I'm afraid the new charts simply show how Hype is still more efficient by majors and do not indicate true popularity.

Why bother?

We need to find a way to make it worth bothering with as it raises moral so much in the crew and street teams that made it happen to even get a midweek.
But sadly, the indies and unsigned get flicked away like a subbuteo penalty kick every Sunday by the majors.

If we are going to ba able to take a chart seriously ever again, and I know on here we dwould like to, it needs to go under new management.

The cynic in me suggests Camelot.

They missed by one... be fair

It's a shame that Koopa have some marketing talent behind them but no real musical talent. They bounce in on hype/novelty and drop away.

Maybe their 3rd single will be "the one"... or perhaps not.

The encouraging thing is how an outsider can break-in without the Majors holding their hand and throwing money about. Get an act with strong material and something worthwhile would be in the offing.

Why bother/ Well it's less income than working in a supermarket but a hell of a lot more fun

and probably on sales even Busted could of acheived on a wednesday afternoon a few years back.

The band are no doubt high-fiving each other but it is time to scrap the charts completely, just play the music.

JK2006 wrote:
I'm afraid the new charts simply show how Hype is still more efficient by majors and do not indicate true popularity.

Why bother?

Perhaps if it had sold more than 39 physical copies, then it would have gone higher. For a title that had been released both digitally and physically, I'm surprised that only 39 people actually wanted to own a CD of it! It's chart position was probably spot on, nothing to do with Hype by the majors.

I actually get JK's point and that is how the chart is manipulated by the Majors. It goes further than the charts but radio/tv/press are all in bed with the majors. I don't think we need to scrap the charts at all. Rather it shows in a big way how bands can stick 2 fingers up at the majors and their fellow artists on the major label would need to sell 4 times what Koopa sold to make the same amount of money. Fine for the 20 acts above them in the charts but you just know for the rest languishing in major label hell, Koopa would come as a refreshment. Yes with a better song it might have gone higher in the charts but i think not without major radio and tv support.

Independents should AIM to lose the battle but win the war. Cumulative sales vs quick high chart position. This is where Koopa might succeed in the long run.

By the way some chart trivia: Who had the best selling single NOT to reach the top 10 in the UK ?

It's the old vicious circle ... hardly any Independent Record Stores to stock the Indie stuff, and not much interest in buying the Indie stuff because hardly anyone stocks it to help raise interest to encourage people to buy it to help it get in the charts so that more people can hear it.

Woolies and WH Smith, etc. tend to only stock the major labels.

Of course there's the likes of Amazon and other web sites, but .... unless you've already heard the song elsewhere, how do you know you want to buy it? I haven't heard the Koopa track yet.

Radio station playlists don't help much either. Far too limited.

Bring back TOTP ... but in the hands of better producers.

long term sales, low overheads, cost effective stategic promotion together with worldwide digital distribution. Regard the charts as a nice add on if you can get it. Once again, those who try to beat the majors at their own game will lose.

Concentrating on marketing over music is what destroyed the majors (and sadly I started it).

But it will have a harder time bringing down the new model as there isn't a new model yet.

We need...

a Pop-I type chart that reflects popularity and is thus useful to labels and media alike

a TV and radio outlet that is hugely watched/listened to - thus great music can spread

a way of selling without ripping off that buyers find fair and rewarding.

I think you are quite right in that the new model does not exist yet, but it will eventually. It will come from the ground up with a lot of bumps and bangs along the way. Didn't all the great labels of the past start that way?

and they are not even in the Top 200 midweeks today !

Quite frankly if we think the charts are meaningless why do we bother following the midweeks ?

The more i think about it the more independents need their own chart like in the 80s. Also we need a formula that does not depend on radio because it is apparent that until you throw money at radio junkets etc they are not interested in you.

Koopa were not going to sell more without major radio playlisting. So no surprise there. Though manager man you seem to be gloating about their lack of success. Perhaps if you have a track that has performed better might be a good idea to let us know what it is.

The charts are only important for the majors (as a marketing tool to increase sales).

For small labels or artists themselves it is much more important to sell anything at all. It doesn't matter if it takes a week, a month or six months to sell a few hundred / thousands mp3s.

If they are thinking about a carrer (long-term), it may even be better to sell slowly, but steadily.

and that DJones is, as far as I can see, the only way forward as we go to press unless there is a huge shift at the majors.

If Koopa hadn't popped into the charts (albeit briefly) we wouldn't be discussing them because we wouldn't have heard of them. And maybe they will get some radio play because they've made the news.

What they need to do now is bring the quality of their music up to the quality of their marketing and capitalise on their achievements so far.

Hype is only gossamer-thin and needs to be backed up with real talent.



Stretch
www.Dastards.com