With Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the US now factoring in plays on streaming services, will the UK’s Official Charts Company follow suit with the main chart here? Not for the moment, judging by comments made by MD Martin Talbot to PaidContent. “In the UK, our Official Charts have always been based purely on genuine sales – unlike in the U.S., where the Billboard Hot 100 has long since mixed sales with airplay information,” he says. “Streaming information is simply an extension of this methodology. Also, in the UK we are continuing to see a surge of interest in buying singles.” Talbot also notes that while 2011 was a record year for singles sales with 178m units sold, “streaming is still an emerging service for UK music fans”. Will the OCC rethink as streaming emerges more, though?
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