The Crazy UK Charts

My last post, originally written in February 2006, hinted on the terrible year in music that was 2005. That post begged the question “Are the charts still relevant?”. Ironically the month after I wrote this article, the Official UK charts changed their format allowing downloads to chart a full week before the release of the physical single in shops.

Then along came a little record called “Crazy” by none other than Gnarls Barkley and history was made. Crazy became the very first single to debut at number one in the UK on downloads alone. It smashed all records and glimpsed at what was to come.

It was only a matter of time that the powers that be decided to acknowledge what music lovers have known for a long time, that downloads were here to stay. And so it was announced in late 2006 that as of the first week in January 2007 the Official UK chart would rank songs based on sales alone, whether downloads or physical product in the shops.

What does all this mean? It’s simple really. Literally any song that sells enough in one week is eligible to chart. That means that a predetermined single or an album cut can potentially hit number one in any given week.

The UK chart then went one step further and deleted the 52 week rule as well. In essence a single used to be ineligible to chart if it had a shelf life longer than one year. Now starting this week any song, no matter how recently released or how old can chart.

The chart dated Sunday January 7, 2007 will reflect what music fans in the UK are truly listening to and buying. With an already volatile chart, the UK embarks on what could become the craziest chart ever. Will Billboard follow suit?