Official Singles Chart on 24/3/2017

This is no longer a singles chart. sad. I think Ed is great, not so keen on Drake. Nonetheless, this is becoming a useless tool. Please take note and make some changes.

I've recently been seeing Billboard posters for the next Now album, out on 7th April. I'll be interested to see the track-listing. Ten songs from Sheeran on one CD, 10 from Drake on the other presumably?

And if finally they do the right thing, now it is already recorded in history, those album tracks as singles chart entries, what a mess. Terrible. I think nobody will be interested if it continues this way... Nothing against those artists but this is a very wrong picture. I remember there were rules about how many different editions were valid to count etc etc. And now we ended up with album tracks? makes no sense at all.

the singles charts are becoming a joke. The rules have to change. Only officially released singles should be included. OCC has a separate chart for streaming anyways.

The singles chart is no longer a 'singles' chart and it can so easily be fixed. Just apply a rule where only 'singles' are eligible to chart in the 'singles' chart. If a song is not a single then it doesn't qualify for the 'singles' chart. And that was speaking in a sarcastic tone!

There is a similar rule for the 'album' chart. Only 'albums' are eligible to chart there because it's the 'album' chart.

The charts have never reflected the songs most deserving of high placings (back in history, 'Shaddup you face' kept 'Vienna' from number one, and there have been others, many others!). In truth, a 'single' was really record companies manipulating what we bought through drip feeding what they wanted us to be able to hear and spend money on. The chart today is much more a reflection of what people want to listen to, even if we don't like it. This is what we get when we have freedom to choose. What it's not is anything like the 'singles' chart we followed and respected. It's a popular song list. And that's quite different.

And like everyone else on this comments page, I hate it!

There is precedent of chart manipulation. A while back, a new limited edition Elvis Presley single was released every week, so he was top of the charts for every week for ages. Or multiple physical formats were produced to induce multiple sales of the same track. And when someone dies, their back catalogue of available releases can swamp the top 10. And so on. But they were truly rare occasions. The way the chart is compiled now means it'll happen every time a popular artist uploads a wad of tracks.

If we want the old-style excitement and anticipation of new releases, of chart position, of new music, then we have to return to lead/promoted 'singles' rather than an album tracklist. But do we want to be told what we can 'like' any more? I doubt it.

I think the singles chart as has been going for over 60 years can no longer be compared to the ones back whenever. Sad, but I fear its time has passed. We just don't know what's going to replace it . . . .

Ouch at Kasabian's new single, they would have reached the top 75 had it not been for the influx of Drake or Ed Sheeran entries.

Album tracks DO NOT belong in the SINGLES charts! Streaming of album tracks is aready being counted towards the album charts . Its when people download an individual track from an album (rather than the whole album) that the track (plus weighted streaming) gives it a spot in the singles chart. Limit of 3 singles or album tracks per album to be in the singles charts at any one time.

Total joke of a chart that leaves no room for new or established artists to get a chart position this needs to be put right and go back to the days when only the officially released single could be a chart song as streaming does not match the sales chart

I miss the time, when the official charts was set by the sell of 7" inch singles.

The singles chart is totally pointless now,

Better off compiling a yearly chart and Ed Sheeran can just stay at the summit for 52 weeks!

Why don't we release an old Gary Glitter album and see what happens?

Well, no ratings this week, the Drake songs disrupted it.

There's only SIXTEEN songs in the charts NOT by Ed Sheeran or Drake. It's not okay. It's not alright. OCC, fix this now.

The truth about why the chart is so stream/album track based is revealed! Someone revealed it on Facebook. The boss of the OCC is Kevin Brown - he is also head of artists & label services (international) at Spotify! The guy has a vested interested in marketing Spotify acts like Sheeran so this explains why Spotify album tracks are considered singles.
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Brown commented: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Spotify at what is such an exciting time in both in the development of the service, and in the broader digital music space. I’m looking forward to joining the team and building upon all the great work that has already been done.”

Steve Savoca, head of content, Spotify, added: “Kevin has a wealth of great experience in working at a senior executive level in both management and label capacities. He’s helped build the careers of many superstar artists, and I have no doubt he will lead the European Label Relations team from strength to strength, both in delivering innovative campaigns, and building our key label relationships across Europe.”"
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IMHO the singles chart should not be run by a guy that is part of Spotify! Seems like a conflict of interest and not good for the integrity of the singles chart.

Well, this needs sorting. The charts need to either make the streaming:sales ratio better or discount album tracks. I don't really like the latter option as the chart is based on popularity, and songs such as Galway Girl and other non-singles which have charted well compared the the rest of their album are popular and should be on the charts. However, the ratio needs to be fixed as this is plain silly. Obviously we shouldn't discount streaming, as it is the way people listen to music and shows us what people listen to, but the way so many album tracks can get in the top 40 is stupid.

If the OCC introduced a new rule - one single release per artist/group every eight weeks - that would make for a more varied chart. I don't think that rule would be controversial or unfair. Every singer/group has to wait eight weeks before a follow-up song is eligible for the chart. Ed Sheeran would have one song in the chart for eight weeks and then a second single is released/eligible for chart status. I doubt the OCC will consider this - nothing has changed since Ed Sheeran took over the top 40. If anything the OCC appear to be happy with Sheeran's success. I reckon we're wasting our time making suggestions or wishing things were different. Not gonna happen!

Digital Era !!!!

What's so good about Galway Girl. Forgettable like the rest of the album

Now a lot of the Drakes songs have debuted. This chart is so stupid and confusing now. It is a waste of time looking at it. It feels more like a "Most Played" Spotify chart. Goodbye charts

Crazy. Absolute madness. Utterly worthless. Something needs to be done urgently.

I am so glad that I was born in 1962..........

24 tracks by 2 artists in the top 40 who's got an album out next week?? Come on let's break another record and have 4 artists filling the whole top 40

So pretty much Ed Sheeran and Drake? Okay.

Sales chart only has 5 Ed Sheeran tracks in the Top 40 and 3 by Drake. and Galway Girl is the Number 1. A slightly more interesting chart than the one above

How do you get rid of the mass effect advert? I have clicked on but it doesn't go. I don't have a PlayStation 4 or a Xbox one. I don't plan to own one. Even if I did I would buy horizon zero and the fall out game over mass effect.

wasted my time looking it's a complete and utter joke

Funny that the OCC said that Ed Sheeran's chart takeover a couple of weeks back was a 'one-off', as we've had another 'one-off' this week with Drake. I wonder how many more 'one-offs' we'll have by the end of the year.

I understand that a chart is meant to reflect popularity, but couldn't a rule limiting the number of album tracks that chart, per week, be created? At least to protect it's integrity.

These charts are a joke. Please give us back the charts that we know and love, y'know, the ones that aren't botched up?

exhausting of ed sheeran and drake... how are people there...

The Singles Chart has become a comedy of errors. High time this streaming situation was put to an end.

"Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran continues its reign at the top of the Official UK Singles Chart for the 11th straight week. It was written and produced by Ed Sheeran and Steve Mac, along with additional writing contributions from Johnny McDaid, Kandi Burruss, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs. The song's lyrical rhythm drew comparisons to the TLC song "No Scrubs", particularly in the pre-chorus line, "Boy, let's not talk too much/ Grab on my waist and put that body on me." As a result, the song's composers Kandi Burruss, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, and Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs were awarded co-writing credits on "Shape of You". The song's lyrical video, which was released on Sheeran's YouTube channel, has amassed over 460 million views, making the video one of the fastest to reach both 100 and 400 miliion views.
"Galway Girl" by Ed Sheeran remains at number 2 this week. "Castle On The Hill" comes in at number 3.

"Passionfruit" by Drake debuts at number 4 this week. It's the second single off Drake's new musical project, "More Life" (also known as "More Life: A Playlist by October Firm") which was released on March 18, 2017 by OVO Sound, Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records. "Passionfruit" is a Dancehall song written by Drake, along with British songwriter-producer Nana Rogues. It is set to be released on March 28, 2017 as the second single released from "More Life" after "Fake Love".

"Symphony" by Clean Bandit (feat Zara Larsson) debuts at number 6. It is taken as the third single from Clean Bandit's upcoming second album. The song was also released as the sixth single from Zara Larsson's second album, "So Good" (the song is the 15th and final track on the album). This is one of my favorite songs at the moment- I can't get enough of it.

"KMT" by Drake featuring British rapper Giggs debuts at number 9. The two have also collaborated on a song entitled "No Long Talk" from Drake's new playlist, "More Life". I'm not sure what the acronym "KMT" stands for in this context, but in everyday slang KMT stands for Kissing Teeth. The act of Kissing teeth (KMT) means to express disapproval, contempt, or dissatisfaction with a situation or person by making a sound through the act of sucking air through ones teeth (often performed by people from the Caribbean and Africa.

"Ciao Adios" by Anne-Marie rises ten places from number 20 to 10 this week. "Ciao" and "Adios" are the Italian and Spanish words to say "Bye".

Another boring week with a million Ed Sheeran and Drake songs on the chart. Variety is certainly not the middle name of this chart. Hello OCC, are you listening?

What an absolute waste of time. This isn't any kind of "singles" chart whatsoever. Time for the BBC to bin this and compile their own, if they want to retain any integrity.

So streaming is still ruining the Singles Chart, this week we have 24 (or 60%) of top 40 of just Ed Sheeran and Drake songs... more than 50% of top 40 are not singles but album tracks. LOL

4 the previous 2 wks, we had the Ed Sheeran chart We now get the Ed Sheeran and Drake chart This gettin past a joke now

My thoughts & observations on the UK charts as always...
- ‘Shape Of You’ by Ed Sheeran is #1 on the singles chart for an 11th consecutive week! While I personally don’t mind the song, I’m very surprised it stayed at the top for this long & there are so many other songs in the Top 10 right now that are more deserving of #1.
- ‘Shape Of You’ is also now the second longest #1 of the streaming era (behind ‘One Dance’, which got 15 weeks at #1). The margins are closing fast though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this is its last week at #1. The biggest contenders for the next #1 at the moment are ‘Galway Girl’ by Ed Sheeran & ‘Symphony’ by Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson.
- ‘Chained To The Rhythm’ by Katy Perry ft Skip Marley leads the UK radio airplay chart for a third week.
- Speaking of ‘Symphony’, it debuts on the Official Charts today at #6, becoming Clean Bandit’s seventh Top 10 & Zara Larsson’s fifth. I was extremely excited to hear about this collaboration & I loved it from first listen as expected. Clean Bandit are, as always, combining elements of classical & orchestral music, which sounds even more heavenly with Zara Larsson’s belting upper range vocals over the chorus. It’s currently #1 on iTunes, so I really hope it can continue the sales it currently has & also make gains on streaming.
- There are too many Drake debuts to analyse each of them separately, so I’ll just give a brief opinion on the ‘More Life’ album/playlist itself. While I think Drake is extremely overrated, his new project is just alright. I especially like how he is working with newer artists, particularly UK R&B or rap acts. The beats are generally good here, but if there’s one thing that has got a lot worse since ‘Views’, it’s Drake’s vocals in general unfortunately. Therefore, I can only recommend this to big fans of those genres & even then, Drake’s earlier discography is much better.
- Away from all of the Drake debuts & Ed Sheeran fallers, some of the notable climbers in the Top 40 today include: ‘Issues’ by Julia Michaels (36-28), ‘That’s What I Like’ by Bruno Mars (35-25), ‘Stay’ by Zedd & Alessia Cara (23-12), ‘Ciao Adios’ by Anne-Marie (20-10) & ‘Solo Dance’ by Martin Jensen (12-8). I expect most of these to climb again next week too & I don’t dislike any of them, so I’m happy with that. It’s really good to see more movement this week; five new songs in the Top 10!
- On the albums chart, ‘÷’ by Ed Sheeran remains at #1 for a third consecutive week. The rest of the Top 5 is: ‘More Life’ by Drake (debuts at #2), ‘100’ by Vera Lynn (debuts at #3), ‘Human’ by Rag’n’Bone Man (2-4) & ‘Spirit’ by Depeche Mode (debuts at #5).
- Looking ahead to next week, new Top 40 arrivals could be: ‘Still Got Time’ by ZAYN ft PARTYNEXTDOOR, ‘Light Up My Body’ by David Guetta ft Nicki Minaj & Lil Wayne, ‘The Heart Part 4’ by Kendrick Lamar & ‘Places’ by Martin Solveig ft Ina Wroldsen.
- Overall, a mixed week. I’m getting so tired of all of the Ed Sheeran & Drake here (although I still like both artists), but looking at the climbers & debuts aside from all of that, the next month could be a very interesting one for the Official Charts.
- Thanks for reading everyone! Have a good weekend. :)