Streaming data from services such as Spotify and Google Play will be included on the UK Album Chart from February 23rd.
The Singles Chart has been shaped in part by online streams since last year, and a more complicated formula aimed at fairly introducing the same data to the Album Chart is now being readied in time for the Brit Awards.
“The Official Charts Company’s mission is to compile the most accurate, reliable and up-to-date charts around, and in 2015 that means reflecting the popularity of streaming, alongside downloads, vinyl and – still the most popular album format – the CD,” OCC chief executive Martin Talbot explains.
“Initial indications are that the impact on actual chart positions will be modest to begin with, but we expect this to grow as streaming becomes increasingly popular.”
In a bid to reflect the popularity of an album as a whole, rather than merely its most popular singles, the Charts Company has concocted a frankly tedious mathematical formula which will ‘down-weight’ the top performing two songs from each album to the average of the next 10. The number of streams will then all be added together and divided by 1,000.
