Music Video Views To Count In The Official UK Singles Chart
The way the Official Singles Chart in the UK is compiled is being shaken up again, with music video consumption set to count towards the weekly rundown from next month.
The change, revealed by The Official Charts Company today will come into effect for the chart published on 6th July, and was developed in conjunction with, and supported by, the British music industry and digital platforms.
It means that streaming and downloading of videos will count towards the UK’s only official singles countdown from Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and Tidal, now that the services add video to their offerings.WATCH CLEAN BANDIT & DEMI LOVATO'S 'SOLO',THIS WEEK'S OFFICIAL UK NO.1 SINGLE:'
Official Charts Company chief executive Martin Talbot says: “This is a significant step for the UK and ensures The Official Chart continues to be the most comprehensive and trusted chart in the UK, bar none. Consumption of recorded music via more than 15,000 retailers, download stores and streaming services of all kinds contribute to the weekly chart countdown.
“In the modern era, artists are increasingly multi-faceted creators, with a highly developed visual sense running in parallel with their music. The addition of video ensures that the Official Singles Chart reflects the creativity of the artist in the broadest way possible – and music fans’ engagement with that vision.”
Following the news, today the OCC crowned Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules’ the biggest female video of 2017 having racked up 60 million UK streams.
The singer said: “Can you believe it? I can’t! Thank you for all your love and support, it means the absolute world to me. The response to New Rules was so crazy and I am so grateful for it, video was really important to me in my career, it’s another way as artists that we can get our music to our fans.”
Today also marks a change in the way streams are weighted, effective from 6th July too. After changes announced elsewhere such as France, Germany and the United States, free-ad funded streams will be weighted at a different rate in the UK’s Official Singles Chart compared to streams played under a paid-for subscription.
100 streams via a subscription service will equate to one sale, as will 600 “free” streams. This replaces the current combined conversion rate, which treats all streams equally, with one sale equivalent to 150 streams. This will apply to both video and audio streams equally.
