It's all part of popular culture though and because songs are standards with cover bands might actually add to their 'classic' status.

well i dont know those songs you cite, so how will they be regarded as classics by your definition if they are unknown by a pop music fan?...

Got to say the chart this week (Sep 2 2016) is utter rubbish. I think there are about two songs I like in the entire top 100.

Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop The Feeling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0K8uYEZWw

and Kungs VS Cookin' On 3 Burners - This Girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y6Nne8RvaA

I don't think chart music has ever been worse than it is in 2016. I do think good pop music is still made but chart music has never been as awful as it is right now, imho. Bleh.

Well for me Christine & the queens is the best song in the top 100 by a mile but it is so old now , 12 non movers in the top 40 and no new entries the chart is lifeless now with streaming

July 2015 = New Music Friday introduced

July 2015 = UK charts moved from Sunday to a Friday.

So ever since they introduced New Music Friday, we're seeing less and less "new music" entering the UK charts each week.

Take a look at the UK chart published yesterday. 12 non movers and not a single new hit within the top 40. Instead, we've got the previous weeks top 40 in a different order.

The freshness is jaw dropping!!!

The way the UK charts are going, we're going to end up with a top 40 (probably before the end of the year) where the top 40 will be non movers.

Forty non movers!!!

I would hate to be Greg James when he counts down that Friday UK top 40 on Radio 1. x-(

Streaming is ruining the charts. New artists don't stand a chance of making the charts (Mollie King went to #18 on iTunes yet charted at #90 officially), post album singles aren't making waves because the album is already available anyway and it seems that the charts are just constantly full of random DJ's or producers and Justin Bieber.

At least when sales were popular you'd be guaranteed 5 or 6 new entries a week in the chart plus fanbase artists could support a single released by downloading it on iTunes, and if a song was used on X-Factor or whatever it would chart through sales on iTunes but streaming is just too slow and holds everything back.

Yes, they're both excellent singles and were my two songs of the summer too.

I've now accepted that the UK charts are way past their sell by date. The more non movers I see each week, the more I know the UK charts are stagnating.

I had no real issue with Drake being #1 for 15 weeks but when the entire top 12 consists of the same 12 songs for a month, something has to be done about that surely?

The last song I bought on iTunes was False Alarm by Matoma & Becky Hill, mainly thanks to Norway's singles chart where I discovered the song. Yet despite going top 20 on iTunes a couple of weeks ago, it's still not even scraped into the top 40 because it's not doing great on Spotify.

If the singles chart were a bit faster paced then each week the UK chart would offer something interesting. At the moment you get endless weeks of stagnation, then all of a sudden you get one week when a good number of songs all shoot up into the top 10. Then you get another spell of stagnation with these new batch of songs for 2 months before the next batch of songs shoot up into the top 10.

Why can't we just return to actual sales charts. That provided more diversity in the charts.

Streaming needs to be banned - it's killing the chart off. It's time to re-complie it or else.

As I have said before - the charts of the past did not include what we played on repeat (ie the streaming of our day) - just music we bought

I am in my 50s and it is only the last 5 years or so that chart music has completely lost my attention.

I was still enjoying new bands such as The Arctics, Kaisers, Killers in the 00s.

It now does feel like music is written to a formula in order to chart and there is limited variation. There is still good new music about, but it is guarded to find it because it doesn't chart so much.

However, in the last couple of years there have been tunes that I can think of that will still be popular I years to come. I'd say Hold my hand by Jess Glynne, Hopeless place, Rhianna, blank space Taylor Swift, riptide, shine - years and years, - I think these are all stand up classic pop tunes - they just get a bit lost in a sea of meh.

I think you mean streaming should be banned for chart selection.I personally think they should ban the charts altogether OR at least don't rely on it so heavily to reflect the public's taste in music.The indie charts were an effort to get away from the over commercialisation of the charts, but the Major Label's (only having 3 left doesn't help) have found a way to circumvent the success of the majority of independently minded artists who tried to 'do things their own way' to gain commercial success / hits.Even the Indie charts had Scott, Aitkin & Waterman artist's in it as early as the early '80's !!!!! (they were an independent label).

Don't think streaming as such is killing the impact / quality of pop music as such, although it's a part of it.It's the enormous amount of commercial control that is used these days to gain chart hits.It is very difficult or impossible to get a high chart entry from an unusual source these days.There is a very limited group of song writers (music writers / EDM'ers) who hhhmmm 'co-write' songs who are 'licenced' to the Major Labels.The Major Labels also invest alot in digital media now to ensure their success, evening buying / owning / investing in them (Soundcloud is the latest I've heard about).That includes Twitter, Spotify, YouTube etc.

It's easy to blame streaming for the demise of the impact / quality (too the listener).Think the use of streaming was used as a way to liberalise the charts, initially.It has made it worst, really, especially those who have popularity on other digital media - Twitter.

Heard that Katy Perry didn't do very well with her latest chart release because she (or her Label / management) 'windowed' it on iTunes.Perhaps it was not a typical song you'd expect to do well in the charts, but you'd expect it to do better, even so.Tidal have also, apparently, had chart failures trying the 'windowing' marketing technique.[Album's have been given away with major newspapers etc. as well - that's not in same context perhaps].

Also heard that Spotify are negotiating with the Major Label's to 'window' their releases.They have been opposed to 'windowing' since their inception.Not sure what effect all that will have on charts.It's almost as if the Major's have given up on the chart format to 'try' to guarantee commercial success.Perhaps it is getting too expensive to 'rig' the charts themselves now.

One of the best songs of the year (imho) which never charted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja76Zg9i23k


"Hoping for better days..."

Amen to that sentiment.

You streamers let the side down not making that a big hit. Meh to you!

Don't Stop Believin is a bit ironic to use here..

"The song was released in the United Kingdom in December 1981 and peaked only at number 62. "Don't Stop Believin'", never re-released in the UK, retained a cult following and re-entered the UK Singles Chart in February 2009 at number 94, due to digital downloads."

It hit #9 at the end of 2009 after it was on the X Factor.

and Glee

I'm not sure how a reply to what stubble-faced old tossers play in British pubs is ironic.
Because the song didn't chart seriously in the UK doesn't mean people weren't aware of it. It's not like US pop culture is a mystery to Uk people. "More than a feeling' only made 22.

It's the influence of Glee (and Scrubs and The Sopranos) which are key parts of modern popular culture along with the karaoke culture of a few years back. And that is why 'Don't Stop Believing' is played by today's stubble-faced old tossers in pubs, why shouldn't they?

I'd never heard of Don't Stop Believing, so looked it up on YouTube and then wished I hadn't. It epitomises everything I really hate about bland, formulaic American soft rock. Thankfully, I doubt if most of the stubble-faced old tossers would be able to sing in that castrato pitch.

Everytime I see Ariana Grande, I just want to shout BIBBLE!

I'm 26 and have no clue either. People look at me as though I have two heads when I say I don't listen to popular radio stations. If a song is worth hearing it usually breaks through public consciousness anyway so even though I haven't listened to the radio in years it's not as if Gangnam Style, Party Rock, Wrecking Ball, Uptown Funk etc. passed me by.

Do you mean The Wrecking Ball Company? I love that song.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkjdkuX8c2Y

After the massive success of Justin Timberlake there is still hope for the big major acts, and Timberlake was not EDM or trying to fit in the current slowtempo dance stuff

... but hes hardly original nor unique being clearly influenced by jacko...

original he isn't no but after seeing Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Britney fail to score a top 5/10/20/40 hit the last year he still did and he is in that same territory of past his peaktime success

Chart music means nothing to me and hasn't done for 20 years now.

..... but old buggers said that in the 60's, 70's 80's..... were they right to dismiss the charts then?