what is the poptimist position on this site?

[maura.livejournal.com]

http://www.itshouldhavebeennumber1.co.uk/

As of Sunday 7th January, changes to the chart rules mean that singles can make it into the charts from download sales alone - a CD release is no longer required. This puts the charts back in your hands and lets you decide what should be number 1 and when!

So, we decided to start this website so that together we can put right some wrongs. With your help, we plan to identify the songs we think were a number one hit, or should have been number one, but were kept from the top spot by some naf song, or possibly something just as good that happened to come out at precisely the same time.

We start Monday 12th February with Oasis "Roll With It". Released 14th August 1995, it made number two, pipped to the post in the famous Britpop battle by Blur with their single "Country House".

Register now to receive a reminder to come back on the 12th February and download "Roll With It". Downloads from the 12th will appear in the following weeks chart. Together we can generate enough sales to make it happen. Together we can re-write history by making "Roll With It" number 1 …as it should have been 12 years ago!

Comments

[damnspynovels.livejournal.com]

How does this business work then? i mean... taking the Roll With It example, the iTunes store has two entries for it, both different lengths etc. Does it matter which one I buy?

Furthermore, what happens if all of a sudden, everyone buys track 4 from a random album, a track that was never a single. Does that count?

What constitutes an eligible download, even in the absence of a physical product?

What if a single, previously a physical product but since deleted, is only available to download as part of an 80s compilation or something? Does that count?

[damnspynovels.livejournal.com]

Also, and getting slightly ridiculous now I admit...

What if, using the Oasis analogy again for a moment, everyone all of a sudden starts downloading fan's favourite Acquiesce, readily available on any Oasis compilation download and what not, and originally a b-side to a single... does that count for the chart?

I hate Oasis by the way. But they're just the sort of twunts that would prosper from this situation.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

kudos on the avatar

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Non-single tracks do now count I think. Exciting!

How do they stop some nutter downloading the same song over and over again? Or major lable dudes conspiring to purchase vast quantities of it?

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I presume the same rules would apply as before - of they spot an unusual buying pattern (i.e. a few people buying lots and lots of the same song) they's just ban it from the chart.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Non-single tracks count.

However I gather that buying a whole album on download does not entitle each one of the tracks contained therein a tally towards the singles chart, IYSWIM. This is because £downloadalbum << 14 x £singletrack. If you spent the extra money on buying each track individually then yes it would count, but with a financial incentive to buy it as an album only diehard fans will bother.

[damnspynovels.livejournal.com]

Ok interesting...

So in the way that buying albums as a single purchase doesn't count for anything regarding the singles chart, I imagine buying a 'single' release (as in a four track thing or something) counts as ONE entry to the chart right?

However, if that's so, what happens if there's a single, that has four individual songs on it (like an Oasis EP or something). If I bought all four, it would be the lead song that would be registered for the chart right? But what if I just bought one of the other three? Would it be the b-side that is put forward for a chart placing?

This is all so complicated, yet so exciting!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

If you bought a physical single then only the lead track would count towards the chart, just like the old days.

If you bought a download single that covered 4 tracks that would count as an album* and therefore none of the tracks would count towards the charts - only if you bought them all separately. I'm not 100% certain about this.

*I know this because my band's single (4 tracks) was listed on itunes as an 'album'! This 'album' cost more than a single download but less than 4 x 79p.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

No, a download single will count to the singles charts if it is no more than 25 minutes long & 4 tracks (or 40 minutes long if it's all remixes of one song).

All the rules in mindnumbing detail can be found here:

http://www.theofficialcharts.com/docs/NEW_Single_Chart_Rules_2007.pdf

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Aha. Glad to be proved wrong :)

[damnspynovels.livejournal.com]

that's crazy!

so we're ascertaining almost for a fact then, that the 'system' doesn't care where a song is coming from, if it's downloaded individual, be it an unreleased album track, or a single's b-side, it counts for the chart...

those are some crazy rules.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

See above - I got my wires crossed. That'll teach me to apply logic.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I think the argument is that now for the first time in the digital age, it's a true reflection of exactly what people are buying, with no arbitrary exclusions.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

If there are multiple different versions of the same song they all count to one chart entry, I believe.

& yes, songs on compilations that have long since been deleted physically are eligible. Just about anything downloaded as a single track can count.