Not in these large numbers which would make them chart. Seems to be artificially skewed.
Prove me wrong. Why are obscure Burl Ives, Stevie Wonder and Elton John Christmas songs which never charted when originally released in the 1960s and 1970s charting for the first time in 2018?
Because people are choosing Spotify/Apple music playlists that feature those songs and are listening to them? Christmas songs have a much longer shelf life than âordinary musicâ.
The whole landscape has changed, thereâs more music than ever and youâre less at the behest of record labels so seasonal staples are always going to rise to the top at this time of year.
2 Likes
So these songs are only being played because they are being put on playlists not because people are specifically choosing to hear them.
So the chart is not a reflection of what people are choosing to hear or play but what someone else is choosing for them. Thatâs why measuring streams is an unfair measure of the popularity of these songs.
And you think record labels are not manipulating these playlists on streaming services? That would be naive.
2 Likes
I have a playlist of around 2000 songs Iâve compiled on Spotify. I hit shuffle and do I actively choose each one as it comes on? No. But by choosing to listen to that playlist I have made an active decision to listen to what comes up, unless I skip a song. I very rarely decide on a song by song basis what I want to listen. When I choose to listen to an album on Spotify then Iâve chosen to obviously listen to that, but thereâs no difference between the streams and are recorded the same.
I think @JBar youâre trying to apply old school logic to a new age of music listening and I donât mean that in a mean way, but you canât simply decide or want to exclude streams if that is where the majority of people are listening, legally, to music. I can see where youâre coming from about it being âunfairâ to an extent but streams can be turned off or songs skipped etc.
Oh I agree that playlists are being massaged by record labels and the whole idea of an algorithm choosing music for you to listen to is worrying, but thatâs another matter.
1 Like
But when people compare charts from today to the past then itâs an unfair measure. And they do it all the time from the chart compilers themselves to the media and record companies.
People say things like:
âMariah Careyâs Christmas classic All I Want for Christmas is You has finally reached No.1 on the ARIA singles chart, 24 years after its chart debut. Remarkable.â
Itâs not remarkable. Itâs bogus.
Itâs unfair to compare a lot of things that appear to be the same. TV ratings when there was just 4-5 options, sports teams/players, etc. Times change.
2 Likes
It took me a while to come to terms with streaming being compiled in the charts, and still personally feel that a song should be âreleasedâ as a single to be counted for the chart but that is not likely to change anytime soon. The argument about playlists determining chart positions is semi valid as passive listening adds to streams, but if that was the whole thing then why are the other Christmas songs down the list and not as high up, people are making the effort to play at least All I Want For Christmas Is You, Last Christmas and Do They Know Itâs Christmas.
The charts in the past were heavily rigged as well. There were many songs that were deleted so that people were forced to buy the next single or the album to get the song they wanted. When I started buying CDs, singles were $8-9 dollars, then they sold some, usually Aussie acts for $4.95 and that ended up being as low as 99c in an effort to encourage sales. Numerous record company employees have admitted to making deals and tradeoffs to get their acts played on radio, because you needed radio play to make sales and sales to earn radio play.
The chart shouldnât be called the Singles chart, but it is a reflection of the way music is consumed now. Just as long as they donât follow the US method of calculation and include radio plays.
3 Likes
So this week, in the UK, every song from 14 to 40 is a re-entry after the chart was polluted with â26 seasonal songsâ last week.
5 Seconds of Summer becomes the first Australian act in 13 years to take out the highest selling single of the year, with Youngblood. The Greatest Showman soundtrack is the top selling album of 2018.
https://themusic.com.au/article/3WHF8fDz8vU/it-took-13-years-but-an-aussie-act-has-scored-2018-s-highest-selling-single/
1 Like
Elton John is performing in Bathurst, NSW next year at our local football ground! The whole town has gone crazy, I expect a majority of the town will be there. I donât think weâve ever had a world wide act here before.
2 Likes
American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish has landed her first Australian No.1 single (Bad Guy) and No.1 album (When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?). She also has six tracks from her debut album in the top 10 of ARIA singles chart, breaking the ARIA record for most tracks in the top 10, previously claimed by Ed Sheeran in March 2017 when he had five tracks in the top 10. At just 17, Billie is the youngest artist to top both ARIA singles and albums charts, breaking the previous record set by Adele who achieved the feat when she was 21.
But the Singles Charts are not really singles charts anymore. They are album tracks that streaming services suggest and people listen to, rather than sales of singles as they had been in the past.
3 Likes
Yes, a shame that the music world has come to this.
I do miss the days of genuine Top 40 countdowns (and that the music was better back then too!).
2 Likes
The Queen of Pop Madonna is back with a new song 'Medellin â featuring Maluma.
From her upcoming new album Madame X released in June.
Thereâs an advert for Pinkâs new album on TV at the moment. It says that the album features the #1 single Walk Me Home. I thought this was suss so I checked. The single has only peaked at #11 in Australia and has not been number one anywhere in the world.
The only thing close is a mention on Wikipedia of it being #1 on a radio airplay chart in the UK. So a claim based on that is a big stretch. How can they blatantly lie like this in advertising?
#1 amongst bogans perhaps 
but seriously, just more proof that charts / claims about charting are ever dubious these days.
1 Like
1 Like