There is a interesting article on the Tunecore-blog about Soundscan / the traditionell methods of measuring popularity / success:

Should a band that sells 500,000 songs in one month spread across multiple releases be thought of as less successful than a band that sells 50,000 copies of an album in one month? What about gig and merchandise income? According to Soundscan, Bruce Springsteen and U2 are not “best selling” artists (they categorize them as “catalog”), yet in one night, they generate more revenue than many of the current Top 40 artists. And the new fad right now for labels is the “360 deal” where the label generates revenue from things outside of album sales.

And what about the arbitrary concept of looking at a weeks worth of sales, why not a days, or a months, or a years? Things are moving much faster. More music is being recorded and released. Music buyers are moving faster too. Seems to me that the age-old concept of weekly album sales has lost its relevancy.

It’s time to get a new system that more accurately reflects the new “IT” - and this time, its important not to consolidate the power of the reporting into the hands of one company.



blog.tunecore.com/2010/01/neilsen-says-t...are-a-majo.html#more

Same in the UK. The UK Chart Company does not even accept many types of single and album for their charts. There have been some famous examples of indie bands being "banned" from the charts in recent years - when they should have been in the Top 10.

Many acts sell CDs on the road now in order to max their percentages. These are rarely if ever counted towards the chart.

Major labels dominate the UK top 40s like in the USA because it is THEIR chart.

The FAB chart on here is more interesting that the UK Top 40 these days because it reflects a wider range of music.

The majors have killed their own industry by their practices. In 10 years time they will see that as they will be a catalogue company relying on compilations etc.

JK wondered why this forum ( and other music forums ) have been so quiet - I agree that despite many great bands most people dont find music exciting like it used to be. A real shame.