry’s House as the current No.1 album of 2022. Styles’s third LP is now platinum with sales of 304,214 since its release in April. With physical sales in the gifting season and potential deluxe editions still to come, it sets up a fascinating three-way battle between the three UK superstars during the rest of the year.

I voted for 1963 by New Order but had it been there I would have gone for '74-'75 by The Connells or maybe even Disco 2000 by Pulp... both were top 20 hits in 1995.

398k. The track will be certified Gold next Friday.

Harry Styles now has the biggest-selling album AND single of 2022 so far by Andre Paine from musicweek.com Harry Styles has the biggest-selling album of 2022 so far, Music Week can reveal. And the smash hit lead single As It Was has now passed a million chart sales. Based on the latest Official Charts Company data, Harry’s House (Columbia) has moved ahead of = (Asylum/Atlantic) by Ed Sheeran in sales this year. Both albums are streaming well and are in the running for Top 3 placings this week, but Harry Styles’ slight competitive advantage with the newer release helped Harry’s House ease ahead of its rival. Up to the end of Tuesday (July 26), Harry’s House had sales of 289,701, putting it ahead of = by Ed Sheeran for the first time this year. Sheeran’s album, which was released in October 2021, is on 289,510 sales so far in 2022. Of course, Sheeran’s album - No.2 overall in 2021 - has bigger total sales to date of 717,282, reflecting its consistent streaming performance in the last nine months. The latest chart numbers this week mean that Harry Styles currently has the biggest album and single of 2022 so far. As It Was became the longest-running No.1 of 2022 in May. And with 10 weeks at the summit, it ultimately secured the longest spell at the top since - guess who? - Ed Sheeran with Bad Habits last summer. Just ahead of the year’s halfway point, As It Was moved ahead of Peru by Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran to become 2022’s biggest track. Peru is currently on 981,590. As It Was has now passed a million sales this week after reaching 994,422 in Friday’s chart (July 22). With a further 22,894 sales since Friday, it’s on 1,017,316. Styles is now the front-runner in the race for 2022’s overall biggest album. Music Week has tracked its consumption since its release in April and showed how it’s been outperforming 2019’s Fine Line by 200% in terms of streaming. On Friday, Harry’s House became the album with the most weeks at No.1 of the 2020s. It has so far spent six non-consecutive weeks at the summit. Harry’s House is set to achieve platinum status (300,000 sales) next month. For its sales up to last Friday, the album has moved 100,654 physical copies, as well as 174,555 sales-equivalent streams and 7,921 downloads. It’s another big moment for Harry Styles, who this week earned his first shortlisting in the Mercury Prize, which honours the album of the year by a UK or Irish act. “Obviously, he’s one of the most successful British artists of the last 10 years,” BPI, BRITs and Mercury Prize chief executive Geoff Taylor told Music Week. “He’s a fantastic performer, a fantastic icon really. We’re delighted to see his international success and thrilled to have him on the list.” It’s now only a matter of time before Harry Styles eclipses his own success on previous campaigns. Fine Line has sales to date of 641,046 in the UK, while his self-titled 2017 debut is on 433,417.

It would be helpful if Billboard would be more oepn about how the chart is compiled. Especially the weighting ratios and which outlets are included / not included.

i'd like Harry to break some sort of record for most weeks in the top 3 but it's a long way off beating 'I Believe' by Frankie Laine which managed 26 weeks in the top 3 in 1953.

Two tracks dropped off the top 100 YTD's chart on the final week of the 2015 chart year (i.e the same YTD chart as the official 2015 best sellers list), these were 'I Don't Mind' by Usher featuring Juicy J (previous week it was #96) and 'Shake It Off' by Taylor Swift (previous week at #100). On the final weekly chart of 2015, 'Shake It Off' was a re-entry inside the top 200 at number 128 while 'I Don't Mind' wasn't in the chart at all. It's likely that 'Shake It Off' was the track at #101.

How Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill became a No.1 contender: Inside the biggest chart story of 2022 by Andre Paine Kate Bush is heading for No.1 with Running Up That Hill this week, according to the latest charts update. But should she have been at the chart summit last week? Based on the raw streaming data exclusively available to Music Week, the classic 1985 track which features prominently in the latest series of Netflix’s Stranger Things was ahead of Harry Styles on Friday (June 10). As reported in our charts analysis by Alan Jones last week, Kate Bush racked up 7,470,792 premium audio streams, 1,029,666 ad-funded audio streams and 657,694 premium video streams - but still missed out on No.1. That’s because chart rules on accelerated decline, or ACR (Accelerated Chart Ratio) as it’s officially known, mean that older catalogue tracks are penalised and have to stream at twice the rate of current releases to register the same chart ‘sale’. The thinking is that the Top 40 is for new music which shouldn’t be crowded out by people’s favourite songs of yesteryear. Part of the reason for the ratio formula is that the OCC doesn’t get the data to be able to weight chart sales based on organic streams and playlist streams (the latter can favour catalogue and older tracks). With individual chart sales for downloads and physical singles now eclipsed by streaming, the OCC had to come up with a formula for the streaming era and has refined it over the last few years. When a track is subject to accelerated decline, a single chart sale requires 1,200 ad-funded streams instead of the usual 600, and 200 premium streams instead of 100. (These rules are mainly applied to current releases after nine weeks on the chart and three consecutive weeks of decline to keep the chart moving.) The No.2 finish for Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill has now reignited the debate about the singles chart in the streaming era. The track has already hit No.1 on Spotify and is racking up about seven million streams a day on that platform alone. But the biggest chart story of 2022 is set for a happy ending this week with Running Up That Hill now on course for No.1, thanks to a manual reset of the ACR rule in this case. According to the latest figures from the Official Charts Company, RUTH is currently on 46,010 compared with sales up 72.1% week-on-week - almost 12,000 ahead of Harry Styles’ As It Was. It would be Kate Bush’s first UK No.1 since debut single Wuthering Heights in 1978. But just to make things really confusing, Running Up That Hill’s overall consumption is actually down 5.1% week-on-week (remember that last week its high streaming volume was then heavily penalised by ACR). So it’s No.1 may not actually be for its biggest streaming week. For the record, the Kate Bush classic has 771,568 sales post-1994, and 165,762 this year alone (the latter figure apparently includes one picture disc vinyl edition from Record Store Day 2013 that was finally shifted to a fan last week). For tracks under three years old, automatic resets of SCR (standard chart ratio) can take place if consumption increases by 25 percentage points above the market rate of variance. Chart rules stipulate that two tracks per album can be manually reset if a label is planning promotional activity. For older tracks like RUTH, a label can request a manual ACR reset based on promotional activity subject to agreement by the OCC and Charts Supervisory Committee (CSC) - which is what happened to Kate Bush - or based on a consistent increase in consumption. Manual resets are fairly rare - there have been 10 so far this year according to the OCC (although they declined to give details). The highest-profile ACR manual turnaround this year was Adele’s I Drink Wine, a track under three years old that was given a reset to tie in with the BRITs in February. A less obvious manual reset was Californian band The Neighbourhood's 2018 single Softcore, which increased consumption thanks to TikTok but, ironically, peaked at No.51 while still under ACR status. Because the chart rules have been in the spotlight over the past week, Music Week decided to speak to Official Charts Company chief executive (and Kate Bush fan) Martin Talbot. “The charts today are much more complex than they used to be,” he told Music Week. “In the old days, it was relatively straightforward. But you’ve not got streams at different weightings, whether they’re ad-funded or streaming. We’re trying to make sure that streams work in the albums chart, in a world where physical sales are on the whole in decline but still a significant part. There’s always lots of things like that to discuss.” Read on for his insights on the ACR debate, Kate Bush and his reaction to the question of whether the chart is still working in the streaming era… Some of the reporting of this story has referred to a ‘rule change’ this week for Kate Bush, but that’s not the case is it? “No, it’s not a rule change. Whenever this comes up, people always act as if it’s the first time that it's been invented. But we introduced it in the summer of 2017, so it's been around for a while, and for the record it was introduced because we saw lots of old tracks that were sitting around in the chart and blocking the opportunity for newer music. We have mechanisms for things to be automatically reset if they reach a particular surge in plays. For a manual reset, if the label comes to us and says ‘look, this is really working’, they can apply for a manual reset. Sometimes they don’t. In this case, Warner did and that's what's happened. And the great news is that Kate Bush is on her way to having her first No.1 in decades, which will be fantastic.” There’s been some talk about the Chart Supervisory Committee who can influence these decisions. Who are they exactly? “It’s a panel of representatives from retail and from record labels. Ten people sit on it, as well as us. Five are from the retail sector, DSPs, retailers, etc, the other half are labels with representatives from all three majors, and BMG and PIAS. It meets four or five times a year to discuss the evolution of the charts, to discuss chart rule changes that might be necessary in the future. It's not that common in other markets to have this kind of committee. It's a function of our ownership, we’re owned by the industry, 50:50 by the BPI and ERA, and our job is to reflect the industry and what the industry wants to see.” So how was the Running Up That Hill reset approved? “You can reset a track whenever you want if you’ve got the right criteria. What happens is that the label in question will send us the information explaining why they want to reset something, that will then get circulated to the CSC. If there’s a debate, we’ll have a debate. If there isn’t, then we just go ahead and reset, and that’s what’s happened in this case. It’s obviously been surging anyway but there’s been some additional promotional activity around it, as you would expect for a track like this with the profile on Stranger Things. It’s a natural surge, but as all good labels do there’s an opportunity to amplify it. Everyone was comfortable that there was a real purpose [for the reset]. If there was a majority against a reset, we would not reset it. But that was never the case in this instance. I don’t think we’ve had a real fight over a reset application. There are some that are turned down, but that’s more because there’s not a proper campaign.” If there’s an option for labels, why aren’t classic Christmas tracks not reset given the promotional activity that can accompany them? “One of the issues that we wanted to try and address with accelerated decline was the fact that you get all the Christmas tracks surging in the chart. So we don't encourage people to reset Christmas tracks, and nobody does because they’re going to be there anyway. It's worth noting that there have been a couple of cases where an old track has reached No.1 while on accelerated decline. Three Lions did it in 2018, and also Last Christmas and All I Want For Christmas Is You have both done it in the last couple of years. We know it’s a disadvantage to the track, but in those cases they were able to reach No.1 anyway.” Are you concerned that RUTH might encourage more attempts at resets for classic catalogue tracks? “No, I don't think so. When we introduced this five years ago, it was to address a change in the market and the way that consumption would be measured, and particularly the fact that tracks from the streaming environment stay around for longer. And since then, there has been an increasing number of viral, reactive tracks because of TikTok. We're always alert to the possibility. We'll be keeping all of this under review, all the chart rules are always being reconsidered and discussed. I wouldn't say I'm concerned as such. But I think what's likely is that we'll spend some time looking at how older tracks tend to be reset and whether this works in the best way.” Labels are increasingly working catalogue. Is there a greater appetite for seeing these songs in the upper reaches of the charts now? “Possibly. But, of course, labels are focused, the industry is focused and the chart is focused on surfacing new repertoire and helping new talent rise. Obviously, we want to reflect when something viral happens as is the case with Running Up That Hill. And the great thing is that it’s on course at the moment for No.1. So accelerated decline doesn’t stop tracks from getting towards the top of the chart. The main reason why this has become a high-profile talking point is because it's right at the top. She’s in a really good position to make No.1.” Stranger Things has been key to the success, but has it been enjoyable seeing Kate Bush react to the single’s impact in 2022? “I’m a Kate Bush fan as well as doing the job that I do. So it would be great to see her get to No.1, it would be fantastic. It shows what the chart means to people still, artists get excited about the possibility of being at the top of the chart. It’s a great thing.” Spotify has its own global and national charts. Do the OCC charts complement them, and can you coexist? “Retailers have always had their own charts. Spotify’s charts reflect what's happening on Spotify and Apple Music’s charts reflect what's happening there. Amazon have charts, lots of people have charts. The thing that differentiates us, and we feel it adds to their value, is the fact that we capture sales and streams from everywhere. For about 98%, 99% of all music consumption on a daily and weekly basis, we're collecting data for all of them. So that's our big point of differentiation. Most consumers only have access to one of these services. So, yeah, I think our big point of difference that we're very proud of is the fact that we capture [sales] from everyone. It's a long way from where the chart used to be - we celebrate the 70th anniversary in November - when Percy Dickins called 20 retailers and just asked what records were doing well that week. It’s not like that any more.” Some people have said Kate Bush should really have been the official No.1 last week. Are you confident that the Official Charts are still fit for purpose? “Yes, of course they are. The process of compiling the chart in 2022 is much more complicated than it has been in the past. We're in transition between ownership and streaming. So people still buy and people stream. And as I said, the days when you have one person and 20 record shops are long gone. Music is consumed in many different ways, and there is no simple way of doing this any more. It is more complex, but that's because it’s a more complex music market.” Finally, has the debate about the single and its position been good for the charts’ profile? “If Kate Bush sells a few more records or gets streamed a few more times, that’s all great. As I said, I’m a massive Kate Bush fan. If she made No.1 this weekend, I’d be absolutely delighted.” from musicweek.com

In the list of records to peak at number 2 the OCC have included 'Rivers Of Babylon/Brown Girl In The Ring' by Boney M, which was a number 1 in 1978. I don't think this should be included as 'Rivers Of Babylon' had been a number 1 for 5 weeks and the record was falling down the charts, to number 20, when the B side ('Brown Girl In The Ring') suddenly became popular and started being listed alongside 'Rivers Of Baylon'. The record climbed back up the chart, eventually peaking at number 2. It's the very same release as the one that made number 1, albeit with an additional credit due to the B side suddenly becoming popular.

It's because Billboard just publish a top 25 https://www.billboard.com/charts/u-k-songs-hotw/

He's fairly new to the OCC. I think he only started working for them in January so he's still finding his way around things, including how to write interesting articles!

Both are excellent songs and were inside the top 5 at the same time. Indeed they were placed next to each other in the top 10 for 5 consecutive weeks: LOA: 3-5-4-4-4-5-7-6-7-8-9 ITS: x-x-3-3-5-6-8-10-9-13

I went for The White Stripes and Kingmaker. Kingmaker's single is an EP called 'Idiots At The Wheel' but there is no song on the single by that name. The hit song on the EP was 'Really Scrape The Sky'

According to the singles chart rules, the track that the label want excluded and replaced by the fourth best selling track has to be outside the top 20. That applies whether it is the third best selling track or, as the rules state "in exceptional circumstances", the second best selling track. In addition, if the track the label want excluding is the second best selling track it must also be on ACR. The OCC only published an updated set of chart rules a few weeks ago, surely they can't be ignoring them so soon?!

Someone at the OCC seems to have finally noticed this (or has had it pointed out to them) as the article on the OCC website has now been amended to refer to streaming totals rather than streaming sales.

Don't stop: 45 years of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, a UK chart phenomenon by Andre Paine Fleetwood Mac’s classic Rumours album is marking the 45th anniversary of its chart debut. Released in February 1977, the British-American group’s 11th album was an immediate success, selling millions of copies. Decades later, it’s now enjoying a new lease of life on streaming, as well as being a linchpin of the vinyl revival. Dreams even became a viral hit on TikTok in 2020. In its anniversary chart week, Rumours (Rhino) placed at No.21 (3,350 sales - Official Charts Company). Its weekly sales total apportioned 64.9% to streams and 31.8% to physical copies, along with a modest amount of downloads. Its overall performance in 2021 was similar. A total of 150,565 chart ‘sales’ were made up of 66.1% from streams, 4% downloads and 29.9% physical. Those physical sales include a healthy proportion of vinyl, on which format Rumours was the third biggest seller of 2021 (behind ABBA’s Voyage and Adele’s 30 and ahead of Ed Sheeran’s =) with LP sales of 34,593. In 2020, Rumours was the No.1 seller on vinyl, though based on slightly fewer sales (32,508). Now to some of Fleetwood Mac’s incredible achievements over 45 years with Rumours, as researched by Alan Jones in his latest Music Week charts analysis. Rumours has UK sales to date of 4,633,7311, including 482,250 from sales-equivalent streams, making it one of the 10 biggest-sellers of all-time. Yet it only spent a single week at No.1, climbing to the summit in January 1978, a year after its release. Rumours got off to a slow start in February 1977, debuting at No.57, but entered the Top 10 the following week and stuck around. Five songs from the album charted - Go Your Own Way, Don’t Stop, Dreams, You Make Lovin’ Fun and The Chain (belatedly in 2009) - although none of them reached the Top 20. Dreams returned to the Top 40 in 2020 thanks to viral video of a skateboarder drinking cranberry juice. Rumours has become more successful than ever in recent years. It is currently in the Top 40 for the 60th week in a row, and the 306th week in total, the latter being a record for a regular studio album. Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water is in second place (279 weeks) after Rumours overtook it last year. Rumours is fourth among all albums for total weeks in the Top 40, behind ABBA’s Greatest Hits and soundtrack albums The Sound Of Music and South Pacific. Furthermore, Rumours has spent 928 weeks (almost 18 years) in the longer Top 100 list – by far the highest tally for a studio album, with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon a distant second on 544 weeks. Rumours has been in the Top 75 without break for the last 258 weeks. That is only one week less than the all-time record for most consecutive weeks in the Top 75 by an album. Ed Sheeran’s ÷ tops it by just one week, having started its ongoing Top 75 run in the week prior to Rumours’ return to the chart listing in 2017. As Alan Jones explains, a curious chart anomaly has cost Fleetwood Mac that particular chart achievement: “Rumours really should have the record itself – the week that ÷ debuted at No.1, Rumours was serving a single week return to the budget album chart. Whether this was an error, or due to a genuine seven-day reduction in price is not clear, but had it not been disqualified from the main chart, where it would have been No.45 that week, its current Top 75 run would be 265 weeks.” Despite its huge success over four and half decades, Rumours is actually only Fleetwood Mac’s second highest chart entry this week. Streaming perennial 50 Years - Don’t Stop climbed two places to No.9. The 2018 hits collection, which has sales to date of 732,377, has amassed 162 weeks in the Top 40 and 170 in the Top 75. © Music Week