The UK’s Official Singles Chart will incorporate song streams into its rankings beginning with the July 6, 2014 edition. To date the Official Singles Chart was based purely on sales of singles, whether downloads, CD singles, cassette singles, 7 or 12″ vinyl.
As music streaming has grown in popularity, there has been a decline in single track sales. The chart’s new methodology reflects these changes.
100 streams will be equivalent to 1 single purchase (whether download, CD or vinyl). The streaming data represents on demand plays via services such as Spotify, Deezer, Napster, O2 Tracks (Musicqubed), rara, Sony’s Music Unlimited and Xbox Music, all members of the Entertainment Retailers Association, co-owner of the Official Charts Company.
ERA already supplies data from physical and digital stores to the Official Charts including specialist chains such as HMV, internet retailers like Amazon, the UK’s big four supermarkets and hundreds of independent retailers.
The Official Singles Chart is compiled from midnight on Sunday morning to midnight on Saturday evening every week. Streams will be counted for the first time in the chart measuring the period from Sunday, June 29, 2014 through Saturday, July 5 (week 27). Read more here.
Category: Featured, Sales/Marketing
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Sarah Skates has worked in the music business for more than a decade and is a longtime contributor to MusicRow.View Author Profile
