Streams To Be Included As Part Of UK Singles Chart
Monday, 23 June 2014
Written by Huw Baines
The UK singles chart will incorporate streaming figures for the first time next month, the Official Charts Company has confirmed.
July’s rundown will include data from streaming services including Spotify, Deezer and Napster, with 100 streams counting as the equivalent of one single sold. In addition, streams will now count towards the BPI’s Platinum, Gold and Silver certifications. To date, Bastille’s Pompeii is the UK’s most streamed track of all time.
The first of the revamped charts will air on Radio 1 on July 6, with organisers having recognised the rapid rise of streaming services as something of a changing of the guard. According to their figures, the number of audio streams per week currently sits at 260 million, up from 100 million in January 2013.
To qualify, a song must be played for 30 seconds, while Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, told the NME that a cap of 10 streams per user per day would be implemented. In a statement, he added:
“Audio streaming has grown at an extraordinary rate over the past year and the time is right to take this important step. The UK’s Official Singles Chart is culturally among the most important and influential in the world. We have been looking at this possibility for some time and now feel comfortable that our methodology is correct and that summer 2014 is the time that we should take this step.
“The Official Singles Chart is and always has been the most trusted and definitive measure of Britain’s music tastes. Just as it has evolved through the years to reflect the most popular music in the UK, from 12" to 7", vinyl to cassingles, CD singles to downloads, this is the latest stage of that progression – and will align the Official Singles Chart with the consumption habits of the future.”
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