Ed Sheeran penalised by new UK chart rules

[HRH Ayyu]

The chart rules may have changed - but Justin Bieber is still number one.

Last week, the Official Charts Company overhauled the way it compiles the Top 40 in an effort to stop A-list artists elbowing newer acts out of the way.

The move was prompted by Ed Sheeran, whose new album ÷ [Divide] proved so popular that it propelled 16 tracks into the top 20 in March.

Appropriately, he is the main victim of the new rules, with five of his records vanishing from the top 100 this week.

That's because artists are only allowed a maximum of three songs in the chart under the new system, meaning lower-ranking Sheeran songs like Happier and New Man have been excluded.

Some of his other songs took a massive tumble down the charts, apparently the victim of a second rule penalising tracks that are "well past their peak and in steep, prolonged decline".

For those songs, the Official Charts Company is applying a new formula, whereby 300 streams count as one sale (for newer songs, the ratio is 150:1).

The idea is that the longer a song has been in the charts, the faster it will fall out of the top 100.

As a result, Sheeran's former number one 

, which has been in the Top 40 for 26 weeks, suddenly dropped 12 places after weeks of steady decline.

Similarly Clean Bandit's 

, which has been in the chart for 16 weeks, dropped 10 places.

 

Songs that benefited from the move included Selena Gomez's 

, which jumped nine places to reach a new peak of 25.

Alma also saw her single 

 rocket from 54 to 30, giving the Finnish singer her first ever Top 40 hit.

At the top end of the charts, the new rules made little difference.

Luis Fonsi's Spanish-language smash 

, which features a guest verse from Justin Bieber, remained at number one for an eighth week.

DJ Khaled and Rihanna's 

, meanwhile, held steady at number two.
'Desperation and panic'

According to the Official Charts Company, the new rules were designed to "ensure the chart continues to be a showcase for the new hits and talent which are the lifeblood of UK music".

But chart analysts questioned the need for the changes.

"It's a really odd situation, because it feels like an artificial re-swizzling of things," said Fraser McAlpine on the Top 40 podcast Unbreak My Chart.

"Part of the fun of the chart has always been that it reflects what people's listening habits are."

"If you've managed to iron out the possibility that everybody in Britain is suddenly really excited by four songs by the same artist, that seems like an odd way of hammering down on enthusiasm."

McAlpine noted that a situation like last April, when six Prince songs entered the Top 100 in the week after his death, would no longer be possible.

"The charts have never been a pure system," added his co-presenter Laura Snapes. "But never before have the rules felt like such a blatant attempt to ensure the relevance of the singles chart at a time when it is less relevant than ever.

"It just seems like desperation and panic".

 

source bbc news

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this is very stupid, the chart is suppose to show whats popular, what songs people are into, but they are changing the rules so new songs climb the charts and olld songs falls quckly, and actively trying to stop an artist fromdominating the chart.

i guess since uk fans dont care about the official chart so there isnt any outrage, but if this was korea there would be.

[님님]

Thank god he's left the charts to let others have a chance..

[Swirl900]

Well this is dumb. First we had fake news now we have fake charts. Why even bother having charts if you're not going to accurately represent what people are listening to?

[protoplasm]

I agree and quite like the first rule (songs by the same artist limit) but the older songs rule is bs

[sunggyuluver]

All of the songs deserve to be high up.

 

Can't think of an English album I liked more than his.

[IKKY]

Two remakes occupying the top spots •~•

What in the World

 

But who even cares about the charts here.

Radio play >>>>> charts

[Honeystan]

I hardly ever check the lists to find music, so this doesn't really affect me, but I guess it affects people who like to see what's trending and perhaps trending artists possibility to expand their fan-base. People are usually more willing to give a listen to what's popular. 

[ディエイト]

 

i guess since uk fans dont care about the official chart there isnt any outrage, but if this was korea there would be.

 

That's because no-one follows the chart here. Personally I last followed it in 2005. They got rid of all the chart music shows on tv like 10 years ago. The radio chart on Sundays changed around and I don't even know where it is any more. There's supposed to be a mid week update chart thingamabob but fuck knows where or what that is. When they started counting streams is when it started dying cos streaming can put a song above another song in the chart that actually sold more through purchasing because of that streaming equivalency thing. 

 

It's a damn mess but on the plus side at least people just kinda listen to whatever they want instead of being obsessed with records and owt unlike k-pop. 

[DC3]

For me it's not about following the charts because really no one in the general public does

 

But its about representing what the country is listening to. Many artists look at the charts to get feedback on what clicked with the public and what didn't but they can't now since its going to be changed

[trang95]

Who cares about charts? This is supposed to show what the public is listening to.

 

Sent from my LG-D690 using Tapatalk

[versace]

my personal ed sheeran hate aside 300=1 is kinda low

but atleast more songs have the opportunity to have some visibility in the charts