UK Singles Chart - History - Internet Era

Internet Era

In January 2004, MyCokeMusic launched as 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 Westlife's "Flying Without Wings" was the first number-one.

In 2005 Wes Butters presented the final UK Top 40, concluding his tenure at Radio 1. The chart show was then rebranded for the chart week ending 16 April, and the first singles chart combining physical-release sales with legal downloads began. 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 actual singles fell and download sales rose. On 17 April 2005, hosts JK and Joel commented during their BBC Radio 1 broadcast that the incorporation of download sales resulted in an approximate doubling of singles sales for the week. For the first week's combined chart 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 the High Street. It also complained that including singles not available physically would confuse customers and create gaps in stores' sale racks. However, 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 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 Black Eyed Peas and Ne-Yo charted early as a result, and on 2 April 2006, "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley became the first song to top the charts on download sales alone. As part of the revised rules, singles would now be removed from the chart two weeks after the deletion of their physical formats; "Crazy" left the chart 11 weeks later from number 5 and a subsequent chart-topper, Nelly Furtado's "Maneater", disappeared from number 10. 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 the general view that the chart reflects the top-selling "current" releases. Over the coming months digital sales continued to increase whilst physical sales continued to fall; more artists entered the top 40 early, and fewer singles entered the chart directly at number 1. Whilst initially the proportion of digital sales to physical sales in the combined tally was relatively low, a majority of singles as of 2012 see more than 50 percent of their sales coming from online. Sales through mobile phones are also counted.

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, bringing an end to the UK singles chart by turning it into a "songs" chart. This saw a few singles gain publicity: "Crazy" and "Maneater" (still selling strongly on downloads some time after their physical equivalents had been withdrawn) returned to the chart with several others which had been removed in the preceding months. "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol returned at a Top 10 position (number 9, just three places below 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).

The second song to return to the Top 40 several years after its first hit run was "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans, which reappeared at number 32 a decade after it originally topped the chart. The impetus this time was Puff Daddy's recent performance of a new version of the track at the Princess Diana Memorial Concert at Wembley. Two months later Luciano Pavarotti's "Nessun Dorma" returned to the chart at number 24 during the week following his death (17 years after it was first a hit), climbing to number 12. A drumming gorilla in a Dairy Milk television advertisement helped "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins to climb to number 14, 26 years after it was first a hit and 19 years since its last chart appearance as a remix. None of these songs had been officially re-issued.

"Blag, Steal and Borrow" by Koopa became the first song to chart without being released physically (and the first by an unsigned band to do so). Later they would do it again twice, with "One Off Song for the Summer" and "The Crash" reaching #21 and #16 respectively (while the band remained unsigned until the following year).

Following the cancellation of its physical release, "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado was the first Top 10 hit to pass through its chart career without a single copy appearing in a shop. "Lord Don't Slow Me Down" by Oasis became the second, "Violet Hill" by Coldplay the third, and "Disturbia" by Rihanna the fourth; "Candyman" by Christina Aguilera had a chart run that took it into the Top 20 (number 17) entirely on downloads.

It was only a matter of time before there was a number-one hit never released physically. This honour went to 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 was released physically overseas, notably in Germany).

The second occurrence was on 20 December 2009, when "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine got the Christmas No. 1 single; this was the result of a Facebook campaign urging people to download the song in a bid to prevent The X Factor winning song from becoming the Christmas No. 1 single again after four consecutive years. It is also the first time that a song has reached No. 1 on downloads alone, without being a new release; the song was originally released in 1992 as a #25 hit, but reached the #1 spot 17 years later.

New rules were added to the chart on 16 September 2007 to include one-track CD singles (with a limit of 15 minutes) and to retail at a minimum of 40p per one-track CD single.

A notable effect of the new chart rules is to demonstrate the enduring appeal of many downloads, especially if a physical copy is no longer (or never has been) available. Despite a seven-week gap in its chart run in late 2006 while ineligible under the old rules, Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" clocked 108 weeks on the chart, a record bettered by only one single in chart history ("My Way" by Frank Sinatra with 124 weeks). Numerous other hits are on for more than 40 weeks.

Jeff Buckley's 1994 cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" charted at number 2 on 21 December 2008 on downloads alone, following the formation of a 110,000-strong protest group on Facebook to get it above (winner of The X Factor 2008) Alexandra Burke's version for the Christmas number one.

Another consequence of the chart rules (that was expected but has not materialised) is that in the event of a new album release by a well-known artist, all (or most) of its tracks could appear on the singles chart due to buyers downloading individual songs rather than the complete album. There was no significant example of this until early October 2007, with the cast of High School Musical 2 placing six of its songs in the Top 75 (although these were credited to their individual performers) and a further four just outside. A month later, Leona Lewis placed five tracks from her album Spirit simultaneously on the singles chart. Another example was anticipated with the arrival of The Beatles' catalogue online, with forecasters predicting the entire top 10 being taken up by Beatles songs. This chart domination never occurred; only four Beatles songs re-entered the Top 75, the highest-placed being "Let It Be" at number 38.

Yet another effect of the new rules was the reappearance in the chart of a number of seasonal favourites during Christmas 2007. A total of 19 achieved this without being officially re-issued (on downloads alone). Two of these (by Mariah Carey and The Pogues), reached the Top 5. Eleven Christmas hits returned to the Top 75 for Christmas 2008, nine in 2009, eight in 2010 and twelve in 2011, with the Mariah Carey and Pogues songs faring best each year.

The first unsigned artist to break the top 5 was Alex Day. He got to number 4 with his single 'Forever Yours' in the Christmas chart, beating Coldplay and Olly Murs. Alex achieved this through social networking sites, most notably, YouTube. He asked his subscribers on YouTube, the 'Nermie Army,' to buy the song in an effort to get it to number 1. He also released many remixes of the song in an effort to push the song higher in the charts as a remix counts as another sale on the chart. All the money for any remixes was given to charity, mostly Alex's charity of choice, World Vision. He was offered record deals after this but turned them down and preceded carving his own path and later achieved another top 20 hit with his cover of 'Lady Godiva' achieving number 15 in the second week of April 2012.

The death of Michael Jackson on 25 June 2009 triggered a surge in sales of his recordings; this was the first time in the download era that the effect of a major star's death on the chart could be observed. During the week beginning 28 June, a total of 16 of his solo hits (plus 4 more by The Jackson 5) re-entered the chart. The following week, the momentum continued; 27 Jackson titles charted in the Top 75 (21 solo, one with his sister Janet and five by the Jacksons) with "Man In The Mirror" charting the highest, at number 2). The second chart invasion of the download era resulting from the death of a major artist was been observed in late July 2011 following the death of Amy Winehouse, with seven former singles charting and one other song appearing for the first time.