UK Official Download Chart

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Irish boyband Westlife achieved the first number one on the UK Official Download Chart.

The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart.[1] For a brief time the Top 10 was aired on BBC Radio 1's Chart Show every Sunday afternoon from 4–7 PM, along with the Top 20 albums and the UK Top 40 singles[citation needed].

The main chart contains the Top 200 downloads; however, usually only the Top 20 or Top 40 are of main interest. The Top 200 was published only for brief periods in 2006,[2] and from 2010 onwards. The chart only uses sales of permanent digital downloads, that is single-download tracks on non-subscription online music stores. Some downloading services offer a monthly fee plan where generally an unlimited amount of tracks can be downloaded within a month for a certain price. Tracks downloaded in these instances do not qualify.[1]

Contents

History [edit]

With legal downloads having been on the increase since the new millennium began, the UK Official Charts Company decided to organise the official UK Download Chart. Its inception was on 26 June 2004.[3] In early January 2005, the week before the 1000th number one single topped the UK Singles Chart, legal downloads took over physical sales for the first time in UK Chart history.[4] This has been the case ever since, with sales throughout early 2005 being very poor and all-time records for lowest sales being set throughout.[citation needed] Therefore, on 17 April 2005, the official UK Singles Chart incorporated legal downloads as well as physical sales in an attempt to boost flagging single sales.

To trial the chart, the OCC produced 10 weekly unofficial, "sample" charts from June 2004 onwards. The first track to top this unofficial chart was the Pixies' "Bam Thwok".[3][5][6] The chart was officially launched on 1 September 2004. The first number one on the official chart was a live version "Flying Without Wings" by Westlife.[7][8] The single with the longest stay on the UK Official Download Chart is "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley hanging on to the top spot for eleven weeks. In week commencing 1 December 2008 Leona Lewis with her cover version of "Run" became the second fastest selling download of all time.[9] Lady Gaga's single, "Poker Face" is the most downloaded song in UK Download history.[10]

Weekly sales of album downloads were first recorded in the United Kingdom in April 2006. The first album to top the chart was This New Day by Embrace.[11]

Criteria for inclusion [edit]

  • The track must have a maximum playing time of 15 minutes.
  • PDDs (Permanent Digital Downloads) must be bought by the retailer at a minimum of 40p per track, or 32p if the record company does not publish a set dealer price. The retailer may sell tracks at a loss at its own discretion.[12]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b "Official Charts Company". Retrieved March 2, 2011. 
  2. ^ Zywietz, Tobias (2007). Chartwatch 2006 chart booklet. Ilminster: Chartwatch. p. 3. ISBN ISSN 0262-9577       Check |isbn= value (help). 
  3. ^ a b "Download Top 20". Music Week (London: CMP) (26 June 2004). 
  4. ^ BBC News (2005-01-07). "Downloads overtake single sales". Retrieved March 2, 2011. 
  5. ^ Zywietz, Tobias (2005). Chartwatch 2004 chart booklet. Ilminster: Chartwatch. p. 47. ISBN ISSN 0262-9577 Check |isbn= value (help). 
  6. ^ Miles, Stuart (2004-06-28). "Official downloads chart to be launched in UK". Pocket-lint. Retrieved 2009-03-20. 
  7. ^ "Westlife top first download chart". London: BBC News. 1 September 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 
  8. ^ "Westlife make download history". Music Week. 1 September 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2011. 
  9. ^ Alan Jones (2008-12-08). "Leona blazes to singles number one". Music Week. Retrieved 2008-12-10.  : Leona Lewis’s ninth Top 75 entry, "Run", instantly provides her third number one, blistering to the summit on first week sales of 131,593. The Snow Patrol cover doesn’t quite match the record for the highest weekly download sale of all – a tally of 139,629 set by her own debut single "A Moment Like This" in December 2006. Her follow-up to that hit, "Bleeding Love", also managed a fine first week download sale of 106,028.
  10. ^ "Lady Gaga is queen of downloads". BBC News. 2009-09-06. Retrieved 2010-05-26. 
  11. ^ "Adele and Ed Sheeran push digital albums sales over the 100 million milestone". London: Official Charts Company. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012. 
  12. ^ The Official UK Charts Company Singles Chart Rules, October 2009

External links [edit]
UK Singles Chart
UK Albums Chart
UK Official
Download Chart
Other charts
Current
Former
Related
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