Official UK Music Chart To Now Include Streaming

I remember when I was child, my big sister would go nuts if she was going to miss ‘taping’ the Official Top 40 on a Sunday afternoon.  I guess she wanted to listen to the tape all week until next week’s Official Top 40 was announced.  The sales of cassette tape, vinyl and CD’s are gradually, one after the other, dying off.  The age of streaming music has arrived and it does have a huge impact on how the public consume their entertainment.

The UK’s Official Charts Company has recently confirmed that, starting in a few week time on July 6th, music streamed over the internet will be included in the makeup of the top 40.  Music servicers such as Deezer, Music Unlimited, Napster, O2 tracks, Rara, Spotify and Xbox Music, will be supplying the OCC with streaming data to support this change.

Is old school media dead now that streaming has taken off?

The Official Charts Company have said a track will need to be streamed 100 times, for a minimum of 30 seconds per play, to have the equivalency of a single purchase.  The most streamed song in UK history is Pompeii by Bastille.  This song however, did not reach the top spot in the weekly chart.  Because of this some are saying this is a warning signal for issues with the OCC’s method of data acquisition.

Though these changes are unlikely to affect the higher positions on the Official chart, some contenders for the lower places may receive an advantage from being included in the streaming data.  In total, online streaming came in at approximately 100-million tracks per week in January of 2013.  That figure has now grown to around 260-million.

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[Image via lifeunsweetened]

SOURCE: http://www.t3.com/news/uk-s-official-music-chart-to-include-streaming