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UK download chart to launch on wednesday

1 September 2004 3:44 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 2 comments

The UK's first download chart is to be launched on Wednesday. The most downloaded tracks on legal services such as iTunes, Napster, OD2 and mycokemusic.com will be counted down on BBC Radio 1. The first weekly download top 20 will be presented by Scott Mills during his drivetime show at 1800 BST. Industry figures are hoping the chart will reflect the changes in how we listen to music. The chart will be overseen by the same body that does the singles chart. Last Sunday, Napster launched a rival download chart on Virgin Radio.

There has been more than two million legal downloads sold in the U.K since January this year. Artists are rushing to release singles in hopes of getting the number one spot for the first time in history. They include Westlife, Sugababes, Muse, Goldie Lookin' Chain, Faithless, Jet and Snow Patrol. DJ Scott Mills speaking on Radio Five Live said, "What we have found - especially with Radio 1 listeners who are aged primarily 15 to 24 - is that young fans of bands like Snow Patrol and Starsailor live with computers every day of their lives. Downloading music is not alien to them. It is just another way of buying music."

James Gillespie, of The Official UK Charts Company, is hoping that the charts will boost singles and album sales. He said "It is going to be the first time that UK music consumers can see which is the most popular download track. In the US it has really got people excited by music again. The physical market of CDs and DVDs have actually increased over there and we are confident the same will happen here.". Peter Jamieson, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, said "1 September will go down as an historic date in the history of the UK recording industry. The launch of the Official UK Download Chart will provide a real promotional focus for the emerging download market and will serve to drive consumer interest even higher."

Source:
BBC News

Permalink to this article

Westlife top UK download chart (1 September 2004)

MSN music downloading service to launch this week (30 August 2004)

Indie music e-store launched in the UK (27 August 2004)

Live performance MP3's to be sold in UK (25 August 2004)

Music downloads in UK rise up 200% since June (23 August 2004)

More colleges sign up with music services (21 August 2004)

Apple iTunes: Over 1M songs available (10 August 2004)

iTunes hits 100 million downloads (13 July 2004)

Real offers 'unlimited' movie downloads for $12.95 (14 June 2004)

Half a million legal music downloads in the UK (4 June 2004)

Napster launches in Canada (28 May 2004)

Online music prices on the rise (7 April 2004)

Sharing doesn't kill CD sales, says study (30 March 2004)

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Dela (Staff Member) 1 September 2004 3:53
Well it looks like its all happening all over again. Back before MTV and all this chart business there was actually soe real music, then they brought along these charts and it was "cool" to love the top music in the chart. This is all just a stunt by the Big 5 to attempt to drag people back who have strayed away from their music while they have been suing away most of their customers. So thats why you see all this "hype" OH WE'RE SO EXCITED!! pfft, ye right, its just a stunt for those who are dumb enough to follow it! [ + quote]
Toiletman (Senior Member) 1 September 2004 7:32
I have to admit, I don't have anything against any type of music, and I do like some pop. hides behind something solid But what I don't get is why being number 1 would raise sales. Hell, all my 56k friends back in England just saw the number one at "Top of The Pops" and downloaded it off Kazaa. If this is the UK Download Chart, it just means the most people legally downloaded it, and it's not going to raise sales significantly. It's kinda hard to explain, but I'm sure you guys know what I mean. [ + quote]