read and keep in mind how the long tail plays out in this
==
No
fewer than five acts (Girls Aloud, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake,
Razorlight and Amy Winehouse) are in the new top 40 with both current
and previous singles. This suggests record companies may have to delay
releasing and promoting new singles because another of the artist's
songs is loitering in the chart. So is there a downside? "The answer
is, there might be," says Mr Wells. "But the bottom line is, having a
song in the chart is a good thing, because it shows demand."
But
from the music industry's perspective the digital era has given a
transfusion to the singles market. According to industry trade body the
BPI, downloads accounted for 79 per cent of all singles sales last
year, compared with about 50 per cent in 2005.
==
UK singles chart rocks to a digital beat
By Paul Sexton
Published: January 9 2007 02:00 | Last updated: January 9 2007 02:00
On Sunday, the UK music industry's singles chart underwent its latest revolution. For the first time, it included songs that are available for digital download whether or not a CD single has been released.
The change means songs can make it as chart hits even if retailers have no CD version to stock. The singles chart has, theoretically at least, become a "tracks chart," with any recorded song that is available online factored in - from current favourites such as Leona Lewis to all-time favourites such as Jerry Lee Lewis.
Media previews of Sunday's chart imagined an egalitarian new world celebrating album tracks, songs from bygone eras, unknown bands and obscure numbers made popular by television ads. But the reality is likely to be more complicated.
"There is this idea that all of a sudden you will get un-signed bands appearing in the chart out of nowhere," says Rob Wells, Universal Music UK's divisional director of new media. "What people tend not to have a firm handle on is the overall mix of activity that goes on alongside a release. That is driven by quite high marketing spend by companies that can afford to spend it."
It is more likely, therefore, that the digital releases charting most prominently will be those from current acts who enjoy the marketing might of their record labels and the airplay that goes with it.
Even tracks finding a second lease of life under the new rules are likely to be from current artists. Sunday's most notable performer was Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars", already a top 10 hit in August on Polydor/Universal's Fiction label. Deleted as a CD single but boosted by a synchronisation deal for use in the TV series Grey's Anatomy, it reappeared in the top 10.
No fewer than five acts (Girls Aloud, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, Razorlight and Amy Winehouse) are in the new top 40 with both current and previous singles. This suggests record companies may have to delay releasing and promoting new singles because another of the artist's songs is loitering in the chart. So is there a downside? "The answer is, there might be," says Mr Wells. "But the bottom line is, having a song in the chart is a good thing, because it shows demand."
The new system irks UK high street retailers because hits might exist that they cannot stock. Yesterday, the HMV chain said it would replace the official countdown in stores with its own physical singles sales chart.
But from the music industry's perspective the digital era has given a transfusion to the singles market. According to industry trade body the BPI, downloads accounted for 79 per cent of all singles sales last year, compared with about 50 per cent in 2005.
The Official UK Charts Company, which compiles the 54-year-old weekly bar-ometer, first computed digital sales in April 2005, so long as a CD version was available at the same time. From March 2006, downloads were factored in one week ahead of the CD counterpart.
The new chart landscape has parallels with the US, but also key differences. For example, radio airplay has been an important component for a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1998. Moreover, the US music industry dismantled its singles market in the mid-1990s. "When we added digital to the Hot 100 in February 2005 there was absolutely no outcry from retailers," says Silvio Pietrol-uongo, chart manager of Billboard Hot 100. He foresees a complete shift to digital: "The Official UK Charts Company is being smart in getting ahead of the inevitable demise of physical singles."
But others still see the CD single as useful marketing. "The Leona Lewis single this Christmas still got consumers into stores, as well as delivering a massive online figure," says Richard Connell, marketing head for Columbia, part of Sony BMG. "We are fully behind the physical single and see it as a major tool to break acts and to cement an established act's reputation."
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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