120-774: The UK singles chart (currently titled the Official Singles Chart , with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry , listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom , based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming . The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and formerly MTV (Official UK Top 40),
240-465: A "Next 25" in addition to the Top 75), with the full Top 200 being available to people within the industry. Gallup also began the introduction of computerised compilers, automating the data-collection process. Later in the year, the rules about the kind of free gifts that could come with singles were tightened, as the chart compilers came to the conclusion that a lot of consumers were buying certain releases for
360-484: A CD single. On 1 July 1998, BARD and BPI took over management of the chart from CIN (a Miller Freeman and BPI venture) with new company Music Industry Chart Services (Mics); in August they decided to return to compiling the charts under the name CIN. In the late 1990s, the singles chart became more "frontloaded", with many releases peaking in the first couple of weeks on chart. This helped Irish girl group B*Witched become
480-649: A Top 20 in October 1955 and NME ' s becoming a Top 30 in April 1956. Another rival publication, Melody Maker , began compiling its own chart; it telephoned 19 stores to produce a Top 20 for 7 April 1956. It was also the first chart to include Northern Ireland in its sample. Record Mirror began running a Top 5 album chart in July 1956; from November 1958 onward Melody Maker printed the Top 10 albums. In March 1960, Record Retailer began compiling an EP chart and had
600-616: A Top 200. Hit Music ceased publication in May 2001 with issue number 439. In February 1997, CIN and BARD agreed to a new 18-month deal for the charts. In 1998 the CSC agreed to new rules reducing the number of tracks on a single from four to three, playing time from 25 minutes to 20 and the compact disc single minimum dealer price to £1.79. This particularly affected the dance music industry which had previously released CDs full of remixes, with some labels editing or fading out remixes early to fit them on
720-584: A Top 50 singles chart. Although NME had the largest circulation of charts in the 1960s and was widely followed, in March 1962, Record Mirror stopped compiling its own chart and published Record Retailer ' s instead. Retailer began independent auditing in January 1963, and is now used by the UK singles chart as the source for number-ones from the week ending 12 March 1960 onward. The choice of Record Retailer as
840-404: A Top-40 show in 1978. Bates was succeeded by Tony Blackburn , who presented the show for two-and-a-half years; Tommy Vance , who presented for two years, Bates returned in January 1984 and presented the show until September that year, then Richard Skinner for eighteen months. Bruno Brookes took over in 1986 and, in October 1987, automated data collection allowed the countdown to be announced on
960-588: A cover of Leon Payne 's 1950 country music hit. Arranged by Belford Hendricks , Martino's version went to number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number one on the Easy Listening chart. The album of the same name went top 10 in the Billboard 200 . Martino had four other U.S. top 10 hits in 1963 and 1964 — "Painted, Tainted Rose" (1963), " I Love You More and More Every Day ", "Tears and Roses", and "Silver Bells" (all 1964). He also sang
1080-519: A lead artist eligible for entry in the top 100 would be limited to three. The streams-to-sales ratio for tracks whose sales (including streams) have declined for three consecutive weeks and have charted for at least ten weeks is changed to 300:1 to accelerate removal of older songs. The BBC aired Pick of the Pops on its Light Programme radio station on 4 October 1955. Initially airing popular songs, it developed an aggregated chart in March 1958. Using
1200-436: A lead artist eligible for entry limited to three. Also the idea of Standard Chart Ratios (SCR) and Accelerated Chart Ratios (ACR) were introduced, with ACR halving streaming points for records that have been in the charts for a while (which includes most catalogue tracks, excepting certain cases), the effect being that a number of hits have plummeted out of the top ten with drops of around 20 places one week only to level off again
1320-674: A link to the full Hot 100/albums 200 via billboard.com). The Scottish chart is a listing reflecting how sales towards the UK Albums Chart are faring in Scotland . Until December 2020, the OCC published a Scottish singles chart on its website as well, though this chart may only be available via the UKChartsPlus newsletter. This subscription newsletter also includes the Official UK Top 100 Welsh Singles and Albums Charts, which serves
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#17327878824651440-489: A minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, with digital downloads being incorporated in 2005 and streaming in July 2014. The OCC website contains the Top 100 chart. Some media outlets only list the Top 40 (such as the BBC, with their Radio 1 show following the lead of Casey Kasem 's American Top 40 in the 1970s) or the Top 75 (such as Music Week magazine, with all records in
1560-432: A number of long-running 'recent' hits but applied to all catalogue recordings over three years old, saw all totals for Bush's streaming data halved, so that she got one sale for every 200 plays from her 7,470,792 premium audio stream total and one sale from every 1,200 plays of her 1,029,666 ad-funded audio stream total. Added to premium video streams and digital downloads she ended up with the total of 44,739 sales rather than
1680-485: A poll commissioned to celebrate this Christmas Number 1 race. LadBaby secured their fifth Christmas No.1 in a row on 23 December 2022 with " Food Aid ", officially surpassing the Beatles when it came to overall Christmas Number 1s. On 7 January 2022, after it had returned to number one for an additional week, "Merry Christmas" became the first record with SCR streaming status (Standard Chart Ratio) to completely drop out of
1800-622: A recording contract with the Philadelphia-based independent record label BBS, where he recorded " Here in My Heart ". Lanza's label, RCA Victor , had asked Lanza to record the song, but Martino called Lanza and pleaded with him to let Martino's version have a clear chance. The song spent three weeks at No. 1 on the US pop chart in June 1952, earning Martino a gold disc , and later in
1920-458: A row with " Sausage Rolls for Everyone ", a comedy version of the preceding number one " Merry Christmas " by Ed Sheeran and Elton John (as they were credited by the OCC on the LadBaby version, Sheeran and John happened to be in positions 1 and 2, with these singles acquiring sales of 226,953 between 17 and 23 December 2021). It was the fourth time since 1952 that the number one had been replaced at
2040-490: A row. In July 2015, Official Charts changed its chart methodology from traditional Sunday slot to the new Friday slot, effective on 10 July 2015 to coincide with the 'New Music Friday - Global Release Day' campaign set by IFPI which effective on 10 July 2015 as well. Beginning in 2017, the Official Charts Company changed its methodology for calculating the Top 40, intending to more accurately reflect
2160-550: A sample of 250 stores to provide a consistency with the charts of the early 1980s). In January 1991, the CIN became a joint venture between Link House Magazines (formerly Spotlight Publications, later Miller Freeman, Inc. ) and the BPI; they shared the revenue and costs (reportedly between £750,000 and £1 million). During this time, other retailers (such as Woolworths and John Menzies ) began submitting data using EPoS terminals. In late 1991,
2280-474: A second newsletter was created: Hit Music , a sister publication of Music Week featuring (among other charts) the singles Top 75 and a revived "Next 25". In November 1994, Charts Plus ceased publication; Hit Music expanded its chart coverage to an uncompressed (without special rules) Top 200 Singles, Top 150 Artists Albums and Top 50 Compilations. In November 1996, the Artist Albums chart extended to
2400-523: A significantly smaller sample size than some rival charts and had all the EPs taken out the listings between March 1960 - December 1967 (the data for the now 'Official' 1960s EP chart can be found in The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles ). On 12 August 1961, 14-year-old Helen Shapiro became the youngest female solo artist to top the chart with her single "You Don't Know". As of 14 January 2022, she
2520-504: A single vinyl 7 inch EP and all singles needing to be under 20 minutes in length, as releases longer than 20 minutes would be classed as an album (with most longer EPs falling into the budget albums category). In July 1987, Gallup signed a new agreement with the BPI, increasing the sample size to approximately 500 stores and introducing barcode scanners to read data. The chart was based entirely on sales of vinyl single records from retail outlets and announced on Tuesday until October 1987, when
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#17327878824652640-554: A year cost". From 1 July 1990, the Chart Information Network (CIN) was formed by Spotlight Publications (publisher of Music Week ), in cooperation with the BBC and the British Association of Record Dealers (BARD) – representing retailers, including WHSmith, Woolworths , HMV and Virgin – who agreed to exclusively supply sales data to the CIN. A Chart Supervisory Committee (CSC) represented
2760-504: A year. Al Martino Jasper Cini (October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009), known professionally as Al Martino , was an American traditional pop and jazz singer . He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners ", and became known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The Godfather . Jasper Cini
2880-566: Is also the patron saint of Martino's ancestral hometown of Nereto in Italy. In 1948, he moved to New York City , and in 1951 his first release was issued by the Jubilee label, "Heaven Help Me (I'm in Love)", coupled with "Hurry Home to Me". The following year, he won first place on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts television program with a performance of Como's hit " If ". As a result, he won
3000-509: Is one of nine female solo artists to have topped the chart before their 18th birthday (though none of these nine acts wrote their number one hit single-handedly, with that honour falling to 19-year-old Kate Bush with "Wuthering Heights" in 1978). In 1963, Merseybeat band Gerry and the Pacemakers became the first act to get their first three hits at number one, an achievement not matched for another twenty years. Before February 1969 – when
3120-596: Is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the OCC as either a "single bundle" having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with
3240-594: The High Street . It also complained that including singles not available physically would confuse customers and create gaps in stores' sale racks. It agreed to the new rules provided that digital sales were only included to a single's sales tally if there was a physical equivalent sold in shops at the time. Since there was no rule governing a minimum number of pressings, Gorillaz released only 300 vinyl copies of their single " Feel Good Inc. " on 12 April 2005 (a month before its general release). This allowed it to debut in
3360-584: The Irish Singles Chart , Irish Albums Chart and other Irish charts on behalf of IRMA. In December 2020, the OCC announced it was taking over the contract from German company GfK , in compiling the French music charts for Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP)/National Union of Phonographic Producers (SCPP) with the OCC taking over on 1 January 2021. All of the OCC's charts are published weekly on Friday nights, and cover sales for
3480-475: The NME , Melody Maker , Disc and Record Mirror charts, the BBC averaged them by totalling points gained on the four charts (one point for a number one, two for a number two, etc.) to give a chart average; this method was prone to tied positions. Record Retailer was included in the average on 31 March 1962, after Record Mirror ceased compiling its chart. David Jacobs and Alan Freeman both had stints presenting
3600-603: The Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50 , which tracks the progress of records (singles and albums) released on independent record labels or distributed by independent companies (not WMG/Sony/UMG) regardless of the genre/music released. The Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 appears in listings on the Official Charts Company's site alongside its charts for the Republic of Ireland and Billboard' s Top 20 singles and albums (with
3720-660: The Official UK Charts Company Limited ) is a British inter-professional organisation that compiles various official record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts include ones for singles , albums and films, with the data compiled from a mixture of downloads , purchases (of physical media) and streaming. The OCC produces its charts by gathering and combining sales data from retailers through market researchers Kantar , and claims to cover 99% of
UK singles chart - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-463: The Pick of the Pops chart. Freeman took Pick of the Pops to its regular Sunday afternoon slot in early 1962. Freeman (along with Pete Murray , David Jacobs and Jimmy Savile ) was one of the four original presenters on Top of the Pops , which first aired 1 January 1964 on BBC One (then known as BBC TV). Top of the Pops , like Pick of the Pops , used a combination of predominant periodicals until
3960-459: The interim order was rejected. In June 1995 the case was dropped, after the clause allowing BARD retailers to supply sales information to other chart compilers was deleted; because CIN retained the copyright, other compilers could not use (or sell) the information. On 2 April 1995, the number of eligible formats was reduced from four to three. The decision came after nine months of negotiations with BARD, which objected that it would adversely affect
4080-489: The "first significant download retailer". Legal downloading was initially small, with MyCokeMusic selling over 100,000 downloads during its first three months. In June the iTunes Store was launched in the UK, and more than 450,000 songs were downloaded during the first week. In early September the UK Official Download Chart was launched, and a new live recording of Westlife 's " Flying Without Wings "
4200-483: The 1982 chart record set by Captain Sensible's "Happy Talk" for biggest Top 40 jump to number one, when "So What" vaulted from 38 to 1 (a statistic which was matched in 2022 by Adele). The first number-one song never released physically was " Run " by Leona Lewis , the 11th song in total to reach number one on downloads alone. Unlike the previous 10, it did not receive a physical release in subsequent weeks (although it
4320-565: The 83,613 she would have done with an SCR listing. On 14 June 2022, it was revealed that the Chart Supervisory Committee (CSC) had given the record an exemption from the ACR accelerated decline rule, with the record now on an SCR listing, giving Kate Bush the chance to get another number one, more than 44 years after "Wuthering Heights" and the first number one for her own record label, Fish People (as EMI-Universal are no longer
4440-466: The BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and Top of the Pops before 1969 are not listed as chart-toppers according to the legacy criteria of the Charts Company. The first number one on the UK singles chart was " Here in My Heart " by Al Martino for the week ending 14 November 1952. As of
4560-476: The BBC, CIN and retailers. The BPI were reluctant to join and "consider[ed] the option of launching a rival chart" but in September, an agreement was reached, and it joined the CSC. For this period, the chart was produced by Gallup and owned by CIN and Music Week (who later sold it to the BBC and BPI), with around 900 shops providing the data from point of sale machines (though the data was distilled back down to
4680-671: The BMRB singles chart was expanded from a Top 50 to a Top 75, while abolishing the system where some falling records were excluded from the 41-50 section, as well as abandoning the additional list of 10 "Breakers". Earlier that year, the Daily Mirror and the BBC's Nationwide television programme both investigated chart hyping, where record company representatives allegedly purchased records from chart return shops. A World in Action documentary exposé in 1980 also revealed corruption within
4800-507: The Beatles , who had four Christmas number ones over five years between 1963 - 1967, with the Liverpudlian group missing out in 1966 (The Spice Girls also had three consecutively in the 1990s). " Sausage Rolls for Everyone " was also credited as the 70th Official Christmas Number 1 by the OCC, who had also announced that "Killing In The Name" by Rage Against The Machine had been named as the 'UK's Favourite Christmas Number 1 of All Time' in
4920-687: The British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) chart was established – there was no official chart or universally accepted source. Readers followed the charts in various periodicals and, during this time, the BBC used aggregated results of charts from the NME , Melody Maker , Disc and (later) Record Mirror to compile the Pick of the Pops chart. The Official Charts Company and their various Hit Singles books (whether published by Guinness/HiT Entertainment or Virgin), use as sources for
UK singles chart - Misplaced Pages Continue
5040-462: The German single charts. Apart from singing, Martino played the role of Johnny Fontane in the 1972 film The Godfather , as well as singing the film's theme, " Speak Softly Love ". Martino had been told about the character by a friend who had read the eponymous novel and felt Martino represented the character of Johnny Fontane. Martino contacted producer Albert S. Ruddy , who initially gave him
5160-602: The Internet, following the example of Beggars Banquet and Liquid Audio (who made 2,000 tracks available for digital download in the US). On the Official Singles Chart for 22 September 2001, DJ Otzi's " Hey Baby " became the first single ever to jump to number one from outside the Top 40 when it went from number 45 to number one. "Hey Baby" had charted for seven weeks outside the Top 40 due to imported copies from
5280-474: The OCC tracks purchases (DVDs/blu-rays) and downloads of television programmes, films and sports/fitness videos from a range of retailers and online sites. As the OCC is jointly operated by the BPI and the ERA, a Chart Supervisory Committee is in place with panel of representatives from both the record industry and from retailers. Five representatives from each sector are selected, with record companies represented by
5400-498: The Official Charts Company and introduced a new company logo. It later dropped the word 'Company' and became just "Official Charts". From May 2012, a new chart was launched – the Official Streaming Chart . This counts audio streams from streaming services Spotify , Deezer , Blinkbox Music , Napster , amongst others. The chart is the first of its kind to rank streams from ad-funded and subscription services and
5520-478: The Official Charts Company website is still missing much of the data on regards to records in positions 76 to 100 from 13 April 1991 to 5 February 1994.) The growth of dance music culture in the late 1980s had resulted in records with many remixes, though with a single only officially running to 20 minutes this meant that many of the European-style maxi-singles could not be included. Therefore, in June 1991,
5640-550: The Official Streaming Chart Top 100 is now published weekly on the Official Charts website, and in music industry trade magazine Music Week . In April 2015, the UK's first vinyl record chart of the modern era was launched by the Official Charts Company due to 'the huge surge of interest' in the sector. The chart was launched following the growth of the sector in the UK for the seventh year in
5760-582: The Republic of Ireland being available in UK chart shops and the fact that the officially released UK single had the same catalogue number as the Irish import, meaning that the CIN (Chart Information Network) did not list the two versions as separate versions, as they had done with ATB's " 9 PM (Till I Come) ", which had charted as five separate entries before the official release reached number one. In November 2001, CIN changed its name to " The Official UK Charts Company ". In January 2004, MyCoke Music launched as
5880-464: The Sales Chart that week, "Thinking Out Loud" was streamed 1.6 million times in the same week, resulting in an overall lead of 13,000 chart sales. On 10 March 2017, Ed Sheeran claimed 9 of the top 10 positions in the chart when his album ÷ was released. The large number of tracks from the album on the singles chart, 16 in the top 20, led to a change in how the chart is compiled with tracks from
6000-544: The Stream" with Rob Brydon , Ruth Jones and Robin Gibb. She also replaced Cher at the top of the list of oldest female artist chart-toppers at 63 years and 11 months, compared to the 52 years that Cher was when "Believe" topped the chart in 1998. Jones and Bush are also on the Top 10 list of oldest artists to score a UK Number 1 single with Bush placed fifth. The last record Bush broke was the one held by Wham!'s "Last Christmas", for
6120-537: The Sunday chart show (instead of on Tuesdays). In 1990, Brookes was replaced as presenter by Mark Goodier , but returned 18 months later. Goodier took over from Brookes once more in 1995 and continued presenting the show until 2002. In February 2003 Wes Butters hosted the chart show; two years later his contract was not renewed, and he was replaced by JK and Joel . The duo were made redundant by Radio 1 in September 2007; Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates replaced them at
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#17327878824656240-481: The T-shirts that came with them and not the actual record (stickers were also banned). Bands like Frankie Goes to Hollywood were still able to release their singles over a wide range of formats, including picture discs and various remixes, with ZTT Records putting out " Two Tribes " over eight formats in 1984. In June 1987, double pack singles were banned as a format with four-track singles having to be released as
6360-570: The Top 100 from number one, exiting at the same time as "Sausage Rolls For Everyone". The chart published on 7 January 2022 also saw the first instance when the entire previous week's Top 10 singles (actually the Top 13 singles) had exited the chart. It was not only the Top 10 singles that had disappeared from the chart, but a record breaking 54 singles which had disappeared from the UK Top 75 (including 52 Christmas-themed tracks). This week's chart saw those songs replaced by 12 new entries and 42 re-entries,
6480-570: The Top 40 was revealed each Sunday (due to the new, automated process). The 1980s also saw the introduction of the cassette single (or "cassingle") alongside the 7-inch and 12-inch record formats; in 1987, major record labels developed a common format for the compact disc single, which was allowed to count as a chart format from December 1987. In May 1989, chart regulations kept Kylie Minogue 's song " Hand on Your Heart " from entering at number one because sales from cassette singles were not included (they were sold for £1.99 – cheaper than allowed at
6600-446: The Top 75 described as 'hits') of this list. The chart week runs from 00:01 Friday to midnight Thursday. The Top 40 chart is first issued on Fridays by BBC Radio 1 as The Official Chart from 16:00 to 17:45, before the full Official Singles Chart Top 100 is posted on the Official Charts Company's website. A rival chart show, The Official Big Top 40 , is broadcast on Sundays from 16:00 to 19:00 on Capital and Heart stations across
6720-549: The U.S. top 40. However, his success also attracted the attention of the Mafia , which bought out Martino's management contract and ordered him to pay $ 75,000 as a safeguard for their investment. After making a down-payment to appease them, he moved to Britain. His popularity allowed him to continue to perform and record successfully in the UK, headlining at the London Palladium and having six further British chart hits in
6840-483: The UK singles chart (positions 76–100, with special rules) ceased to be printed in the trade magazine Music Week , who decided to focus on records in the charts described as hits. In April 1991, Record Mirror ceased publication, along with the "Next 25". At this point, Gallup was compiling a Top 200 singles chart and Top 150 albums chart for industry insiders, with the data accessed by subscribing to Music Week 's spin-off newsletter Charts Plus . (Note: As of June 2024,
6960-468: The United Kingdom. The Official Big Top 40 is based on Apple data only, (Apple Music streams and iTunes downloads) plus commercial radio airplay across the Global radio network. The UK singles chart began to be compiled in 1952. According to the Official Charts Company's statistics, as of 1 July 2012, 1,200 singles had topped the Official Singles Chart. The precise number of chart-toppers is debatable due to
7080-476: The United Kingdom. The final number one on the UK Singles Chart to be based on sales alone was " Gecko (Overdrive) " by Oliver Heldens featuring Becky Hill . On Sunday 6 July 2014, the Official Charts Company announced that Ariana Grande had earned a place in UK chart history when her single " Problem " featuring Iggy Azalea became the first number-one single based on sales and streaming data. On
7200-543: The chart at number 22 (eventually reaching number 2), and remain in the Top 40 for a longer period. After pressure from elsewhere in the music industry a second compromise was reached in 2006, which now allowed singles to chart on downloads the week before their physical release. The first song to make the Top 40 on downloads alone was " Pump It " by the Black Eyed Peas , which charted at number 16 on 12 March 2006. Three weeks later, " Crazy " by Gnarls Barkley became
7320-414: The chart for years. This meant that Bush's song, which had been a Top 3 hit 37 years before, would have to obtain twice the streamings of Harry Styles ' song " As It Was " to earn the same 'sales', despite easily being the most streamed and most downloaded song. The OCC granted a 'manual reset' in order to reflect the success of the revival of Bush's hit. As well as genre -specific and music video charts,
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#17327878824657440-423: The chart of 16 August 2014, Nico & Vinz's "Am I Wrong" jumped from number 52 to number 1 in its sixth week, after the streaming hit (the first single ever to chart in the Top 75 on streams alone) became available to purchase. On 7 December 2014, Ed Sheeran 's " Thinking Out Loud " became the first single to reach number one as a direct result of streaming inclusion. Despite Union J 's " You Got It All " topping
7560-638: The chart. In mid-2019, the company also compiled the Asian Music Chart Top 40, alongside BritAsia TV. The chart highlights UK's biggest Asian songs of the week, based on sales and streams across a seven-day period. In 2022, the success of Kate Bush 's " Running Up That Hill " after its use in the fourth season of the Netflix series Stranger Things brought a challenge against the rules introduced in 2017. The rules were intended to prevent streaming of older songs potentially keeping them on
7680-504: The charts on 1 February 1994, increasing the sample size; by the end of the month, each shop sampled used a barcode scanner linking via an Epson terminal with a modem to a central computer (called "Eric"), which logged data from more than 2,500 stores. Gallup attempted to block Millward Brown's new chart by complaining to the Office of Fair Trading about the contractual clause in which BARD retailers exclusively supplied sales data to CIN, but
7800-546: The close of trade on Saturday. The sales diaries were translated into punch cards so the data could be interpreted by a computer. A computer then compiled the chart on Monday, and the BBC were informed of the Top 50 on Tuesday in time for it to be announced on Johnnie Walker's afternoon show . The charts were also published in Record Retailer (rebranded Record & Tape Retailer in 1971 and Music Week in 1972) and Record Mirror . The BMRB often struggled to have
7920-540: The fifth time in a row. Influenced by John Otway's 50th birthday hit single fan campaign, which saw Otway's " Disco Inferno "-sampling single "Bunsen Burner" reach number 9 in 2002 without being stocked by Entertainment UK-associated retailers like Woolworths , the Morters encouraged people on Facebook to download the song the week before Christmas. When "Killing in the Name" hit the top spot on 20 December 2009, it became
8040-551: The first chart incorporating sales figures on 20 July 1940. Record charts in the UK began in 1952, when Percy Dickins of the New Musical Express ( NME ) gathered a pool of 52 stores willing to report sales figures. For the first British chart Dickins telephoned approximately 20 shops, asking for a list of the 10 best-selling songs. These results were then aggregated into a Top 12 chart published in NME on 14 November 1952, with Al Martino 's " Here in My Heart " awarded
8160-526: The first download-only single to become the UK Christmas number one and received a Guinness World Record for "Fastest-selling digital track in the UK" after selling 502,672 units in its first week. It was announced in June 2014 that as of Sunday, 29 June, audio streams from services such as Spotify , Deezer , Napster , O2 Tracks, Xbox Music , Sony Unlimited, and rara would count for the Official Singles Chart, to reflect changing music consumption in
8280-470: The first pop band to debut at the top with each of their first four releases (with the group's singles found at number one in the period between June 1998 to March 1999). Between 1963 and the 1990s, only a few acts had reached number one with their first three chart hits. In the late 1990s, the Spice Girls and current record holders Westlife also outperformed this feat, with the former getting six and
8400-401: The first song to top the charts on download sales alone. As part of the revised rules, singles would be removed from the chart two weeks after the deletion of their physical formats; "Crazy" left the chart 11 weeks later from number 5. This was in addition to the existing rule that to be eligible for the chart, the physical single had to have been released within the last twelve months, supporting
8520-579: The formation of the BMRB chart in 1969. From 30 September 1967 BBC Radio 1 was launched along with BBC Radio 2 , succeeding the Light Programme, and the Top-20 Pick of the Pops chart was simulcast on both stations. Freeman continued to present the show until September 1972, and was succeeded by Tom Browne who presented the chart, also on Sundays, from October 1972 to March 1978. Simon Bates took over from Browne, and under Bates it became
8640-489: The full sample of sales figures returned by post. The 1971 postal strike meant data had to be collected by telephone (and that the chart was reduced to a Top 40 during this period), but this was deemed inadequate for a national chart; by 1973, the BMRB was using motorcycle couriers to collect sales figures. In March 1978, two record industry publications, Radio & Record News and Record Business both started publishing Top 100 singles charts, so in response, in May 1978,
8760-420: The general view that the chart reflected the top-selling "current" releases. On 1 January 2007, the integration of downloaded music into the charts became complete when all downloads – with or without a physical equivalent – became eligible to chart, redefining the UK singles chart by turning it into a "songs" chart. " Chasing Cars " by Snow Patrol returned at a Top 10 position (number 9, just three places below
8880-506: The helm of the chart show. Cotton left in September 2009, and until 2012 the chart show was hosted by Yates. Yates left Radio 1 at the end of 2012, because he wanted to spend more time with his family, as well as focusing more on television. Jameela Jamil took over from him in January 2013, becoming the first woman to host, alone, the BBC Chart show before being replaced by Clara Amfo . On 10 July 2015, Greg James took over from Amfo, when
9000-553: The industry; stores' chart-returns dealers would frequently be offered bribes to falsify sales logs. From 1983 to 1990, the chart was financed by the British Phonographic Industry (50 percent), Music Week (38 percent) and the BBC (12 percent). On 4 January 1983, the chart compilation was assumed by the Gallup Organization , which expanded the public/ Music Week chart to a Top 100 (with
9120-573: The largest amount in chart history. In June 2022, the Netflix show Stranger Things used " Running Up That Hill " by Kate Bush in their fourth season, which resulted in the record (which had previously charted in 1985 via EMI and in 2012 via Kate Bush's Fish People record label) re-enter the charts at number 8. On the Official Singles Chart Top 100 of 10 June 2022 to 16 June 2022, the record climbed to number two, even though it
9240-412: The latter seven number ones from the start of their careers. In 1999, Millward Brown began "re-chipping" some retailers' machines, in anticipation of the millennium bug . Some independent retailers lost access to the record-label-funded Electronic Record Ordering System (Eros); it was "too costly to make it Year 2000 compliant ". Toward the end of the 1990s companies anticipated distributing singles over
9360-434: The major label corporations WMG , Sony Music and UMG alongside a couple of large independents, BMG Rights Management and PIAS Group . The Chart Supervisory Committee is the body which discusses and decides on any chart rule changes, whether it be changes to physical/digital formats or with the chart ratios ACR and SCR (Accelerated Chart Ratio and Standard Chart Ratio), with representatives meeting approximately four times
9480-940: The mid-1960s, although many of his records continued to reach the U.S. Hot 100. Another later hit was a disco version of " Volare ", (also known as " Nel blu, Dipinto di Blu "). In 1976, it reached number one on the Italian and Flemish charts, and was in the top 10 in Spain, the Netherlands, and France, as well as in many other European countries. In 1993, Martino recorded a new studio album with German producer Dieter Bohlen (former member of pop duo Modern Talking , producer of international artists such as Chris Norman of Smokie , Bonnie Tyler , Dionne Warwick , Engelbert or Errol Brown of Hot Chocolate ). The single "Spanish Ballerina" (written in Bohlen's europop sound) reached number 93 in
9600-600: The new chart announcement was moved to Friday afternoons. Scott Mills was the regular presenter, taking over from James, from 15 June 2018. Currently, the host is Jack Saunders following Mills' move to rival BBC station Radio 2 . Official Charts Company The Official Charts Company ( OCC or Official Charts ; previously known as the Chart Information Network , CIN , and the Official UK Charts Company ; legally known as
9720-722: The next. Due to these factors, on 20 July 2018, " Three Lions " by the Lightning Seeds , Frank Skinner , and David Baddiel beat the Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir record for number one chart fall and got the Guinness World Records' award for "largest chart drop from number one on the UK singles chart" by going from number one to number 97. In 2018, Future (publisher of "Louder Sound" publications such as Metal Hammer and Classic Rock magazine ) acquired Music Week publisher NewBay Media. Future ran
9840-465: The number-one position. The chart became a successful feature of the periodical; it expanded into a Top 20 format on 1 October 1954, and rival publications began compiling their own charts in 1955. Record Mirror compiled its own Top 10 chart for 22 January 1955; it was based on postal returns from record stores (which were financed by the newspaper). The NME chart was based on a telephone poll. Both charts expanded in size, with Mirror ' s becoming
9960-403: The part. Martino was stripped of the part, however, after Francis Ford Coppola came on board as director and awarded the role to singer Vic Damone . Martino, in turn, went to Russell Bufalino , his godfather and a crime boss, who then orchestrated the publication of various news articles that claimed Coppola had been unaware of Ruddy having given Martino the part. Damone eventually dropped
10080-499: The peak it had reached the previous September), while " Honey to the Bee " by Billie Piper (following a tongue-in-cheek promotional push by Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles to test the new chart rules) reappeared at number 17 (nearly eight years after its original appearance on the charts).. This date also saw the reintroduction of maxi physical formats being allowed to have 4 unique tracks and 25 minute running times. In October 2008, P!nk broke
10200-520: The period up to 1955, including "Now" and "Wanted". However, his work received no exposure back in the US. In 1958, after the intervention of a family friend, Martino was allowed to return to the U.S. and resume his recording career, but he faced difficulties in re-establishing himself, especially with the arrival of rock and roll . In 1959, Martino signed with 20th Century Fox Records ; his deal scored him two albums, and four singles released, none of which
10320-424: The preceding week, Friday to Thursday. From 3 August 1969 until 5 July 2015, the chart week ran from Sunday to Saturday. In the United Kingdom, genre-specific charts include Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40 , Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40 , Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40 , Official Progressive Albums Chart Top 30 and the Asian Music Chart Top 40. It also produces charts such as
10440-494: The production of the "official" charts, various less comprehensive charts were produced, most notably by newspaper/magazine New Musical Express ( NME ) which began its chart in 1952. Some of these older charts (including NME ' s earliest singles charts) are now part of the official OCC canon. In 2017, the OCC made a five-year deal with the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) to compile
10560-626: The profusion of competing charts from the 1950s to the 1980s, but the usual list used is that endorsed by the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and subsequently adopted by the Official Charts Company. The company regards a select period of the New Musical Express chart (only from 1952 to 1960) and the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period up to 11 February 1969, where multiples of competing charts (none official) coexisted side by side. For example,
10680-507: The publication monthly from March 2021, so a bespoke monthly Official Singles Chart Top 75 started to be published from this date alongside monthly albums charts and specialist/genre charts. On 1 January 2021, "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" by LadBaby dropped down the Official Chart Company's singles chart to number 78 and so became the first new track to drop out of the Top 75 ("hit parade") from number one. In doing so it broke
10800-651: The record for shortest stay in the hit parade for a number one single (as in The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles list of Top 75 singles chart records) with only one week in the Top 75. A week later, "Last Christmas" by Wham! became the first record to disappear completely from number one spot, exiting the Official Charts Company Top 100 chart with no placing on the chart (week ending 14 January 2021). As "Last Christmas" replaced "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" by LadBaby , which had dropped down
10920-523: The research contract for the chart was put out to tender , with a new four-year contract beginning 1 February 1994 offered. Millward Brown, Research International and Nielsen Market Research were approached, and Gallup were invited to re-apply. In May 1993, it was announced that Millward Brown had been accepted as the next chart compilers, signing a £1-million-a-year contract. Virgin installed JDA EPoS terminals in September 1993, and began providing sales data to Gallup. Millward Brown took over compiling
11040-428: The rights holders). On 17 June 2022, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" reached number one on the UK chart and not only did Bush get a second number one, but also the OCC revealed that she had broken three of their chart records. With the gap of 44 years she eclipses Tom Jones's 42-year gap between " Green Green Grass of Home " going to number one and Jones being one of the acts on Comic Relief's "(Barry) Islands in
11160-418: The rise in music streaming. Prior to January 2017, 100 streams counted as one 'sale' of a song. From January onward, the ratio became 150:1. Additionally, in June 2017, it was decided that after a record has spent at least 10 weeks on the chart, any track which has declined for three consecutive weeks will see its streams:sales ratio change from 150:1 to 300:1, in an attempt to accelerate their disappearance from
11280-607: The role because he did not want to provoke the Bufalino crime family (in addition, Damone felt he was being paid too little for the role). Ultimately, the part of Johnny Fontane was given to Martino. He played the same role in The Godfather Part III and The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980 (the television miniseries that combines The Godfather and The Godfather Part II into one film). Martino later returned to acting, playing aging crooner Sal Stevens in
11400-454: The rules were amended to include maxi-singles with versions/remixes of one song lasting 40 minutes, standard four track/four song releases getting an extra five minutes playing time, and now four formats contributing to the chart position. Due to this ruling, ambient duo the Orb were able to have a Top Ten hit with "Blue Room" , a song that was three seconds short of 40 minutes. In February 1993,
11520-516: The same purpose in Wales as the ones in Scotland, and the full UK Top 200 Albums chart. The Official UK Top 200 Albums is just one of a number of 'industry only' charts not published for the general public, with others including UK Budget Album Chart (with any album including a low dealer price is excluded from the main album chart). Until the OCC changed its chart rules, and brought in criteria like
11640-403: The sample consisted of 500 stores scanning barcodes of all record sales into an Epson PX-4 computer, and 650 other stores providing sales data through their own EPoS computerised tills . These computers were to be telephoned six times a week, providing the data to Gallup. In June 1991, the BPI reduced the number of eligible formats from five to four. In November 1990, the "Next 25" section of
11760-467: The short film Cutout , which appeared in film festivals around the world in 2006. Martino was married first to Jenny Furini; then to Gwendolyn Wenzel; and, finally, to Judi Stilwell, to whom he was married at the time of his death. He had four children: Alfred Cini, Dana MacIsaac, Alana Cini, and Alison Martino . The latter is a writer and television producer of such programs as Mysteries and Scandals and Headliners and Legends . Martino died from
11880-472: The singles chart to number 78 on 1 January, it was the first time in chart history that two back-to-back number ones had disappeared not only from the BBC Radio 1 Top 40, but the Top 75 as well (though as "Last Christmas" didn't have a chart placing, "Three Lions" is still credited with the record-breaking fall at Guinness World Records ). On 24 December 2021, LadBaby secured their fourth Christmas No.1 in
12000-503: The singles market and 95% of the album market, and aims to collect data from any retailer who sells more than 100 chart items per week. The OCC is operated jointly by the British Phonographic Industry and the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) (formerly the British Association of Record Dealers (BARD)) and is incorporated as a private company limited by shares jointly owned by BPI and ERA. It
12120-466: The source has been criticised, but the chart was unique in listing close to 50 positions for the whole decade. With available lists of which record shops were sampled to compile the charts, some shops were subjected to " hyping " but, with Record Retailer being less widely followed than some charts, it was subject to less hyping. Additionally, Retailer was set up by independent record shops and had no funding or affiliation with record companies, but it had
12240-653: The success of a family friend, Alfredo Cocozza, who had changed his name to Mario Lanza . After serving with the U.S. Navy in World War II , during which he took part in the Iwo Jima invasion , in which he was wounded, Cini began his singing career. Encouraged by Lanza, he adopted the stage name Al Martino, based on the name of his good friend Lorraine Losavio's husband Alfred Martin Cianfrani, and began singing in local nightclubs ; coincidentally Martin of Tours
12360-575: The three eligible formats, and at number 71 from sales in a fourth (12-inch) format. Subsequently, CIN sought to develop new marketing opportunities and sponsorship deals; these included premium-rate fax and telephone services and the chart newsletters Charts Plus (published from May 1991 to November 1994) and Hit Music (published from September 1992 to May 2001). Beginning in May 1991 Charts Plus featured singles charts with positions 76–200 (plus artist albums positions 76–150, Top 50 compilations, and several genre and format charts). In September 1992,
12480-520: The three-track rule (a maximum of three singles within the Top 100 by the same artist will be chart eligible), a Top 200 Singles chart was also published for people within the music industry. The OCC also charts sales of DVDs and Blu-rays within the United Kingdom. While its music charts are now Friday to Thursday, its video charts remain Sunday to Saturday. On 5 September 2008, the Official UK Charts Company rebranded itself as
12600-409: The time). Following this, the BPI reduced the minimum price for cassette singles to influence sales figures. In September 1989, WHSmith began to send sales data to Gallup directly through electronic point of sale (EPoS) terminals. In January 1990, the BPI gave notice to Gallup, BBC and Music Week ; on 30 June 1990, it terminated its contract with them because it "could no longer afford the £600,000
12720-493: The title song for the 1964 film, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte . One of his biggest hits was " Spanish Eyes ", achieving several gold and platinum discs for sales. Recorded in 1965, the song reached number five on the UK Singles chart when reissued in 1973. The song, with a tune by Bert Kaempfert originally titled " Moon Over Naples ", is among the 50 most-played songs worldwide. Martino's run of chart success faded after
12840-495: The top by another version of the same song, with two versions of "Answer Me" in 1953, two versions of "Singing The Blues" alternating at the top in 1957, and one-hit wonder Frankee having an answer record to the number one by Eamon in 2004. " Sausage Rolls for Everyone " made LadBaby join B*Witched as an act who managed to get their first four singles at number one (with LadBaby having no other hits in their discography), and beat
12960-748: The track that has taken the longest time to reach Number 1 with "Running Up That Hill" first entering the chart in August 1985 and getting to the top 37 years later, beating Wham! by a year. The full regulations may be downloaded from the Official Charts Company website. To qualify for inclusion in the UK singles chart, a single must be available in one or more of the following eligible formats: There are minimum sales prices for all formats apart from on demand digital streams which may be from subscription or advertising funded providers. The streams were initially counted at 100 streams equivalent to one paid download or physical sale, but changed to 150 to 1 in January 2017. Starting with charts published 7 July 2017, tracks by
13080-460: The unofficial period, the NME before 10 March 1960 and Record Retailer until 1969. Until 1969 the Record Retailer chart was mainly seen by people working in the industry. The most widely circulated chart was the NME one, as used by Radio Luxembourg 's Sunday night Top 20 show, as well as by ABC TV's Thank Your Lucky Stars , which had an audience of up to six million on ITV . Before 1969 there
13200-540: The vinyl record industry. Although record labels were not prohibited from releasing singles in more than three formats, they were required to identify the three eligible formats. This resulted in a reduction in the number of singles released in 7-inch format; the most common three formats were 12-inch single , cassette and CD , or a cassette and two CD versions. The ruling resulted in the Oasis single " Some Might Say " charting twice in one week – at number 1 with sales from
13320-478: The week ending 28 November 2024, the UK singles chart has had 1,433 different number one hits. The current number one single is " That's So True " by Gracie Abrams . Before the compilation of sales of records, the music market measured a song's popularity by sales of sheet music . The idea of compiling a chart based on sales originated in the United States, where the music-trade paper Billboard compiled
13440-434: The year, it was number one in the first UK Singles Chart , published by the New Musical Express on November 14, 1952, putting him into the Guinness Book of World Records . "Here in My Heart" remained in the top position for nine weeks in the UK. The record's success led to a deal with Capitol Records , and he released three more singles: "Take My Heart", "Rachel", and "When You're Mine" through 1953, all of which hit
13560-469: Was a major hit. The success of his 1962 album The Exciting Voice of Al Martino secured him a new contract with Capitol, and was followed by a mostly Italian-language album, The Italian Voice of Al Martino , which featured his version of the then internationally popular song " Al di là ". He also made several high-profile television appearances, helping to re-establish his visibility. In 1963, he had his biggest U.S. chart success with " I Love You Because ",
13680-503: Was born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , to Gasparino (also anglicised as "Jasper"; 1905–1958) and Carmela M. Cini ( née Grilli ; 1905–1998), one of five siblings – the others being Pasquale, Rita, Frances and Frank. His father and maternal grandfather were immigrants from Nereto , in the Italian region of Abruzzo . He aspired to become a singer, emulating artists such as Al Jolson and Perry Como , and by
13800-419: Was formed in 1990 as the Chart Information Network by the BBC , BARD, and the publishers of Music Week . CIN took over as compilers of the official UK charts in 1990, and the company has continued in that role, as the OCC, since 1994. Before then, the charts were produced by a succession of market research companies, beginning with the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) in 1969 and Gallup in 1983. Before
13920-405: Was no official singles chart. Record Retailer and the BBC commissioned the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) to compile charts, beginning 15 February 1969. The BMRB compiled its first chart from postal returns of sales logs from 250 record shops. The sampling cost approximately £ 52,000; shops were randomly chosen from a pool of approximately 6,000, and submitted figures for sales taken up to
14040-637: Was released physically overseas, such as in Germany where the price of a record counted toward the chart position and not just number of units sold). In 2009, " Killing in the Name " by Rage Against the Machine became the Christmas Number One after English DJ Jon Morter and his wife Tracy launched a campaign to make sure that an act from the ITV talent show The X Factor was not number one for
14160-436: Was revealed to be the most popular track of the week in the United Kingdom and even though all versions (regardless of it being an album track, live version or remix) now counted to its chart position. Sales for the week had the number one record, Harry Styles' "As It Was", on an SCR total of 55,768 sales, compared to Kate Bush's number two on an ACR sales total of 44,739. Encumbered with ACR, a rule introduced in 2017 to push down
14280-447: Was said (by BBC Radio 1 presenters JK and Joel on 17 April 2005) that the incorporation of download sales resulted in an approximate doubling of singles sales for this week, but the impact of this doubling was not readily apparent at the top of the chart, although a few singles in the middle positions benefited. Initially, the British Association of Record Dealers was concerned that the popularity of downloading would siphon business from
14400-420: Was the first number-one. In 2005, the BBC Radio 1 chart show was rebranded for the chart week ending 16 April, with the first singles chart now combining physical-release sales with legal downloads. Several test charts (and a download-sales chart) were published in 2004; this combination (within the official singles chart) reflected a changing era in which sales of physical singles fell and download sales rose. It
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