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UK's official music charts to include video views from July
How do we listen to music these days? Judging by the frothing from record company executives, it's by pretending to watch their promotional videos on YouTube. But that's a problem for the people who are trying to work out what the most popular tracks of the day are, or at least it was. From July, the official UK and Irish singles charts will take into account video plays to determine the week's biggest hits.
UK's official album charts to count records sold at gigs
Many bands sell their first albums on the road. Whether they're touring solo or supporting a larger act, some music fans will purchase their CD at the venue -- provided they like what they heard, of course. Now, the UK's Official Charts Company wants to recognise these sales in the official albums chart. Through a system called "Lightning Live," these impulse purchases will now feed directly into the weekly chart, better reflecting the popularity of smaller artists and labels. It's not clear exactly how they're being recorded, but the company says the system has been road-tested for six months to ensure the numbers are accurate. Back in February, streaming figures were added to the official albums chart too. The way people are paying for music is slowly changing -- fewer people are buying CDs from a store -- so these moves should help to keep the musical rankings relevant.
