The first official singles chart to count legal music downloads will be revealed on Sunday - but how will it change the Top 40?When UK single sales went into freefall in the late 1990s, battered by the convenience and affordability of albums and downloads, many fans also lost interest in the Top 40.
Now chart bosses are trying to bring those fans back - and stay relevant - by adding download sales to their totals of CDs and other formats used to compile the chart countdown.
Major download services like iTunes and Napster may be less than a year old in the UK, but the number of songs sold on the net is fast catching the total bought in shops.
In the first three months of 2005, 4.5 million songs were downloaded legally in the UK - compared with 5.8 million bought over the counter.
Many of the fans who stopped buying singles are now keen on downloading - and while single-buying is largely left to teenage girls, downloaders are overwhelmingly male and more mature.
DOWNLOAD TOP 10 SINGLES
1. Stereophonics - Dakota
2. Chemical Brothers - Galvanize
3. Jennifer Lopez - Get Right
4. Nelly - Over and Over
5. Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For
6. Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers
7. Athlete - Wires
8. Mario - Let Me Love You
9. McFly - All About You
10. Jay-Z and Linkin Park - Numb Encore
January-March 2005
Source: BPI
So their return to the chart returns could have a big impact on the Top 40.
"There are certainly going to be some significant jumps," says James Gillespie of the Official UK Charts Company (OCC).
"And it's going to mean that some records achieve a Top 10 chart position where they may not have if downloads hadn't been included."
Telling similarities and differences between the two markets were revealed in recent sales figures.
In the first three months of this year, big hits by pop, rap and R&B stars Jennifer Lopez, Nelly, Eminem and Mario crossed over to both sets of fans.
And Tony Christie's classic (Is This the Way To) Amarillo is currently number one in the weekly charts for both shop and web sales.
But the download Top 10 for January to March 2005 shows a definite lean towards rock and alternative.
SHOP TOP 10 SINGLES
Stereophonics singer Kelly Jones
1. Tony Christie - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
2. McFly - All About You
3. Jennifer Lopez - Get Right
4. Nelly - Over and Over
5. Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers
6. Mario - Let Me Love You
7. Stereophonics - Dakota
8. Ciara - Goodies
9. Brian McFadden and Delta Goodrem - Almost Here
10. Sunset Strippers - Falling Stars
January-March 2005
Source: BPI
Welsh rockers Stereophonics had the top download - but were only number seven in the sales chart.
The Chemical Brothers, Athlete and Jay-Z featuring Linkin Park also had places in the download Top 10.
But pure pop prevailed in conventional single sales. With Christie at number one for those three months, boy band McFly were second - compared with nine on the download chart.
There were also places for Ciara, Brian McFadden featuring Delta Goodrem and Sunset Strippers - none of whom scored huge download successes.
The biggest hits will stick around for longer in the new chart, Mr Gillespie says - but rock, left-field and minority songs will also get a bigger shout.
"I think we can expect to see the chart maybe slowing down a little bit," he says. "It's going to identify the real big hits out there - we're going to see them staying in the charts a lot longer.
DOWNLOAD SERVICES TAKING PART INCLUDE
Apple iTunes
Napster
MyCokeMusic
Woolworths
Virgin
HMV
Wippit
easyMusic
The Music Engine
Bleep
Karma Download
Source: Official Charts Company
"But I think it's also going to open the chart up to genres that maybe weren't so well represented in the singles chart."
Songs cost about 79p-99p online, compared with £1.99-£3.99 for a CD single, and the OCC says it will take sales data from specialist download sites as well as major services.
Organisers will try to stop chart fixing by looking out for the same credit card or mobile phone numbers buying multiple copies of the same song.
Some independent record labels have complained they cannot get their music on major download services - particularly Apple, which dominates the market.
There has also been concern that the sales-tracking system has trouble identifying songs sold in special offer "bundles".
One of the primary reasons the chart is not interesting is that you don't see records grow any more
Paul Gambaccini
And a move for downloads to be included in the Top 40 before the song is released on CD single has so far been resisted.
Such a decision could herald a return to the days of tunes slowly climbing the charts as buzz and popularity grow.
Broadcaster and chart expert Paul Gambaccini said that refusal "saddens me tremendously".
"One of the primary reasons the chart is not interesting is that you don't see records grow any more," he says. "You just see the first-week spike."
This market is moving so quickly that it would be absolutely crazy to say that the rules are frozen
British Phonographic Industry
A spokesman for the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) says rules may be changed and the chart would be very different in another six months.
"This market is moving so quickly that it would be absolutely crazy to say that the rules are frozen and that's the way it's going to be," he says.
The OCC started planning the move to include downloads in late 2000 - when Napster was still just a thorn in the music industry's side.
Now there are new plans to include mobile phone downloads in the chart as well.
As technology and habits move so quickly, this week's changes may not be a permanent solution for the charts - but the first step in a new direction.
― Bes Wutters, Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:27 (twenty years ago)
Independent record labels may try to fix the UK singles chart this week in an attempt to prove it is not secure, according to a label boss.Downloads will count towards the Top 40 for the first time this week and chart authorities have said it will be safe.
But Guy Holmes, chairman of Gut Records, which has had success with Tom Jones, Space and Uniting Nations, said some labels could try to expose flaws.
"It's not a slight problem - it's a huge problem," he told BBC News.
He said the unnamed labels may attempt to download specific singles many times in an attempt to inflate their chart success.
The people who have instigated the chart have failed dismally
Guy Holmes
Gut Records
They may choose songs released by other labels, including majors, to prove their point, he said.
"I know of two different labels who are considering buying records online because they believe it's the only way they can teach the chart people that the security of the chart is no longer there," he said.
"The people who have instigated the chart have failed dismally in their responsibilities to make and keep our charts secure and to stop people with large amounts of money being able to take advantage of it."
It's very important that the chart isn't open to corruption
James Gillespie
Official UK Charts Company
Legal downloads bought from eligible internet services are being added to sales of CD singles and other formats to compile the Top 40. The first new rundown will be revealed on Sunday.
Mr Holmes said it would take several thousand additional sales to push a song from number 20 into the Top 10 and onto Top of the Pops.
With songs costing about 79p-99p each online, that would be money well spent for some labels, he added.
'Careful' monitoring
The Official UK Charts Company (OCC) has previously said it would monitor the chart changes "very, very carefully".
"It's very important that the chart isn't open to corruption, isn't open to being hyped," OCC product and new media co-ordinator James Gillespie said.
"We're very confident that [the security system] is going to ensure that the singles chart remains the most accurate barometer of people's music tastes."
Meanwhile the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has said systems will look for the same credit card or mobile phone numbers buying multiple copies of the same song.
― Bes Wutters, Tuesday, 12 April 2005 11:27 (twenty years ago)