Drake has just clocked up a 10th week at no1, with (in my opinion of course) a solid but not spectacular song in 'One Dance'

Now of course long running no1s are nothing new, usually you get about 1 a year, but this is the longest since Rihanna's Umbrella. And got me thinking that has the introduction of streaming just made everything a bit stale? Back in the day if you heard a song you liked, you had to pop down to Woolworths etc and hand over some cash, you had to really like a song to make that effort, and you most likely only bought one copy in once week. Even in the iTunes era it still cost you 99p and you wouldent buy a song you weren't completely convinced by.

Instead now I'm convinced that people are just opening Spotify and lazily playing the charts playlist on loop, so we're in a situation where songs that are months old such as Mike Posners Took A Pill In Ibiza are still top10 on steaming, despite surely even its biggest fans having now heard it enough. And of course as streaming is free you don't even have to be mad about a song to give it a listen and it counts towards its chart score.

Streaming is of course the future and needs to be capured somehow, but I don't think the current system has quite got it right,

The inclusion of streaming in the singles chart is a complete and utter farce!!

This bloody song has spent WAY too damn long at number 1, thanks to this stupid, unfair streaming bullshit that ruined the charts. 10 effing weeks is too long!!!

It's already June and we've had only SIX songs at number 1, this is getting really boring now. The Official Charts Company need to do something about this. One Dance staying at number 1 for TEN BLOODY WEEKS is just like a horrible plague that you just can't get rid of. Enough is ENOUGH!!!

If I was in charge of the charts, I would either not count streaming as sales or if that's not possible, introduce a rule where the amount of weeks a song should stay number 1 should be 4/5 weeks maximum!!

It's completely unfair that a song spends 10 stupid weeks at number 1, thanks to streaming. Its boring, unfair and makes a complete mockery of the UK Singles Chart, especially when it isn't even supposed to be number 1 based on the downloads and physical sales!!

Yes.

It's not so much the fact One Dance is #1 for a 10th week that bores me to death, but the fact that the entire TOP FOURTEEN have been the same now for three weeks in a row just in a slightly different order.

In fact throughout the year there have been periods where it's literally the same songs in the top 10 for weeks on end and only the select few somehow manage to break into the top 10.

I really was hoping to see This Girl by Kungs Vs Cookin' On 3 Burners top the UK chart today. If it couldn't do it this week, I have a feeling nothing will topple Drake next week because as the streaming sales for One Dance keep decreasing, so do the download sales for This Girl - and the latter isn't gaining on Spotify either, so you're kinda stuck with a stagnant chart.

The only way we will get a new #1 now is if One Dance is made album only on iTunes - but then it's streaming sales alone will probably keep the song #1 for another week.

So I've already decided that Drake will get an 11th week at #1. The fact Bastille released their eagerly anticipated new single last night, and it's nowhere near #1 on iTunes puts them out of the running for #1 almost instantly.

Next weeks top 10 will probably consist of 10 non movers. You have been warned!!!

Yes Im glad Im no longer interested in chart music and chart stats as this sounds an absolute nightmare.

I usually tune into Greg on the chart show on way journey home on a Friday, the one time I do listen to Radio 1

Greg was bigging up Drake and comparing the song to Rihanna's Umbrella, Wet Wet Wet and even Bryan Adams. Rubbish!!!! Those songs actually sold copies to put them at the top of the charts for weeks on end.

I'm severely disliking this streaming adding to chart positions, I prefer the old way of sales and physical, paid for downloads.

Makes you wonder if adding YouTube plays towards the US Billboard chart was actually a genius idea in retrospect.

At least Justin Timberlake managed to get to #1 in America with CAN'T STOP THE FEELING! the week the first music video premiered. In fact, there have been more US #1 singles in 2016 compared to the UK. That was unheard of until this year.

We had this exact thread just over 2 weeks ago for the same reason maybe need to merge them

Yes, 100 percent to the question.

On the OCC message section someone mentioned the Official Chart Company - it complies the chart - was in breach of the trade description act (!) because streaming 'sales' are the dominant measure of sales, not downloads or cd singles bought.

It's no longer a true singles chart and it should be rebranded as the Official Streaming Chart (and in the small print they can mention physical, download sales are included too).

I think the OCC gave in too easily to the streaming sites. It didn't have to surrender to the likes of Spotify. The Top 40 (in various formats) has been around since the 1950s. Along come these streaming sites in the 21st century and they force the chart to change.

There's a lot of good pop songs on albums. You just have to look beyond the top 40. I don't think pop music in general is hugely worse than pre-internet but a lot of good pop songs never hit the top 40 now. You have to search for it elsewhere (mostly album tracks).

I only listen to Metal / Rock / Indie bands for many years now. R'n'B, Pop & general top 40 material no longer interests me, I don't even download the latest pop illegally as it would be a waste of drive space, nor do I stream Pop stuff on Spotify.

It has made the chart so dull.

One good thing that has come out of it though is that it's basically forced record companies to do all songs as OA/OS. I think that's great.

drake #1 for 10 weeks?... i dont even know the song! (yes i no longer follow the charts)

but we mustnt forget long running (crap) #1s was quite common in the early 90's... bryan adams, whitney, the wets ...

yes but people were actually buying them, Drake is not even the 3rd biggest seller

It isn't a big deal to me tbh, the US have had a similar system for decades which also includes YouTube views and radio play.

Can I just ask something? I read that 100 plays on a streaming service equals 1 physical purchase of a song/download, so if that's the case I don't see how streaming can affect the chart so much? Do that many people use streaming services?

Also, in general these days in the UK, how many purchased downloads/streams make a song number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 etc??

I can't remember the last time I bought a CD single, CD or download. Streaming is the future.

I generally only buy CDs if it's a relatively unknown artist who I want to support (like Jai Waetford). I never buy downloads though, only physical CDs. I bought vinyl copies of Justin's Purpose and Selena's 'Revival'.

I am curious as to sales/stream numbers.

100 streams is equal to one physical or download single sale. Not sure which bright spark came up with that ratio but there you go!

The thing I don't get is if you use the free version of Spotify and stream popular songs does this count? Surely you're not paying for the streaming at all so how can that equal a sale? If you're paying a subscription to Spotify or other streaming apps then you're paying to get music into the top 40/top 100.

Do all streaming services count towards the chart? Does Apple Music? That's the one I use. Isn't Amazon Prime also a streaming service? I am curious for sure.

But I wanna know how many streams/copies are sold of singles each week. Is this reported anywhere?

Also, if you buy an album, from say Amazon, and it is an import from another country, does that count towards the UK chart?

Here's a list of OCC partners. I assume any of these companies with streaming apps contribute to the overall chart.

http://www.officialcharts.com/who-we-are/our-partners/

iTunes is listed. I would imagine iTunes, Spotify, and Deezer are the main streaming apps.

I remember the good old days when it took a single a few weeks of climbing to get to Number One - this was killed before streaming was added - and a song like Pump Up The Volume took weeks to get to the top spot.

Now it is all about marketing and first week sales/streams.

There should be less weighting to streams than actual sales.

Streaming has indeed killed the singles chart - and it's time it was overhauled. Why not have it 70%, sales, 15% streaming and 15% jury voting a bit like the Eurovision except the jurors would be a bunch of people connected to the music industry in Europe and Australia and their points would influence the chart. It would stop Drake having 10 weeks at the top and allow other acts to break into the top 40.

I definitely think YouTube views should be counted.

It sounds to me that you want a chart that could be manipulated into sounding more like how you want to hear it? You might as well just make your own chart up? If streaming annoys people so much just take notice of the sales chart. To me that isn't much better which is why I am no longer interested in the singles chart. There is plenty of good music in the album chart so I take more notice of that.

The singles chart used to be a barometer of the British music scene. Now it is a barometer of what people are streaming, which is a much narrower view than it used to be. There's nothing we can do about that because the chart is about statistics, and it's the statistics that are "wrong" in this case - they don't reflect the music scene the way they used to.

So, as you say, there is plenty of good music about, but the chart no longer reflects that fact.

It has been a long time since the singles charts have reflected the music scene. Well before streaming was included.