shakeup of the singles chart will mean downloads of album tracks, older songs and digital-only releases will count toward the top 75 rundown compiled by the Official Charts Company.
The change is the most radical in a series to make the top 40, once highlight of any teenager's Sunday evening, essential listening once more. OCC chart director Omar Maskatiya said it changed the rules in consultation with the record industry once digital downloads began outselling physical releases in November.




The move is likely to see older tracks brought to a new generation by TV shows, advertisements and films, or newly released digitally, shoot up the charts. Tests this year showed Mr Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra in the charts after being featured in Doctor Who, and an old Aerosmith track charting after being sung by a contestant on The X Factor.
Albums by major artists such as U2 and Coldplay are expected to chart through people buying just a track before deciding on buying the album. According to tests, Oasis B-side The Masterplan, a track on their album Stop The Clocks, would chart this way under the new rules. In the runup to Christmas, Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas and Wham's Last Christmas would have charted despite not being available in the shops.

It also potentially allows unsigned artists to bypass the music industry altogether. Any sale through a chart-registered online store, such as Apple's iTunes or IndieStore.com, will count toward the chart. "The inclusion of digital-only releases in next year's official UK sales chart is a clear indication of how popular iTunes and the legal download market have become," said Alex Luke at iTunes. "Digital distribution provides artists and labels with an opportunity to get music into the marketplace faster and react immediately to consumer demand and new opportunities that arise from live performances, adverts, TV and film."

This year digital downloads were allowed to enter the charts a week before the single was in shops, leading to Gnarls Barkley's Crazy becoming the first No 1 single without a copy passing over a shop counter. It kept the slot for nine weeks.

The industry hopes that by untethering digital releases from the physical launch, tracks will spend longer in the charts and rise and fall more slowly, as in the halcyon days of the 1970s and 1980s.

Recorded sales of singles had slumped by more than 50% since the late 1990s before the decision in April 2005 to add downloads to the singles charts.

[RMCF]

Think all that you have said proves the Top40 is now past its sell-by.

How can songs chart that aren't available to buy? Thats just silly.

When I was growing up there was one week when something like 40 singles separated No1 & No2. Both sold over 1,000,000.

I think you can get to No.1 now with 20,000 or 30,000 sales. Pathetic.

[smelly]

But they are available to buy, just on line and not in the shops. Isn't that the point?

I don't get the chance to get to the shops to buy physical records so all my purchases are on line as its easier. Surely its the number of record sales that determine the most popular song and if that happens to be Whams last christmas from eons ago then does it matter? This is going to open things up so that the number one selling record is just that, not just the number one in the shops.

I could quite easily be missing something here though

[RMCF]

Maybe I'm missing something.

It was mentioned above that 'Mr Blue Sky' would be in the charts. I assume then that ELO or their record company would release it again if it was featured in a TV show? Or what about an Aerosmith song being back in the charts because some non-entity on X-Factor sung it.

I'm not sure if Aerosmith and ELO would have to re-release these songs to qualify, or do they get into the top40 just because they were featured somewhere else?

If this is true, then maybe we will see some decent music in the Top40 again !! But is this not stunting creativity if the charts are going to have songs that were originally going to be released but then were becuase they just happened to be used in Dr. Who/advert/X-Factor etc?

[smelly]

Originally Posted by RMCF

Maybe I'm missing something.

It was mentioned above that 'Mr Blue Sky' would be in the charts. I assume then that ELO or their record company would release it again if it was featured in a TV show? Or what about an Aerosmith song being back in the charts because some non-entity on X-Factor sung it.

I'm not sure if Aerosmith and ELO would have to re-release these songs to qualify, or do they get into the top40 just because they were featured somewhere else?

If this is true, then maybe we will see some decent music in the Top40 again !! But is this not stunting creativity if the charts are going to have songs that were originally going to be released but then were becuase they just happened to be used in Dr. Who/advert/X-Factor etc?

I've done a bit of reading since posting and I'm still not 100% clear!

From what I can understand the thing with downloads is that they don't have to be officially released (although at the moment they don't all count, only those that are also available in the shops). Basically if you like the song you can download it and in its basic form they're saying that the highest 'sellers' (combined in shops and online) will form the charts. There is some doubt how the record companies will react to this though so not sure whether its a finality as yet.

Here's a link to what I read....http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5386014.stm

Got to say that I hadn't realised songs at the moment could be phycially taken out of the charts, for example Nelly Futardo's Maneater should still be in the top 40 on sales according to the article but has been removed from count. Which seems a bit unfair!

[RMCF]

Yeah I too am slightly confused about how its gonna work.

Take Aerosmith for example. Say an X-Factor wannabee sings 'Love In An Elevator'. Now that song is available for download anyway, even before it is sung on the show.

Then say it is downloaded by loads of sad people because a pub singer has just sung it on TV.

Then it rockets up the charts. And the band is called and told you are No.1 in the UK!! And they didn't even know they had released anything.

If this is gonna be how it works then I find it just silly. For a start, the people who would download it probably don't or will ever like Aerosmith. And the song they downloaded may be the song, but not the version they have just heard. They might think, 'oh thats too heavy for me'.

I suppose it is just the way the world is going that you can no longer count just physical sales for the singles chart. Which is why I say get rid of it!!
(and X-Factor too in case you can't tell from above).

[Toasty]

Originally Posted by RMCF

Yeah I too am slightly confused about how its gonna work.

Take Aerosmith for example. Say an X-Factor wannabee sings 'Love In An Elevator'. Now that song is available for download anyway, even before it is sung on the show.

Then say it is downloaded by loads of sad people because a pub singer has just sung it on TV.

Then it rockets up the charts. And the band is called and told you are No.1 in the UK!! And they didn't even know they had released anything.

If this is gonna be how it works then I find it just silly. For a start, the people who would download it probably don't or will ever like Aerosmith. And the song they downloaded may be the song, but not the version they have just heard. They might think, 'oh thats too heavy for me'.

I suppose it is just the way the world is going that you can no longer count just physical sales for the singles chart. Which is why I say get rid of it!!
(and X-Factor too in case you can't tell from above).

Slightly irrelevant as this happens now, who was Christmas number 1? X-factor winner singing a cover. The top 40 represents sales. If something becomes flavour of the month, you get related songs in the charts, its happened for years. World cup anyone?

[krish]

Originally Posted by lisa burrell

... as in the halcyon days of the 1970s and 1980s.

... that made me laugh

[overkill]

Originally Posted by Toasty

Slightly irrelevant as this happens now, who was Christmas number 1? X-factor winner singing a cover. The top 40 represents sales. If something becomes flavour of the month, you get related songs in the charts, its happened for years. World cup anyone?

However, those singles were released by the artists record company, not just by anyone who happened to have a copy. I cannot see how this can work either RMCF, so don't worry, you're not alone! If the number of downloads for each artist in a given month is going to count towards the charts, then what pray, is going to be counted? Everything that's downloaded in single form? If so plenty of artists are in for a treat - as long as they have their tracks online.

In the past it was only sales from the shops that counted, and even then it was often estimates. This did mean though, that not everyone could have a single out at any given time. Why? Because the shops couldn't physically carry them all. With downloads, technically speaking, several thousand artists albums, and many thousands of tracks are available for download at any time - not just when the artist releases them. See the problem?

So, back to the question, what will constitute a 'download single' that can contribute towards the charts?

[Toasty]

Originally Posted by overkill

In the past it was only sales from the shops that counted, and even then it was often estimates. This did mean though, that not everyone could have a single out at any given time. Why? Because the shops couldn't physically carry them all. With downloads, technically speaking, several thousand artists albums, and many thousands of tracks are available for download at any time - not just when the artist releases them. See the problem?

I'm unclear of the new rules too, however, I'll wager that the majority of the charts will still be made up of the artistes currently being promoted the most. Yes Pink Floyds Comfortably Numb could potentially now chart, so could Anthrax's Medusa, will they chart higher than McFly? If they do, I certainly don't have a problem with this

[JohnG]

I'm trying to remember how the old chart system worked. Was it a count of how many records had been sold that week, or was it a cumulative count of records sold since it was released ? If it's the latter, when do we start the download count from ?
I'll be honest, the chart hasn't been of any interest to me at all for the last 15 or so years as it only seems to reflect the tracks that people are force-fed by Radio 1 and if one of the DJs on there decided to massage his own ego by promoting a certain track that he liked then it would probably get to number one.

Album tracks, B-sides and golden oldies could enter the top 40 when chart rules are changed on 1 January.
The shake-up means that any download will count towards the top 75, even if it is not available on the high street.

Test charts show that Christmas songs by Wham and Mariah Carey would have been in this week's festive top 40 under the new rules.

CD singles will also be allowed extra tracks and extended running times to help them compete with downloads.

"This new ruling changes the nature of a single and puts the consumer in the driving seat," said Steve Redmond, director of the UK Official Charts Company.

"Literally any track can be a hit - as long as it sells enough



High street opposition


Previously, downloads only counted towards the chart in the week before a song was released on CD, and until two weeks after the CD was deleted.

This meant that record shops could avoid having blank spaces in their displays.

The revamped rules were first revealed on the BBC news website in September, when it was reported that high street retailers had dropped their opposition to the inclusion of download-only tracks.

Reacting to the official announcement of the changes on Thursday, Virgin Megastores called the new chart "a positive move forward".

Several retailers contacted by the BBC indicated they would fill blank spaces in Top 40 displays with notices indicating a song's availability in their online stores.

Sales leap

Downloads have helped to revitalise the UK's singles market, driving sales up from 32.3m in 2004 to 62.1m in the first 51 weeks of 2006.

US hip-hop duo Gnarls Barkley became the first act to reach number one purely through downloads in April.


X Factor winner Leona Lewis sold 100,000 downloads in two days
Their single, Crazy, is currently the UK's most-downloaded single, with 397,000 copies sold - although X Factor winner Leona Lewis may overtake that figure this week.

The current top 40 downloads includes 18 songs not eligible for the main chart, including old hits such as Wham's Last Christmas and Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars, as well as future singles by Eminem and Take That.

It is hoped that by including downloads the pattern of singles slowly climbing up the charts will return.

With digital downloads appealing to older music buyers, it is also thought that the singles chart could see a greater diversity of artists in 2007.

The first revamped top 40 will be revealed on JK and Joel's Radio 1 Chart Show on 7 January.

[FeisalK]

ok, I think this is fair, a single is a single no matter where and how it was sold and in what medium. It could come in a paperbag, on black vinyl, silver disc or down your telephone line. As long as money gets exchanged somewhere then it should count.

Record companies are loving downloads - previously they didn't really know who was buying the records - they might survey the shops and the cashier might be able to tell them.. oh I think most of them were 20 year olds.... With downloads - they know EXACTLY who you are, what the demographic is etc etc etc.

The bigger story, though is this

Recorded sales of singles had slumped by more than 50% since the late 1990s

some record company execs may have twigged onto the problem... but its unlikely they are going to be able to do anything about it