Liam Gallagher (Photo: Paul Bachmann for Live4ever)
Coldplay and Oasis are among the acts to have seen their tracks benefit from the recent introduction of online streaming into the UK charts.
From the start of this month, the Official Charts Company has been counting 100 streams on sites such as Spotify as being equivalent to one download or physical copy, and historical singles have also now been brought in line with the changes to reflect their online popularity.
Coldplay’s 2005 single ‘Fix You‘ has been upgraded from Gold to Platinum, reflecting sales of over 600,000, while Oasis’ ‘Champagne Supernova‘ – only officially released as a single in Australia – is now nevertheless Silver in the UK with sales of 200,000.
“The BPI’s certified awards and Platinum, Gold and Silver discs form part of our country’s music heritage, so including audio streams in the sales data for singles represents an important landmark,” Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, tells the BBC.
“It will ensure that our awards remain relevant and up to date in measuring the popularity of our favourite recordings.”