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BBC Launches Downloaded Music Charts

Posted by michael on from the casey-casum dept.

PReDiToR writes "The BBC today aired its first chart rundown of downloaded music. 'The Official UK Download Chart is based on the most popular, legally downloaded tracks in the UK. It's compiled from the sale of permanently owned single track downloads and doesn't include streamed downloads, subscriptions or free downloads.' The Chart played on Radio 1, the UK's most listened to station, and will be a regular feature."

13 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Wouldn't it be cool by shfted! · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wouldn't it be cool to link such a list to bittorrent for automatic downloading? That way, you'd get fresh music that's supposedly good every day. I'd love it. And it would be user selected music -- not the crap the recording industry feels like feeding us this week.

    --
    He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.
    1. Re:Wouldn't it be cool by EpsCylonB · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Did you read the list ?

      It's all manafactured stuff, some british some american but no real good music.#

    2. Re:Wouldn't it be cool by joeldixon66 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'd prefer to see the top 20 "illegally" downloaded songs. The top 20 provided is a little too posh pop for my liking.

    3. Re:Wouldn't it be cool by EpsCylonB · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I have heard of all the list.

      I was a little too quick criticise, not all of it is bad, actually I rate Maroon 5 quite highly. Most of it however is crap.

      As for goldie lookin chain, I'm still not sure whether they are a joke or not, it wouldn't surprise if in a few months time we find out that they are all ali g style comedians.

    4. Re:Wouldn't it be cool by rooijan · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Personally I don't think manufactured necessarily equates to bad. What gets me is that to have a successful pop career (where pop is things like Britney, Avril etc) you have to be attractive and sexy. Ever seen an ugly *pop* star? Would most pop survive on the radio, without sex-on-TV music videos to back it up?

      Some other genres of music (hard rock, metal, jazz etc) do not rely on attractive people to make it sell, they rely on good music.

      Having said that, I listen to and enjoy many pop tunes. However, what I also object to is the fact that media and listeners give the singer all the credit for the song. All the singer did is sing (and occasionally an effect is even added, presumably because they can't even sing that well). Why aren't we crediting the people who wrote the music, the people who played their instruments etc.?

      I know that a solo musician's band is hardly ever credited and it has been this way for decades, but IMHO it is becoming more and more prevalent and very annoying. At least most solo musicians of the 60's, 70's and some of them in the 80's wrote their own songs (or wote most of them at least).

      --
      Daar is nie 'n lepel nie
    5. Re:Wouldn't it be cool by SenseiLeNoir · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well said.. ok, you can be a littel easy on the language.. but agreed...

      remember, Craig David, when he started was NOT manufactured.. the guy has talent, and can litterally come out with lyrics when placed on the spot.. i know because i have seen the guy peform in a london club before he became famous.

      However, now he is famous, he is considered "manufactured"

      --
      Have a nice day!
  2. Something more interesting... by ElForesto · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... would be a list of the most-downloaded songs that weren't paid for. You could compare that to this list and see which songs are actually worth buying.

    --
    There is a difference between "insightful" and "inciteful" other than spelling.
  3. TOTP? by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    But is this the stuff that they're gonna play as the definitive chart on Top of the Pops? Or are they gonna stick with the Gallup chart? And is the Network Chart still around? Apart from being used by independent radio stations that syndicated David Jenson's show, and ITV's excellent DJ-free Saturday morning "The Chart Show," it wasn't really regarded as 'the' chart like the one on TOTP was.

    --
    Drill baby drill - on Mars
  4. Re:Official Downloads Sites: by Stuart+Gibson · · Score: 2, Interesting

    At a rough guess:

    iTunes: 90%
    Everyone else: 10%

    Stuart

    --
    It's all fun and games until a 200' robot dinosaur shows up and trashes Neo-Tokyo... Again
  5. Chart Inflation by xombo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This will help online music sales in the long run but it will cause the same effect as "top sellers" in the CD market. Of course they're top sellers and they will continue to be since they're the most played music on the radio. That's why radio stations should promote new and notable artists instead of the same crap we've heard for the last three months, maybe that would help artists and encourage a better rotation on the air waves.

  6. Meanwhile by jb.hl.com · · Score: 4, Interesting

    All sensible people use Audioscrobbler and get their charts. They take into account what people listen to and not what they buy, meaning that it is less skewed towards teenyboppers and one hit wonders (which have low replay values) and fairer towards good bands.

    --
    By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
  7. Re:A Hit Chart... by Infonaut · · Score: 4, Interesting
    every other band that matters

    Including the only band that mattered.

    The British impact on popular music over the last fifty years is arguably greater than that of any country in the world, including the US.

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
  8. But what are the MASSES listening to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    > based on the most popular, legally downloaded tracks in the UK

    But legal downloads account for only a tiny percentage of all downloads. So wouldn't it be more relevant to track all downloads, legal + illegal?

    If I was selling music, wouldn't I would want to know what's actually popular with the masses?

    (Actually, I think I heard that the RIAA companies do obtain illegal-download statistics via back channels for use in their marketing decisions.)