The Top 40 music chart could soon start counting songs streamed from Spotify and other music service, meaning the number one each week would no longer have to sell the most singles. Read on to find out how you’ll be able to change the chart for free!
Until now, the Top 40 music chart has used sales of singles, in physical and download format, to calculate the most popular songs each week, but with the rapid rise of streaming services like Spotify (Which now claims 1million UK users) and We7, the Official UK Charts Company is having to reconsider just how it calculates the Top 40.
Spotify Android app: first video!
The Official Chart Company’s managing director, Martin Talbot, has said that streaming figures would be factored in when they become “a very big part of the way people consume music going forward…I think ultimately it’s bound to happen. But that could be five years, it could be 10 years, it could be 20 years.”
If Spotify manages to roll out its mobile versions, it could come much sooner than that, but what’s unclear is how much weight a stream would have compared to a purchase. “Knowing what a stream is worth compared to a purchase of a download, for instance, is very difficult to identify at the moment,” Mr Talbot said.
It certainly is, as the most popular tracks on Spotify right now aren’t exactly new: Flo Rida’s Right Round is at number one, while Kids by MGMT (More than a year old) is at number two. Still, if that’s what listeners want, it looks like the chart will have to change to reflect that. More when we hear it.
