I think the internet has sort of killed off the UK singles chart. When the internet came along and then broadband replaced slow dial-up it made downloading songs so easy and it killed off the tradition of going to a record store each week with your pocket money and buying your favourite new single or album.

In the old days the chart seemed more exclusive but now there's so many songs on the net - both legal and illegal downloads - that the UK chart doesn't seem exclusive, it's just another part of a huge global internet music jukebox! The top 40 singles chart doesn't seem that important.

I also tend to prefer older chart songs too (80s and 90s era).

That was in the past though. The charts don't represent music as a whole. They only represent what's popular. There are a lot of bands/artists out there who wouldn't be known about by people if it wasn't for the internet because of the charts.


I do that every day.


I'm 22 and buy all my music from iTunes.

Maybe the "HBO of music" are the record labels that sign artists because they're good and they believe in them, rather than because they will make the most money (or be moulded and packaged to make the most money). Some examples being Domino Records, Warp Records, XL Recordings, Bella Union, Sub Pop, Secretly Canadian etc. etc.

We all know it's a business and about making money but as I said in the "low album sales" thread, I still think the major labels could do more to offer up more variety and appeal to more people who aren't really being served by current pop/chart music.

This. To an extent you could say this about most radio stations as well - so scared of losing listeners and therefore advertising revenue that they only play songs which are definitely going to chart and won't take a chance on any music that isn't 'in' at the moment. Lincs FM is a station that comes to mind given that I'm subjected to it for 8 hours a day at my summer job - its playlist consists of about 12 songs (Rihanna, Tulisa, The Wanted, etc) and these get played at least 4 times a day each. Absolutely no variety whatsoever.

Wouldn't say the same for Radio 1 though, looking at the playlist now, they've got at least 8 indie/rock songs on there which is 8 more indie/rock songs than any other radio station is likely to have at the moment They also play stuff like Nero, Chase & Status etc that stations like Lincs FM refuse to go anywhere near. Granted, they do play the generic chart stuff as well but at least they mix it up and have specialist shows at night.

That's the problem with having bean counters in charge of the music industry.

It seems most commercial stations are the same. The Pulse and Real Radio play the same diabolical dozen or so songs on a constant loop.

Whenever we have the radio on in work, and it isn't on Radio 2 because the tuning has gone slightly out and some has tried to find another music-playing station, all that is to be heard is that generic, push-button regurgitated tripe of the type that is invariably by 'convoluted name' FEATURING 'at least one if not a host of other convoluted names'.

That characteristic is a reasonably reliable barometer of how shit a song is going to be - and the Top 40 has been full of it for going on the best part of the last ten years now. If I'm in the shops and I happen to take a look at the back of the latest Now! offering, I despair from the acts' names and song titles alone.

Online sales are up massively. Source: BBC That is why cd's sales are down.The music industry is only down over all by 3.4% on the previous year.

You need to remember, there are 20ish music channels on TV. playing songs almost of an endless loop. Chances are, if you missed that song you liked, just swith channels and you'll see it.

The likes of Spotify streaming, which enables the end user to seek their fix on countless occasions.

Why "buy" albums when you can either watch it on TV or stream a video or use the likes of Spotify?

REALLY?

30 years ago you had... rock, punk, new wave, rockabilly, disco, funk, jazz funk, soul, electro, new romantic, pop, ballads, reggae, ska, ... just about abit of everything going! today you have?... r n b, dance, pop.


Thats always been the case, the singles chart was the shop window for the greater scene, instead of the internet we had radio stations where dj's would make a name for themselves by discovering and championing new acts.

And would those radio stations play a lot of independent/unsigned artists?

Its annoying why the UK radio stations play so much American music and I can't stand all these clone tracks with the same roboticised vocals.

That sums up so much better what I meant that what I said. This is what you get on commerical radio, day in day out, save for the odd track like 'Goyte', as annoying as it is.

Yes, even radio 1 esp evenings. Like i said, dj's made their name by discovering new talent. Daytime radio 1 often played tracks that didnt chart or charted low, they had far more freedom.

They should. It's cheaper and gives the listener more variety.

I honestly don't know if this forum is indicative of the UK musical tastes, but it seems very chart-driven over there.. people seem to only talk about music on the charts, use chart position to compare songs, etc. It's very strange.

There was a big todo about Graham Norton having an unsigned band on his show earlier this year. Compare to american late night shows who do that all the time.

Craig Ferguson went so far as to have unsigned glaswegian band The Imagineers play every night for 5 days straight as well as record a version of the show's theme song.

No, Simon Cowell is

Well you guys invented the high-rotation CHR format that has now been adopted by most Uk commercial radio. Have American radio stations moved away from this and introduced more variety? (Although I suppose satellite radio would be the place for this)

As an aside, Craig Ferguson's Scottish shows were brilliant.

Yeah, now that I think about it, the death of CHR might be why US listening is so fragmented now.

The CHR format pretty much died back in the 90s. Here is a nytimes article from 1993 talking about the demise of Top 40 radio.

While American Top 40 still exists, it is very marginalized. According to Arbitron, CHR only gets 5.6% of the audience share.

But Americans didn't just move from CHR to something else, it fragmented and now, even the most popular radio format (country) only has 12% of the audience share.

Think about that.. it's the "most popular", and 9 out of 10 americans listen to something else.

It is nothing to do with the Internet. The Internet to me just makes more international music accessible. The UK music chart has always been S**t.

Well you didnt have such a variety that defined eras did you? ok, you adopted some 60's acts but not the movement, did you 'do' glam? punk? new wave? new romantic? ska/two tone? etc etc etc... All styles have been reprisented in the charts and define an era, a generation, and so in that way are important.


With respect, thats nonsense. The singles charts historically have often played host to some real good tracks. Ok not in proliferation, there has been alot of dross, but to dismiss every chart track is ridiculous.

Simon Cowell has almost nothing to do with the charts lol.

I think radio is a bigger problem.

This week in the charts is actually turning out to be fairly good though. We're looking at possible 10+ new entries, rather than the usual 2 or 3!

There are hundreds of hard working, talented artists waiting to be signed to major record labels, and get their music played on UK Radio; but talentless clothes horses whom are worshipped by the UK media and followed by lowlife zombies with no braincells because Simon (Cowell) says they are great like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yC1GktayPc are the reason why they will never be heard and the reason why music on radio and in the charts is largely awful these days.

They are better off staying away from the major labels. If I were a musician, I would sign with one of the smaller, independent labels who would encourage my creativity rather than stifle or, worse, dilute it. It is easier than ever for musicians to get their music out there with the Internet and the major labels are becoming less and less relevant.

Sounds like a manifesto from 1976. It worked then!

They didn't have the Internet back then

Actually they did, it's the web they didn't have back then!
And neither was needed, fanzine culture and self publishing did it. And a guy called John Peel who spread the word on the radio..going back to the original point.