Today we have the first 'songs' chart under the new chart regulations, and what's changed, now that we can see, without exclusions, just what people are buying, in any format?

It's useful to take a look first at last week's download chart. I've picked out all the tracks that were in the download top 40 last week, but didn't appear anywhere in the overall Top 75, for various reasons. These are the tracks which would have been thought most likely to break into the top 40 today, with the restrictions lifted.

In green, I've added where they are in today's combined chart, or red if they're not in it.

Last week's
DOWNLOADS
chart position / Title - Artist Position in today's SINGLES chart.

04 Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol 9 Re-entry
10 All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey Not in Top 75
23 Monster – The Automatic 33 Re-entry
24 Maneater – Nelly Furtado 38 Re-entry
30 You Give Me Something – James Morrison 50 Re-entry
31 You Don’t Know – Eminem/50 Cent/Lloyd Banks 32 New entry
32 Last Christmas – Wham! Not in Top 75
35 Everytime We Touch – Cascada 42 Re-entry
36 Crazy - Gnarls Barkley 30 Re-entry
37 When You Were Young - The Killers 55 Re-entry
39 Mad World – Michael Andrews feat. Gary Jules 58 Re-entry
40 A Great Big Sled – The Killers Not in Top 75

So, it's pretty much as expected. The three Christmas tracks have disappeared completely, but all the other tracks which were selling strongly on download but were excluded last week have re-entered the singles chart today. The Eminem/50 Cent/Lloyd Banks track is the exception. It becomes a first time entry at 32 as the CD release was previously sold with a free gift, which broke the former chart regulations. That freebie now has no bearing on the track's download sales, so it's allowed to enter the chart for the first time, after being out for a few weeks.

There are, as yet, no tracks which have come 'from out of nowhere' to enter the chart, but it will happen, sooner rather than later, I imagine, certainly from any major celebrity's death (although there's been no James Brown surge, which is perhaps surprising). It could also come from a track being featured prominently in a TV programme or advert. If these new regulations had been in place while The X-Factor was on, we would have seen The Proclaimers back in the Top 40. (It's at times like this that we will miss Top Of The Pops more than ever!) This was due to the MacDonald Brothers' performance of their song, 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)', which caused a massive surge in download sales for the original. (It happened to a lesser extent with several songs performed on The X Factor. From songs covered by the contestants to the album track that Westlife performed with Delta Goodrem, many of them appeared in the lower end of the download chart, as did Kelly Clarkson's original version of Leona's hit song.)

Below the Top 40, only three 'oldies' have made a reappearance due to being 'allowed' in again by the rule changes and none of them are really that old;

64 Numb/Encore - Jay-Z & Linkin Park (Originally no. 14 in December 2004.)
66 Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland (Number 3 in September 2006.)
75 No Tomorrow - Orson (Number 1 in March 2006.)

Of the other new entries in today's chart, both of the big ones, from Eric Prydz vs. Floyd at number 2 and U2 at number 4 were available on CD anyway this week, so they're not download new entries. It's the third highest entry, from JoJo at number 22 which has benefited from another of the rule changes. It has charted on downloads alone TWO weeks before the CD release. It would have had to wait until next week; one week before CD release, to chart under the old rules. It will therefore have to chart again next week on downloads alone, so it will be interesting to see if she can maintain the momentum, or whether the track goes down, perhaps before going back up again when the CD hits the shops. Her previous two hits made number 2 and number 8, so she'll be hoping for higher than today's entry position.

The success story of today is undoubtedly Amy Winehouse, perhaps on the back of her appearance on Jools Holland's Hootenanny on NYE. (Yes, I know, we were out, not watching the telly, but it's been repeated at least twice already at more reasonable times.) As her new single enters on downloads only at 40, the fabulous Rehab, which made number 7 back in October, continues to lurch its drunken way back up the chart, from the gutter of 37 two weeks ago, to last orders at 25 last week, to a crafty lock-in at number 20 today. But the big news for Amy is that her local off-licence is still open second album seems to have become the main beneficiary of record token shopping, leaping back up from 16 to number 2, where it has peaked before. (Mathematicians may note the significance of her products occupying numbers 2, 20 and 40, but I would have to go and put my chart anorak on if I pointed it out, so I won't.) All these sales should keep her well supplied with mascara and booze for a good while yet.

After all that, and some people's fears that the new chart would be dominated by several tracks from the same album, are there any album tracks selling strongly enough to make the Top 75? The answer is yes, but only one: 'Stick To The Status Quo' by the Cast of High School Musical squeezes in at number 74, joining their two singles in the chart (and there's a fourth track of theirs at number 90, according to James Masterton's chart commentary). So, it's not exactly an invasion yet, but it may happen one day.

Overall then, an interesting start for the new chart and Leona claims yet another record (to go with 'biggest selling download ever' and 'most downloads sold on one day') by being the first artist to top it.

Related links:
Diamond Geezer's report on the new chart.
James Masterton's chart commentary on Yahoo! Music.
Further comments from James Masterton on his personal blog.
Report from BBC News on the new chart.
The Top 75 'singles'.
The Top 200 downloads. (This page has published the top 200 downloads for many months, but they've carried on calling it the top 40 downloads, for reasons best known to Yahoo! Music.)
The new chart rules. (Official guide in downloadable PDF format.)

Labels: chart, new regulations, singles

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