UK CHART COMMENTARY from JAMES MASTERTON

[KiwiCoromandel]

UK Charts - Sunday April 10, 2005

This week genuinely marks the end of an era. The big day has been put off once already but despite some continued grumbles from independent labels next week will see one of the biggest changes in the singles chart for a generation as online downloads will be factored in to the main chart listing for the first time ever. Sure, different formats have come and gone in the past - we have gone from tracking the sales of 78rpm shellac records through 45rpm 7-inch singles, the 12-inch extended mix, the cassingle and the varied forms of the CD single - but all of those were a simple widening of the scope of the survey. Never before has a new means of music distribution been invented, popularised, belatedly regulated and compiled into its own rundown prior to finally being acknowledged by the full, official singles chart.

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http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/charts/comment.html