Spotify, Napster and Zune included in UK’s first Official Streaming Chart
Charts Company to rank top 100 streamed audio tracks on sites including We7, Deezer and ChartsNow - but not YouTube
The UK’s first Official Streaming Chart will arrive next week, calculated by the number of streams a music track receives from six online services.
The chart launches on Monday 14 May and will list the top 100 songs, ranking audio streams from a mix of free (ad-funded) and subscription services in the UK.
Data will be taken from Spotify, Napster, Deezer, We7, Zune and ChartsNow to compile the chart, but it will not include streams of music videos online through sites such as YouTube and Vevo.
An estimated 2.6 billion audio tracks were streamed in 2011. The recognition of services such as Spotify follows the 2004 creation of a stand-alone digital download chart, incorporated into the main singles chart within a year. Although there are no immediate plans to combine audio streams with the Singles Chart, Martin Talbot, managing director of the Official Charts Company, has said “never say never”.
Spotify’s head of content, Steve Savoca, has praised the Official Streaming Chart as, “a defining moment in the evolution of digital music as it shows music consumption as a whole.”
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Ed Sheeran, who tops the list of most streamed artists of 2012 so far according to the Official Charts Company, has heralded the chart, saying it “can only be a good thing.” Completing the UK’s top five streamed acts are Lana Del Ray, David Guetta, Rihanna and Coldplay, with Adele a surprise omission.
The most-streamed track of the year is Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye featuring Kimbra, followed by David Guetta featuring Sia’s Titanium and Jessie J’s Domino.
