As chart positions lessen in importance we watch another established element collapse.

I just went record shopping and failed to find a shop.
Thats how slow it is getting, from a consumer point of view.
I cannot consume!

I have to admit, I never saw the point of singles charts in the first place. So Lily Allen makes more accessible records and has better PR than Cut Chemist? Well we knew that. How does putting numbers on it actually help anyone?

Even less so now. There were all those 'is the single dead' debates not so long ago, which could only be conducted by people who are too old to go out on a Friday night. All those thousands of nightclubs and bar/clubs aren't playing albums are they?

To my mind it would greatly improve things if club plays contributed to the singles chart in the same way that radio does to the Billboard chart. I think there are extremely good reasons not to have radio plays anywhere near the chart, but club plays make a lot more sense for many reasons:

- The way we rate the success of singles has not really changed for over half a century. TOCC just got better at harvesting sales data. But 50 years ago the only way to hear you favourite record was to hear your local band do a cover of it, or buy the record. That's no longer true. You can now build PAs loud enough to have club nights, but the way the chart is compiled hasn't changed to reflect the most significant change in the way people consume music.

- Better club play data capture = more accurate information about what's being played = more money to small labels and musicians. The explosion of bars and club venues over the last 20 years must have led to a comparable explosion in licensee fees paid to RS and PPL. But it's not going to the people who make the music that's played in those venues. It's lining the pockets of people who don't need it.

- Less dependence on release dates. Labels still cling to this thing of 'having production problems' after the single has already been playlisted, leading to records spending way too long on radio ahead of release. Singles already sound tired by the time they're out. This way, the single will chart as soon as the promos go out.

- Longer record life. Records have amuch longer life in the clubs and bars than they do in the shops (related to the point above). The charts would be much more stable and less '0 to top ten to nowhere' if club plays were included.


It'll never happen, obviously but it might make the record-buying public feel like the charts actually have some relevance to their lives if it did. It's no wonder no one cares now.

Matt.

cannot consume Martin? May I suggest you whip up another delightful evening meal and enjoy consuming that?

Indeed Big End, but seriously though..I went to buy a copy of "The Joshua Tree", of all things, for teaching work this week,and could not find one at any major , what can only be called "supermarkets", thereby leaving me in a bass guitar teaching panic for the entire week.
There isn`t a decent music shop for miles here, and we are not exactly a small town. Is this the case everywhere?
I finally bought a copy of "The Who Then and Now", in the local Tesco, and this week I am doing a study on Jon Entwhistle for my students.
This really has highlighted the downloads only case for me.
I could have downloaded the U2 album, and made a fine meal without driving anywhere.
Mortadello ham, soda bread , artichokes in oil , lettuce and Polish baked ham , by the way, from the deli whilst I was on my travels!

Interesting point JK though i was happy she got to no1.
By the way i have an important question. If the charts are irrelevant, what exactly is a hit ? in practical terms when is a successful song a hit song ? and how do we measure a hit song in this post chart era ?

webmonkey wrote:
I have to admit, I never saw the point of singles charts in the first place.

Mr Monkey... you completely threw me off with that first bit... I'm thinking 1953, er... but you go on to make an excellent point of it. Spot on matey.

We now only have Woolies, Tesco or WH Smith to buy from, apart from the independant Classical Music Shop. I think most people buy online. I do still prefer the hard copy to downloads, and vinyl to CDs.

...but obviously you can`t put them in the car, but this does raise a case in point. Once we have bought the product on vinyl, we then own the rights to play it for our "own private use", but we would be being illegal if we downloaded a copy from a file sharing site,(for private vehicle us) where it would not be logged for chart placing anyway, and who wants to buy an album twice?

I no longer have a independant record shop in my home town of Stevenage, I have to make a weekly visit to Letchworth! We do have a Virgin store but that no longer sells vinyl.
The only good point to supermarkets and internet shopping is that a lot of charidee shops have opened up here and you can get classic albums on vinyl for about 50p!

once again I must say that I think physical product is on the way out. Every kid I know thinks CDs are for grandad...I do not exaggerate!