Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart (Irish: Cairt Singil na hÉireann) is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by The Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically each day from retailers' EPOS systems. Currently, all major record shops, digital retailers and streaming services contribute to the chart, accounting for over 95% of the market. A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by the Irish Recorded Music Association on Friday at noon. Each chart is dated with the "week-ending" date of the previous Thursday (i.e., the day before issue). The singles chart was first published on 1 October 1962, and covered the top ten singles of the previous week by record label shipments.
History
The charts were first broadcast on RTÉ on 1 October 1962. Before this charts had been printed in the Evening Herald newspaper, but it is debated as to whether they are official or not. Up until 1972 the Irish Chart was based on telephone sales received from record retailers based on over the counter sales to the public. The compilers of the chart changed several times and in January 1972 the chart changed to one based on sales from manufacturers to retailers. From October 1975 to February 1977 the chart was compiled from votes from readers in the Evening Herald newspaper. There was a separate Irish and International artists chart for a time during this period. From 1977 the chart once again became based on sales from retailers to the public but during the early 1980s this again changed and was once more based on sales from manufacturers to retailers. Currently RTÉ 2fm broadcasts the top 30 of the chart every Friday night from 8pm to 10pm.
In 1992, the singles chart became based on consumer sales after IFPI and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) granted a contract to Gallup, a market research company. Gallup installed Epson PX-4 devices in sixty record stores to collect singles sales data. In 1996, Chart-Track was formed as a result of a management buy-out from Gallup. Also in 1996, with the development of technology, EPOS systems were installed in multiple music retail stores. The EPOS systems allowed for the collection of more accurate sales information. Currently, Chart-Track collects data daily from major record stores such as HMV and Tower Records, as well as over forty Independent retailers. In total, data from over four-hundred and ninety stores are collected each week. The singles chart is compiled over seven days and released every Friday at noon by the IRMA, while Midweek Charts are produced daily, but only released to IRMA members.
It was announced that from 1 July 2006, downloads would be counted in the charts. They would also feature in their own chart in addition to being counted for the overall chart. Data was initially collected from iTunes, Vodafone, eircom, Sony Connect, Wippit and Bleep.com.[1] Although IRMA estimated the size of the download market to amount to only 14% of the total market in 2006, this has increased in more recent years.
In 2014, the Irish charts first included music streaming data and in 2018, music video streaming data was included for the first time.[2]
Chart achievements and trivia
- All information is from 1962 to the present and does not include charts printed in the Evening Herald newspaper.[3][4]
First Irish artist to go in at number one
Dickie Rock and The Miami Showband with "Every Step of the Way" (1965)
Artists with the most number one hits [5]
1. 21
2. 13 (tie)
3. 12
4. 9 (tie)
- Boyzone
- Cliff Richard
- Michael Jackson ("One Day in Your Life", "Billie Jean", "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Leave Me Alone", "Liberian Girl", "Black or White" and "You Are Not Alone")
5. 8 (tie)
- Dickie Rock and The Miami Showband
- Elvis Presley
- Madonna ("Into the Groove", "Borderline", "Papa Don't Preach", "True Blue", "Who's That Girl", "Like a Prayer", "Me Against the Music" and "4 Minutes")
- Britney Spears ("...Baby One More Time", "Born to Make You Happy", "Me Against the Music", "Toxic", "Everytime", "My Prerogative", "Piece of Me" and "Scream & Shout")
- Eminem
- Rihanna ("Umbrella", "Take a Bow", "Love the Way You Lie", "Only Girl (In the World)", "We Found Love", "The Monster", "FourFiveSeconds" and "This Is What You Came For")
6. 7 (tie)
- Dustin the Turkey
- Royal Showband
- Lady Gaga ("Just Dance", "Poker Face", "Bad Romance", "Telephone", "Born This Way", "Shallow" and "Rain on Me")
- Calvin Harris ("We Found Love", "We'll Be Coming Back", "Sweet Nothing", "Summer", "This Is What You Came For", "One Kiss" and "Promises")
Songs with the most weeks at number one
| Number of weeks |
Artist(s) | Song | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Whelan | "Riverdance" | 1994 | |
| Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber | "Despacito" | 2017 | |
| Ed Sheeran | "Shape of You" | ||
| 1990 Republic of Ireland World Cup Squad | "Put 'Em Under Pressure" | 1990 | |
| The Black Eyed Peas | "I Gotta Feeling" | 2009 | |
| Pharrell Williams | "Happy" | 2014 | |
| Queen | "Bohemian Rhapsody" | 1975–76/1991–92 | |
| Bryan Adams | "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" | 1991 | |
| Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla | "One Dance" | 2016 | |
| Wings | "Mull of Kintyre" | 1977–78 | |
| Mark McCabe | "Maniac 2000" | 2000 | |
| Drake | "God's Plan" | 2018 |
Acts to occupy the top two positions
- Lady Gaga — "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" (two weeks in February 2009).
- Pharrell Williams — "Get Lucky" (with Daft Punk) and "Blurred Lines" (with Robin Thicke & T.I.) (one week in May 2013); "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky" (six weeks in May and June 2013).
- Justin Bieber
- "Sorry" and "Love Yourself" (one week in December 2015); "Love Yourself" and "Sorry" (seven weeks in December 2015 and January 2016).
- "Cold Water" (with MØ & Major Lazer) and "Let Me Love You" (with DJ Snake) (two weeks in August 2016).
- "Despacito" (with Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee) and "I'm the One" (with DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Quavo & Chance the Rapper) (five weeks in May and June 2017).
- Ed Sheeran
- "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill" (seven weeks in January, February and March 2017): "Galway Girl" and "Shape of You" (two weeks in March 2017); "Shape of You" and "Galway Girl" (five weeks in March and April 2017).
- "Perfect" and "River" (with Eminem) (four non-consecutive weeks in December 2017 and January 2018).
- Ariana Grande — "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" and "7 Rings" (one week in February 2019); "7 Rings" and "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" (one week in February 2019).
In addition, in the fifth and seventh week that Justin Bieber was at #1 and #2 with "Love Yourself" and "Sorry", "What Do You Mean" was at #3. For the sixth week that Ed Sheeran was at #1 and #2 with "Galway Girl" and "Shape of You", he also occupied #3 to #16 with the remaining tracks from "÷". In the second week, "Castle on the Hill", "Nancy Mulligan" and "New Man" occupied #3, #4 and #5 respectively and "Castle on the Hill" remained at #3 for the third week.
Artists with the most top fifty hits[6]
1. 53
2. 52 (tie)
Acts to peak across the entire top ten
| Acts who have peaked at every position in the Top 10 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artist | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 |
| Madonna | "Borderline" | "Holiday" | "Material Girl" | "Like a Virgin" | "Sorry" | "The Look of Love" | "Deeper and Deeper" | "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" | "Die Another Day" | "Celebration" |
| Britney Spears | "...Baby One More Time" | "Womanizer" | "(You Drive Me) Crazy" | "Do Somethin'" | "Sometimes" | "Stronger" | "Break the Ice" | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" | "Overprotected" | "Boys" |
| David Guetta | "When Love Takes Over" | "Sexy Chick" | "Titanium" | "Gettin' Over You" | "Memories" | "She Wolf (Falling to Pieces)" | "Dangerous" | "Little Bad Girl" | "Laserlight" | "Without You" |
| Ed Sheeran | "Sing" | "Castle on the Hill" | "Photograph" | "Remember the Name" | "Lego House" | "Cross Me" | "Drunk" | "I See Fire" | "Supermarket Flowers" | "Give Me Love" |
See also
- List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
- List of songs that reached number one on the Irish Singles Chart
References
- ^ "News on addition of downloads".
- ^ "The history of the Official Irish Charts". www.officialcharts.com. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ Jaclyn Ward - Fireball Media Ltd. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
- ^ Jaclyn Ward - Fireball Media Ltd. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
- ^ "Acts with the most Number 1 singles in Ireland". www.officialcharts.com. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- ^ "Justin Bieber's Official Irish Singles Chart history revealed". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.