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The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the
Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...
(OCC), on behalf of the British
record industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
, listing the top-selling singles in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV (Official UK Top 40), is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the
Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...
(OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2005 and streaming in July 2014. The OCC website contains the Top 100 chart. Some media outlets only list the Top 40 (such as the BBC, with their Radio 1 show following the lead of
Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...
's American Top 40 in the 1970s) or the Top 75 (such as ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' magazine, with all records in the Top 75 described as 'hits') of this list. The chart week runs from 00:01 Friday to midnight Thursday. The Top 40 chart is first issued on Friday afternoons by
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
as '' The Official Chart'' from 16:00 to 17:45, before the full Official Singles Chart Top 100 is posted on the Official Charts Company's website. A rival chart show, '' The Official Big Top 40'', is broadcast on Sunday afternoons from 16:00 to 19:00 on Capital and
Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...
stations across the United Kingdom. The Official Big Top 40 is based on Apple data only, (Apple Music streams and iTunes downloads) plus commercial radio airplay across the
Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
radio network. The UK Singles Chart began to be compiled in 1952. According to the Official Charts Company's statistics, as of 1 July 2012, 1,200 singles have topped the UK Singles Chart. The precise number of chart-toppers is debatable due to the profusion of competing charts from the 1950s to the 1980s, but the usual list used is that endorsed by the ''
Guinness Book of British Hit Singles ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of t ...
'' and subsequently adopted by the Official Charts Company. The company regards a select period of the '' New Musical Express'' chart (only from 1952 to 1960) and the '' Record Retailer'' chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period up to 11 February 1969, where multiples of competing charts (none official) coexisted side by side. For example, the BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' before 1969 are not listed as chart-toppers according to the legacy criteria of the Charts Company. The first number one on the UK Singles Chart was " Here in My Heart" by
Al Martino Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop croone ...
for the week ending 14 November 1952. As of the week ending 29 December 2022, the UK Singles Chart has had 1405 different number one hits. The current number one is "Food Aid" by
LadBaby Mark Ian Hoyle (born 12 April 1987), better known by his online pseudonym LadBaby, is an English YouTuber, musician, and blogger. His content focuses on his experiences as a father and is usually filmed in collaboration with his wife, Roxanne. T ...
.


History


Early charts

Before the compilation of sales of records, the music market measured a song's popularity by sales of sheet music. The idea of compiling a chart based on sales originated in the United States, where the music-trade paper '' Billboard'' compiled the first chart incorporating sales figures on 20 July 1940. Record charts in the UK began in 1952, when Percy Dickins of the ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') gathered a pool of 52 stores willing to report sales figures. For the first British chart Dickins telephoned approximately 20 shops, asking for a list of the 10 best-selling songs. These results were then aggregated into a Top 12 chart published in ''NME'' on 14 November 1952, with
Al Martino Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop croone ...
's " Here in My Heart" awarded the number-one position. The chart became a successful feature of the periodical; it expanded into a Top 20 format on 1 October 1954, and rival publications began compiling their own charts in 1955. ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
'' compiled its own Top 10 chart for 22 January 1955; it was based on postal returns from record stores (which were financed by the newspaper). The ''NME'' chart was based on a telephone poll. Both charts expanded in size, with ''Mirror''s becoming a Top 20 in October 1955 and ''NME''s becoming a Top 30 in April 1956. Another rival publication, '' Melody Maker'', began compiling its own chart; it telephoned 19 stores to produce a Top 20 for 7 April 1956. It was also the first chart to include Northern Ireland in its sample. ''Record Mirror'' began running a Top 5 album chart in July 1956; from November 1958 onwards ''Melody Maker'' printed the Top 10 albums. In March 1960, '' Record Retailer'' began compiling an EP chart and had a Top 50 singles chart. Although ''NME'' had the largest circulation of charts in the 1960s and was widely followed, in March 1962, ''Record Mirror'' stopped compiling its own chart and published ''Record Retailer''s instead. ''Retailer'' began independent auditing in January 1963, and has been used by the UK Singles Chart as the source for number-ones from the week ending 12 March 1960 onwards. The choice of ''Record Retailer'' as the source has been criticised; however, the chart was unique in listing close to 50 positions for the whole decade. With available lists of which record shops were sampled to compile the charts, some shops were subjected to " hyping" but, with ''Record Retailer'' being less widely followed than some charts, it was subject to less hyping. Additionally, ''Retailer'' was set up by independent record shops and had no funding or affiliation with record companies. However, it had a significantly smaller sample size than some rival charts and had all the EPs taken out the listings between March 1960 - December 1967 (the data for the now 'Official' 1960s EP chart can be found in ''
The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles ''The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles'' is a charts reference book published in October 2008. It replaces the ''Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums'', after the Guinness World Records brand was sold to The Jim Pattison Group (owner o ...
''). On 12 August 1961, 14-year-old Helen Shapiro became the youngest female solo artist to top the chart with her single "You Don't Know" and, as of 14 January 2022, one of nine female solo artists to have topped the chart before their 18th birthday (though none of these nine acts wrote their number one hit single-handedly, with that honour falling to 19-year-old Kate Bush with "Wuthering Heights" in 1978). In 1963, Merseybeat band Gerry And The Pacemakers would become the first act to get their first three hits at number one, an achievement not matched for another twenty years. Before February 1969 – when the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) chart was established – there was no official chart or universally accepted source. Readers followed the charts in various periodicals and, during this time, the
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...
used aggregated results of charts from the ''NME'', ''Melody Maker'', '' Disc'' and (later) ''Record Mirror'' to compile the ''
Pick of the Pops ''Pick of the Pops'' is a long-running BBC Radio programme originally based on the Top 20 from the UK Singles Chart and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 4 October 1955. It transferred to BBC Radio 1 (simulcast on BBC Radio 2) from 19 ...
'' chart.
The Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
and their various ''Hit Singles'' books (whether published by Guinness/HiT Entertainment or Virgin), use as sources for the unofficial period, the ''NME'' before 10 March 1960 and ''Record Retailer'' until 1969. However, until 1969 the ''Record Retailer'' chart was mainly seen by people working in the industry. The most widely circulated chart was the NME one, as used by
Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
's Sunday night ''Top 20'' show, as well as by ABC TV's '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'', which had an audience of up to 6 million on ITV.


Official chart

Before 1969 there was no official singles chart. ''Record Retailer'' and the
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...
commissioned the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) to compile charts, beginning 15 February 1969. The BMRB compiled its first chart from postal returns of sales logs from 250 record shops. The sampling cost approximately £52,000; shops were randomly chosen from a pool of approximately 6,000, and submitted figures for sales taken up to the close of trade on Saturday. The sales diaries were translated into
punch cards A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a piece of stiff paper that holds digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Punched cards were once common in data processing applications or to di ...
so the data could be interpreted by a computer. A computer then compiled the chart on Monday, and the BBC were informed of the Top 50 on Tuesday in time for it to be announced on Johnnie Walker's afternoon show. The charts were also published in ''Record Retailer'' (rebranded ''Record & Tape Retailer'' in 1971 and ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' in 1972) and ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
''. However, the BMRB often struggled to have the full sample of sales figures returned by post. The 1971 postal strike meant data had to be collected by telephone (and that the chart was reduced to a Top 40 during this period), but this was deemed inadequate for a national chart; by 1973, the BMRB was using
motorcycle courier A motorcycle courier, also known as a despatch rider or motorcycle messenger, is a courier using a motorcycle. Motorcycle couriers are common in the major urban centres of Europe, South America (especially Brazil), Asia and North America. ...
s to collect sales figures. In March 1978, two record industry publications, ''Radio & Record News'' and ''Record Business'' both started publishing Top 100 singles charts, so in response, in May 1978, the BMRB singles chart was expanded from a Top 50 to a Top 75, while abolishing the system where some falling records were excluded from the 41-50 section, as well as abandoning the additional list of 10 "Breakers". Earlier that year, the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
'' and the BBC's ''Nationwide'' television programme both investigated chart hyping, where record company representatives allegedly purchased records from chart return shops. A ''
World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'' documentary exposé in 1980 also revealed corruption within the industry; stores' chart-returns dealers would frequently be offered bribes to falsify sales logs.


Electronic-age charts: the Gallup era

From 1983 to 1990, the chart was financed by the
British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...
(50 percent), ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' (38 percent) and the BBC (12 percent). On 4 January 1983, the chart compilation was assumed by
the Gallup Organization Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its b ...
, which expanded the public/''Music Week'' chart to a Top 100 (with a "Next 25" in addition to the Top 75), with the full Top 200 being available to people within the industry. Gallup also began the introduction of computerised compilers, automating the data-collection process. Later in the year, the rules about the kind of free gifts that could come with singles were tightened, as the chart compilers came to the conclusion that a lot of consumers were buying certain releases for the T-shirts that came with them and not the actual record (stickers were also banned). However, bands like
Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...
were still able to release their singles over a wide range of formats including picture discs and various remixes, with ZTT Records putting out "
Two Tribes "Two Tribes" is an anti-war song by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records on 4 June 1984. The song was later included on the album '' Welcome to the Pleasuredome''. Presenting a nihilistic, gleeful lyric ...
" over eight formats in 1984. In June 1987, double pack singles were banned as a format with four-track singles having to be released as a single vinyl 7 inch EP and all singles needing to be under 20 minutes in length, as releases longer than 20 minutes would be classed as an album (with most longer EPs falling into the budget albums category). In July 1987, Gallup signed a new agreement with the BPI, increasing the sample size to approximately 500 stores and introducing
barcode scanners A barcode reader is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes, decode the data contained in the barcode to a computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor for translating optical impulses into e ...
to read data. The chart was based entirely on sales of vinyl single records from retail outlets and announced on Tuesday until October 1987, when the Top 40 was revealed each Sunday (due to the new, automated process). The 1980s also saw the introduction of the
cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980. History The debut ...
(or "cassingle") alongside the
7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...
and 12-inch record formats; in 1987, major record labels developed a common format for the compact disc single, which was allowed to count as a chart format from December 1987. In May 1989, chart regulations kept Kylie Minogue's song "
Hand on Your Heart "Hand on Your Heart" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her second studio album, '' Enjoy Yourself'' (1989), and released as its lead single on 24 April 1989. Much like her previous releases up to ''Let's Get to It'' (1991), the s ...
" from entering at number one because sales from cassette singles were not included (they were sold for £1.99 – cheaper than allowed at the time). Following this, the BPI reduced the minimum price for cassette singles to influence sales figures. In September 1989,
W H Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...
began to send sales data to Gallup directly through electronic point of sale (EPoS) terminals. In January 1990, the BPI gave notice to Gallup, BBC and ''Music Week''; on 30 June 1990, it terminated its contract with them because it "could no longer afford the £600,000 a year cost". From 1 July 1990, the Chart Information Network (CIN) was formed by Spotlight Publications (publisher of ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
''), in cooperation with the BBC and the British Association of Record Dealers (BARD) – representing retailers, including W H Smith, Woolworths,
HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
and
Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
– who agreed to exclusively supply sales data to the CIN. A Chart Supervisory Committee (CSC) represented the BBC, CIN and retailers. The BPI were reluctant to join and "consider dthe option of launching a rival chart" but in September, an agreement was reached, and it joined the CSC. For this period, the chart was produced by Gallup and owned by CIN and ''Music Week'' (who would then sell it to the BBC and BPI), with around 900 shops providing the data from point of sale machines (though the data was distilled back down to a sample of 250 stores to provide a consistency with the charts of the early 1980s). In January 1991, the CIN became a joint venture between Link House Magazines (formerly Spotlight Publications, later Miller Freeman, Inc.) and the BPI; they shared the revenue and costs (reportedly between £750,000 and £1 million). During this time, other retailers (such as Woolworths and
John Menzies John Menzies plc ( , ) is the holding company of Menzies Aviation plc, an aviation services business providing ground handling, cargo handling, cargo forwarding and into-plane (ITP) fuelling, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History The compa ...
) began submitting data using EPoS terminals. In late 1991, the sample consisted of 500 stores scanning barcodes of all record sales into an
Epson PX-4 The Epson PX-4 (HC-40 or HX-40) is a portable CP/M based computer introduced in 1985. The screen was 40×8 characters physical, but 80×25 or 40×50 virtual, making it almost compatible with the Epson PX-8 Geneva. It could be operated from a Nickel ...
computer, and 650 other stores providing sales data through their own EPoS computerised tills. These computers were to be telephoned six times a week, providing the data to Gallup. In June 1991, the BPI reduced the number of eligible formats from five to four. In November 1990, the "Next 25" section of the UK singles chart (positions 76–100, with special rules) ceased to be printed in the trade magazine
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
, who decided to focus on records in the charts described as hits. In April 1991, ''Record Mirror'' ceased publication, along with the "Next 25". At this point, Gallup was compiling a Top 200 singles chart and Top 150 albums chart for industry insiders, with the data accessed by subscribing to ''Music Week'''s spin-off newsletter '' Charts Plus''. (Note: As of December 2020, the Official Charts Company website is still missing much of the data on regards to records in positions 76 to 100 from 1991 to 12 February 1994.) The growth of dance music culture in the late 1980s had resulted in records with many remixes, though with a single only officially running to 20 minutes this meant that many of the European-style maxi-singles could not be included. Therefore, in June 1991, the rules were amended to include maxi-singles with versions/remixes of one song lasting 40 minutes, standard four track/four song releases getting an extra five minutes playing time, and now four formats contributing to the chart position. Due to this ruling, ambient duo
The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...
were able to have a Top Ten hit with "Blue Room", a song that was three seconds short of 40 minutes. In February 1993, the research contract for the chart was put out to tender, with a new four-year contract beginning 1 February 1994 offered. Millward Brown, Research International and Nielsen Market Research were approached, and Gallup were invited to re-apply. In May 1993, it was announced that Millward Brown had been accepted as the next chart compilers, signing a £1-million-a-year contract.
Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
installed JDA EPoS terminals in September 1993, and began providing sales data to Gallup.


Electronic-age charts: the Millward Brown era

Millward Brown took over compiling the charts on 1 February 1994, increasing the sample size; by the end of the month, each shop sampled used a barcode scanner linking via an Epson terminal with a modem to a central computer (called "Eric"), which logged data from more than 2,500 stores. Gallup attempted to block Millward Brown's new chart by complaining to the Office of Fair Trading about the contractual clause in which BARD retailers exclusively supplied sales data to CIN, but the
interim order The term interim order refers to an order issued by a court during the pendency of the litigation. It is generally issued by the Court to ensure Status quo. The rationale for such orders to be issued by the Courts is best explained by the Latin le ...
was rejected. In June 1995 the case was dropped, after the clause allowing BARD retailers to supply sales information to other chart compilers was deleted; because CIN retained the copyright, other compilers could not use (or sell) the information. On 2 April 1995, the number of eligible formats was reduced from four to three. The decision came after nine months of negotiations with BARD, which objected that it would adversely affect the vinyl record industry. Although record labels were not prohibited from releasing singles in more than three formats, they were required to identify the three eligible formats. This resulted in a reduction in the number of singles released in
7-inch In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...
format; the most common three formats were
12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...
, cassette and CD, or a cassette and two CD versions. The ruling resulted in the Oasis single " Some Might Say" charting twice in one week – at number 1 with sales from the three eligible formats, and at number 71 from sales in a fourth (12-inch) format. Subsequently, CIN sought to develop new marketing opportunities and sponsorship deals; these included premium-rate fax and telephone services and the chart newsletters '' Charts Plus'' (published from May 1991 to November 1994) and '' Hit Music'' (published from September 1992 to May 2001). Beginning in May 1991 ''Charts Plus'' featured singles charts with positions 76–200 (plus artist albums positions 76–150, Top 50 compilations, and several genre and format charts). In September 1992, a second newsletter was created: ''Hit Music'', a sister publication of ''Music Week'' featuring (among other charts) the singles Top 75 and a revived "Next 25". In November 1994, ''Charts Plus'' ceased publication; ''Hit Music'' expanded its chart coverage to an uncompressed (without special rules) Top 200 Singles, Top 150 Artists Albums and Top 50 Compilations. In November 1996, the Artist Albums chart extended to a Top 200. ''Hit Music'' ceased publication in May 2001 with issue number 439. In February 1997, CIN and BARD agreed to a new 18-month deal for the charts. In 1998 the CSC agreed to new rules reducing the number of tracks on a single from four to three, playing time from 25 minutes to 20 and the compact disc single minimum dealer price to £1.79. This particularly affected the dance music industry which had previously released CDs full of remixes, with some labels having to edit or fade out remixes early in order to fit them on a CD single. On 1 July 1998, BARD and BPI took over management of the chart from CIN (a Miller Freeman and BPI venture) with new company Music Industry Chart Services (Mics); however, in August they decided to return to compiling the charts under the name CIN. In the late 1990s, the singles chart became more 'frontloaded', with many releases peaking in the first couple of weeks on chart. This helped Irish girl group
B*Witched B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2002, r ...
become the first pop band to debut at the top with each of their first four releases (with the group's singles found at number one in the period between June 1998 to March 1999). Between
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...
and the 1990s, only a few acts had reached number one with their first three chart hits. In the late 1990s, The Spice Girls and current record holders
Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...
also outperformed this feat, with the former getting six and the latter seven number ones from the start of their careers. In 1999, Millward Brown began "re-chipping" some retailers' machines, in anticipation of the millennium bug. However, some independent retailers lost access to the record-label-funded Electronic Record Ordering System (Eros); it was "too costly to make it Year 2000 compliant". Towards the end of the 1990s companies anticipated distributing singles over the Internet, following the example of Beggars Banquet and Liquid Audio (who made 2,000 tracks available for digital download in the US). On the Official Singles Chart for 22 September 2001, DJ Otzi's "Hey Baby" became the first single ever to jump to number one from outside the Top 40 when it went from number 45 to number one. "Hey Baby" had charted for seven weeks outside the Top 40 due to imported copies from the Republic of Ireland being available in UK chart shops and the fact that the officially released UK single had the same catalogue number as the Irish import, meaning that the CIN (Chart Information Network) did not list the two versions as separate versions, as they had done with ATB's "
9 PM (Till I Come) "9 PM (Till I Come)" is a song by German DJ and producer ATB from his debut studio album, ''Movin' Melodies'' (1999). It was co-written by ATB, Angel Ferrerons, Julio Posadas and Yolanda Rivera. It features vocals by Spanish model Yolanda River ...
", which had charted as five separate entries before the official release reached number one. In November 2001, CIN changed its name to "
The Official UK Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
".


Internet era

In January 2004,
MyCoke MyCoke (formerly known as Coke Music and Coke Studios) was an Internet, online chat game used for marketing the Coca-Cola brand and products. It was created in January 2002 by VML Inc (Previously Studiocom) an Atlanta-based digital agency using c ...
Music launched as the "first significant download retailer". Legal downloading was initially small, with MyCokeMusic selling over 100,000 downloads during its first three months. In June the
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
was launched in the UK, and more than 450,000 songs were downloaded during the first week. In early September the
UK Official Download Chart The UK Singles Downloads Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the music industry. Since July 2015, the chart week runs from Friday to Thursday, with the chart date given as the following Thursday. The main chart co ...
was launched, and a new live recording of
Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...
's " Flying Without Wings" was the first number-one. In 2005, the BBC Radio 1 chart show was rebranded for the chart week ending 16 April, with the first singles chart now combining physical-release sales with legal downloads. Several test charts (and a download-sales chart) were published in 2004; this combination (within the official singles chart) reflected a changing era in which sales of physical singles fell and download sales rose. It was said (by
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
presenters JK and Joel on 17 April 2005) that the incorporation of download sales resulted in an approximate doubling of singles sales for this week, but the impact of this doubling was not readily apparent at the top of the chart, although a few singles in the middle positions benefited. Initially, the British Association of Record Dealers was concerned that the popularity of downloading would siphon business from the
High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
. It also complained that including singles not available physically would confuse customers and create gaps in stores' sale racks. However, it agreed to the new rules provided that digital sales were only included to a single's sales tally if there was a physical equivalent sold in shops at the time. Since there was no rule governing a minimum number of pressings, Gorillaz released only 300 vinyl copies of their single " Feel Good Inc." on 12 April 2005 (a month before its general release). This allowed it to debut in the chart at number 22 (eventually reaching number 2), and remain in the Top 40 for a longer period. After pressure from elsewhere in the music industry a second compromise was reached in 2006, which now allowed singles to chart on downloads the week before their physical release. The first song to make the Top 40 on downloads alone was "
Pump It "Pump It" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fourth studio album '' Monkey Business'' (2005). It was written by group members will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Fergie, and produced by will.i.am. The song heavily incorpor ...
" by
The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hi ...
, which charted at number 16 on 12 March 2006. Three weeks later, " Crazy" by
Gnarls Barkley Gnarls Barkley are an American soul duo, composed of singer-songwriter CeeLo Green and producer Danger Mouse. They released their debut studio album, ''St. Elsewhere'', in 2006. It contained their hit single "Crazy", which peaked at number two ...
became the first song to top the charts on download sales alone. As part of the revised rules, singles would now be removed from the chart two weeks after the deletion of their physical formats; "Crazy" left the chart 11 weeks later from number 5. This was in addition to the existing rule that to be eligible for the chart, the physical single had to have been released within the last twelve months, supporting the general view that the chart reflected the top-selling "current" releases. On 1 January 2007, the integration of downloaded music into the charts became complete when all downloads – with or without a physical equivalent – became eligible to chart, redefining the UK singles chart by turning it into a "songs" chart. "
Chasing Cars "Chasing Cars" is a song by Northern Irish-Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, ''Eyes Open'' (2006). It was released on 6 June 2006, in the United States and 24 July ...
" by Snow Patrol returned at a Top 10 position (number 9, just three places below the peak it had reached the previous September), while " Honey to the Bee" by
Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...
(following a tongue-in-cheek promotional push by Radio 1 DJ
Chris Moyles Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X. Previously he has presented '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to ...
to test the new chart rules) reappeared at number 17 (nearly eight years after its original appearance on the charts). In October 2008, P!nk broke the 1982 chart record set by Captain Sensible's "Happy Talk" for biggest Top 40 jump to number one, when "So What" vaulted from 38 to 1 (a statistic which would be matched in 2022 by Adele). The first number-one hit never released physically was " Run" by
Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...
, the 11th song in total to reach number one on downloads alone. Unlike the previous 10, it did not receive a physical release in subsequent weeks (although it was released physically overseas, notably in Germany where the price of a record counted towards the chart position and not just number of units sold).


Christmas number one campaign

In 2009, "
Killing in the Name "Killing in the Name" is a protest song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album. It was released as the lead single from the album in November 1992. It features heavy drop-D guitar riff ...
" by
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commer ...
became the Christmas Number One after English DJ Jon Morter and his wife Tracy launched a campaign to make sure that an act from the ITV talent show ''The X Factor'' was not number one for the fifth time in a row. Influenced by John Otway's 50th birthday hit single fan campaign, which saw Otway's "
Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limit ...
"-sampling single "Bunsen Burner" reach number 9 in 2002 without being stocked by Entertainment UK-associated retailers like Woolworths, the encouraged people on
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
to download the song the week before Christmas. When "Killing in the Name" hit the top spot on 20 December 2009, it became the first download-only single to become the UK Christmas number one and would go on to receive a Guinness World Record for 'Fastest-selling digital track in the UK', after selling 502,672 units in its first week.


Streaming era

It was announced in June 2014 that as of Sunday, 29 June, audio streams from services such as
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
,
Deezer Deezer is a French online music streaming service. It allows users to listen to music content from record labels, as well as podcasts on various devices online or offline. Created in Paris, Deezer currently has 90 million licensed tracks in ...
, Napster, O2 Tracks, Xbox Music, Sony Unlimited, and
rara Rara is a form of festival music that originated in Haiti that is used for street processions, typically during Easter Week. The music centers on a set of cylindrical bamboo trumpets called vaksin, but also features drums, maracas, güiras or g ...
would be counted towards the Official Singles Chart, in order to reflect changing music consumption in the United Kingdom. The final number one on the UK Singles Chart to be based on sales alone was "
Gecko (Overdrive) "Gecko" is a song by Dutch DJ and producer Oliver Heldens. It was released worldwide as a digital download on Beatport on 30 December 2013. It received a mainstream release as a digital download on 13 January 2014 in the Netherlands. The song ...
" by
Oliver Heldens Olivier J. L. Heldens (born 1 February 1995) is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. He is regarded as a pioneer of the future house genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart successes, includ ...
featuring
Becky Hill Rebecca Claire Hill (born 14 February 1994) is a British singer from Bewdley, England. She rose to prominence after appearing on the first series of the then BBC (now ITV) talent contest '' The Voice UK'', auditioning with John Legend's "Ord ...
. On Sunday 6 July 2014, the
Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...
announced that Ariana Grande had earned a place in UK chart history when her single " Problem" featuring
Iggy Azalea Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...
became the first number-one single based on sales and streaming data. On the chart of 16 August 2014, Nico & Vinz's "Am I Wrong" jumped from number 52 to number 1 in its sixth week, after the streaming hit (the first single ever to chart in the Top 75 on streams alone) became available to purchase. On 7 December 2014,
Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...
's "
Thinking Out Loud "Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, recorded for his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the ...
" became the first single to reach number one as a direct result of streaming inclusion. Despite
Union J Union J are an English boy band, consisting of members JJ Hamblett, Jaymi Hensley, George Shelley and Josh Cuthbert. Shelley left the group in 2016 and was replaced by Casey Johnson, who left several months later, Cuthbert left the group ...
's " You Got It All" topping the Sales Chart that week, "Thinking Out Loud" was streamed 1.6 million times in the same week, resulting in an overall lead of 13,000 chart sales. On 10 March 2017, Ed Sheeran claimed 9 of the top 10 positions in the chart when his album '' ÷'' was released. The large number of tracks from the album on the singles chart, 16 in the top 20, led to a change in how the chart is compiled with tracks from a lead artist eligible for entry limited to three. Also the idea of Standard Chart Ratios (SCR) and Accelerated Chart Ratios (ACR) were introduced, with ACR halving streaming points for records that have been in the charts for a while (which includes most catalogue tracks, excepting certain cases), the effect being that a number of hits have plummeted out of the top ten with drops of around 20 places one week only to level off again the next. Due to these factors, on 20 July 2018, "3 Lions" by
The Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based s ...
, Frank Skinner, and
David Baddiel David Lionel Baddiel (; born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, and author. He is known for his work alongside Rob Newman in ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' and his comedy partnership with Frank Skinner. He has als ...
beat the Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir record for number one chart fall and got the ''Guinness World Records award for "largest chart drop from number one on the UK singles chart" by going from number one to number 97. In 2018, Future (publisher of "Louder Sound" publications such as ''
Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
'' and ''
Classic Rock magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...
'') acquired
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
publisher NewBay Media. Future decided that the publication would go monthly from March 2021, and so a bespoke monthly Official Singles Chart Top 75 started to be published from this date alongside monthly albums charts and specialist/genre charts.


The chart in the 2020s

On 1 January 2021, "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" by
LadBaby Mark Ian Hoyle (born 12 April 1987), better known by his online pseudonym LadBaby, is an English YouTuber, musician, and blogger. His content focuses on his experiences as a father and is usually filmed in collaboration with his wife, Roxanne. T ...
dropped down the Official Chart Company's singles chart to number 78 and so became the first new track to drop out of the Top 75 ("hit parade") from number one. In doing so it broke the record for shortest stay in the hit parade for a number one single (as in ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' list of Top 75 singles chart records) with only one week in the Top 75. A week later, "Last Christmas" by
Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling mor ...
became the very first record to disappear completely from number one spot, exiting the Official Charts Company Top 100 chart with no placing on the chart (week ending 14 January 2021). As "Last Christmas" replaced "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" by
LadBaby Mark Ian Hoyle (born 12 April 1987), better known by his online pseudonym LadBaby, is an English YouTuber, musician, and blogger. His content focuses on his experiences as a father and is usually filmed in collaboration with his wife, Roxanne. T ...
, which had dropped down the singles chart to number 78 on 1 January, it was the first time in chart history that two back-to-back number ones had disappeared not only from the BBC Radio 1 Top 40, but the Top 75 as well (though as "Last Christmas" didn't have a chart placing, "3 Lions" is still credited with the record-breaking fall at ''
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''). On 24 December 2021, LadBaby secured their fourth Christmas No.1 in a row with " Sausage Rolls for Everyone", a comedy version of the preceding number one " Merry Christmas" by Ed Sheeran and Elton John (as they were credited by the OCC on the LadBaby version, Sheeran and John happened to be in positions 1 and 2, with these singles acquiring sales of 226,953 between 17 and 23 December 2021). It was the fourth time since 1952 that the number one had been replaced at the top by another version of the same song, with two versions of "Answer Me" in 1953, two versions of "Singing The Blues" alternating at the top in 1957, and one-hit wonder Frankee having an answer record to the number one by Eamon in 2004. " Sausage Rolls for Everyone" made LadBaby join
B*Witched B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2002, r ...
as an act who managed to get their first four singles at number one (with LadBaby having no other hits in their discography), and beat
The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
who had four Christmas number ones over five years between 1963 - 1967, with the Liverpudlian group missing out in 1966 (The Spice Girls also had three consecutively in the 1990s). " Sausage Rolls for Everyone" was also credited as the 70th Official Christmas Number 1 by the OCC, who had also announced that "Killing In The Name" by Rage Against The Machine had been named as the 'UK's Favourite Christmas Number 1 of All Time' in a poll commissioned to celebrate this Christmas Number 1 race. On 7 January 2022, after it had returned to number one for an additional week, "Merry Christmas" became the first record with SCR streaming status (Standard Chart Ratio) to completely drop out of the Top 100 from number one, exiting at the same time as "Sausage Rolls For Everyone". The chart published on 7 January 2022 also saw the first instance when the entire previous week's Top 10 singles (actually the Top 13 singles) had exited the chart. It was not only the Top 10 singles that had disappeared from the chart, but a record breaking 54 singles which had disappeared from the UK Top 75 (including 52 Christmas-themed tracks). This week's chart saw those songs replaced by 12 new entries and 42 re-entries, the largest amount in chart history. In June 2022, the Netflix show ''Stranger Things'' used "
Running Up That Hill "Running Up That Hill", titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" on some releases, is a song by the British singer and songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the United Kingdom as the lead single from Bush's album '' Hounds of Love'' o ...
" by
Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...
in their fourth season, which resulted in the record (which had previously charted in 1985 via EMI and in 2012 via Kate Bush's Fish People record label) re-enter the charts at number 8. On the Official Singles Chart Top 100 of 10 June 2022 to 16 June 2022, the record climbed to number two, even though it was revealed to be the most popular track of the week in the United Kingdom and even though all versions (regardless of it being an album track, live version or remix) now counted to its chart position. Sales for the week had the number one record, Harry Styles' "As It Was", on a SCR total of 55,768 sales, compared to Kate Bush's number two on an ACR sales total of 44,739. Encumbered with ACR, a rule introduced in 2017 to push down a number of long-running 'recent' hits but applied to all catalogue recordings over three years old, saw all totals for Bush's streaming data halved, so that she got one sale for every 200 plays from her 7,470,792 premium audio stream total and one sale from every 1,200 plays of her 1,029,666 ad-funded audio stream total. Added to premium video streams and digital downloads she ended up with the total of 44,739 sales rather than the 83,613 she would have done with a SCR listing. On 14 June 2022, it was revealed that the Chart Supervisory Committee (CSC) had given the record an exemption from the ACR accelerated decline rule, with the record now on a SCR listing, giving Kate Bush the chance to get another number one, more than 44 years after "Wuthering Heights" and the first number one for her own record label, Fish People (as EMI-Universal are no longer the rights holders). On 17 June 2022, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" reached number one on the UK chart and not only did Bush get a second number one, but also the OCC revealed that she had broken three of their chart records. With the gap of 44 years she eclipses Tom Jones's 42-year gap between "Green Green Grass of Home" going to number one and Jones being one of the acts on Comic Relief's "(Barry) Islands in the Stream" with
Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He played Dr Paul Hamilton in the Australian/British comedy series ''Supernova'', Bryn West in the BBC sitcom '' Gavin & Stacey'' ...
, Ruth Jones and Robin Gibb. She also replaced Cher at the top of the list of oldest female artist chart-toppers at 63 years and 11 months, compared to the 52 years that Cher was when "Believe" topped the chart in 1998. Jones and Bush are also on the Top 10 list of oldest artists to score a UK Number 1 single with Bush placed fifth. The last record Bush broke was the one held by Wham!'s "Last Christmas", for the track that has taken the longest time to reach Number 1 with "Running Up That Hill" first entering the chart in August 1985 and getting to the top 37 years later, beating Wham! by a year.


Inclusion criteria

The full regulations may be downloaded from the Official Charts Company website. To qualify for inclusion in the UK singles chart, a single must be available in one or more of the following eligible formats: * Digital audio download music track of up to 15 minutes * Digital audio stream music track of up to 15 minutes * Digital single bundle of up to four tracks with a maximum of 25 minutes playing time * CD with up to two tracks * CD, DVD or other digital memory device with up to four tracks with a maximum of 25 minutes playing time * 7 inch vinyl with up to three tracks or 12 inch vinyl with up to four tracks, and up to 25 minutes playing time * One song and any number of remixes up to a maximum playing time of 40 minutes There are minimum sales prices for all formats apart from on demand digital streams which may be from subscription or advertising funded providers. The streams were initially counted at 100 streams equivalent to one paid download or physical sale, but changed to 150 to 1 in January 2017. Starting with charts published 7 July 2017, tracks by a lead artist eligible for entry in the top 100 would be limited to three. The streams-to-sales ratio for tracks whose sales (including streams) have declined for three consecutive weeks and have charted for at least ten weeks is changed to 300:1 to accelerate removal of older songs.


Chart broadcasts

The
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...
aired ''
Pick of the Pops ''Pick of the Pops'' is a long-running BBC Radio programme originally based on the Top 20 from the UK Singles Chart and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 4 October 1955. It transferred to BBC Radio 1 (simulcast on BBC Radio 2) from 19 ...
'' on its Light Programme radio station on 4 October 1955. Initially airing popular songs, it developed an aggregated chart in March 1958. Using the ''NME'', ''Melody Maker'', ''Disc'' and ''Record Mirror'' charts, the BBC averaged them by totalling points gained on the four charts (one point for a number one, two for a number two, etc.) to give a chart average; however, this method was prone to tied positions. ''Record Retailer'' was included in the average on 31 March 1962, after ''Record Mirror'' ceased compiling its chart. David Jacobs and
Alan Freeman Alan Leslie Freeman, MBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006), nicknamed "Fluff", was an Australian-born British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years, best known for presenting '' Pick of the Pops'' from 1961 to ...
both had stints presenting the ''Pick of the Pops'' chart. Freeman took ''Pick of the Pops'' to its regular Sunday afternoon slot in early 1962. Freeman (along with Pete Murray, David Jacobs and Jimmy Savile) was one of the four original presenters on ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'', which first aired 1 January 1964 on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
(then known as BBC TV). ''Top of the Pops'', like ''Pick of the Pops'', used a combination of predominant periodicals until the formation of the BMRB chart in 1969. From 30 September 1967
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
was launched along with BBC Radio 2, succeeding the Light Programme, and the Top-20 ''Pick of the Pops'' chart was simulcast on both stations. Freeman continued to present the show until September 1972, and was succeeded by Tom Browne who presented the chart, also on Sundays, from October 1972 to March 1978.
Simon Bates Simon Philip Bates (born 17 December 1946) is an English disc jockey and radio presenter. Between 1976 and 1993 he worked at BBC Radio 1, presenting the station's weekday mid-morning show for most of this period. He later became a regular pres ...
took over from Browne, and under Bates it became a Top-40 show in 1978. Bates was succeeded by Tony Blackburn, who presented the show for two-and-a-half years;
Tommy Vance Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston (11 July 1940 – 6 March 2005), known professionally as Tommy Vance, was an English radio broadcaster. He was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), a ...
, who presented for two years, Bates returned in January 1984 and presented the show until September that year, then Richard Skinner for eighteen months.
Bruno Brookes Trevor Neil "Bruno" Brookes (born 1959 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English former radio presenter who became prominent on British radio in the 1980s. He was CEO of in-store radio company Immedia from 2000–2020. Early life and care ...
took over in 1986 and, in October 1987, automated data collection allowed the countdown to be announced on the Sunday chart show (instead of on Tuesdays). In 1990, Brookes was replaced as presenter by
Mark Goodier Mark Goodier (born 9 June 1961) is a British radio disc jockey best known for his time on BBC Radio 1 between 1987 and 2002. He had two spells presenting the station's Top 40 singles chart, from 1990 to 1992 and from 1995 until 2002. He also h ...
, but returned 18 months later. Goodier took over from Brookes once more in 1995 and continued presenting the show until 2002. In February 2003 Wes Butters hosted the chart show; two years later his contract was not renewed, and he was replaced by JK and Joel. The duo were made redundant by Radio 1 in September 2007;
Fearne Cotton Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', a ...
and
Reggie Yates Reginald (Reggie) Yates (born 31 May 1983) is a British writer and director with a career spanning three decades on screen as an actor, television presenter and radio DJ. Yates played Leo Jones in ''Doctor Who'' and has worked at the BBC in ra ...
replaced them at the helm of the chart show. Cotton left in September 2009, and until 2012 the chart show was hosted by Yates. Yates left Radio 1 at the end of 2012, because he wanted to spend more time with his family, as well as focusing more on television. Jameela Jamil took over from him in January 2013, becoming the first woman to host, alone, the BBC Chart show before being replaced by
Clara Amfo Clara Amfo (born 22 May 1984) is a British radio broadcaster, television presenter, podcast host and voice-over artist. She is known for presenting her shows on BBC Radio 1. Early life and education Amfo was born in Kingston upon Thames in Lo ...
. On 10 July 2015, Greg James took over from Amfo, when the new chart announcement was moved to Friday afternoons, with Scott Mills being the regular presenter of the chart as of 2022 (with Mills taking over from James on 15 June 2018).


Midweek chart updates

From March 2010 Greg James hosted a half-hour show at 3:30 pm on Wednesdays, announcing a chart update based on midweek sales figures previously only available to the industry. The managing director of the Official Charts Company, Martin Talbot, said in a statement that it would provide "insight into how the race for number one is shaping up". Scott Mills became the host of the Chart Update from April 2012, due to schedule changes which saw Mills host what was Greg's early afternoon show. When the chart moved to Fridays in July 2015, the chart update moved to 5:30 pm on Mondays. The show was then once again hosted by Greg James and the top ten songs are quickly overviewed with the top three being played in full before
Newsbeat ''Newsbeat'' is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. ''Newsbeat'' is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for a specifically yo ...
at 5:45pm. It was presented by Nick Grimshaw due to his swap of times with Greg James. In 2019 it was moved to a new time of Sunday evenings between 6 pm and 7 pm presented by
Cel Spellman Ceallach Spellman ( ; born 31 August 1995) is an English actor and presenter best known for playing Matthew Williams in the revival of ITV (TV network), ITV drama ''Cold Feet'', Harry Fisher in the BBC One school-based drama ''Waterloo Road (TV ...
and Katie Thistleton replacing the Radio 1 Most Played Chart. The top twenty is overviewed with around fifteen songs being played in full, including the top ten.


Official Trending Chart

Since February 2016, the Official Charts Company have published the Official Trending Chart. Published every Tuesday morning (a day after the full midweek chart comes out at 5:45pm) the chart is based on the first three sales days of each week, highlights new and future hits (those tracks not officially in the Top 10), and works in conjunction with a playlist found on Spotify, Deezer and via Apple Music.


Sponsorship

In 1999, the chart was sponsored by worldpop.com with the company receiving name recognition during the BBC programme. However, the deal ended when the website went out of business in late 2001. As part of an agreement with '' Billboard'' to publish the UK chart in section of their magazine, ''Billboard'' required the chart to have a sponsor. In 2003, it was announced that
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
had signed a two-year contract with the Official Charts Company beginning 1 January 2004. Although the amount was not publicly disclosed, it was believed to be between £1.5 million and £2 million. Since advertising on the BBC is prohibited under the BBC Charter and the government was attempting to reduce childhood obesity, the decision was widely criticised. Coca-Cola was restricted to two on-air mentions during the chart show, with the BBC justifying the deal by saying it did not negotiate or benefit financially. A few days into the contract, the BBC agreed to drop on-air mentions of the brand.


Comparison of singles charts (1952–1969)

With no official chart before 1969, a number of periodicals compiled their own charts during the 1950s and 1960s.
Pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...
stations such as Radio London and Radio Caroline also broadcast their own charts. The five main charts (as used by
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''
Pick of the Pops ''Pick of the Pops'' is a long-running BBC Radio programme originally based on the Top 20 from the UK Singles Chart and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 4 October 1955. It transferred to BBC Radio 1 (simulcast on BBC Radio 2) from 19 ...
'') were: * ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') (1952–1988): The first singles chart, a major source until March 1960, widely followed throughout the 1960s * ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
'' (1955–1962): The second singles chart; compiled the first album chart, published ''Record Retailer'' chart from 1962. The ''Pick of the Pops'' average stopped using ''Record Mirror'' after 21 May 1960, due to the paper changing its weekly publication day * '' Melody Maker'' (1956–1988): The third singles chart, major source for album charts from 1958 onwards * ''Disc'' (1958–1967): The fourth singles chart * '' Record Retailer'' (1960–1969): The fifth singles chart; a trade paper, regarded as a major source from its inception; jointly formed BMRB chart in 1969. Not included in the ''Pick of the Pops'' average until 31 March 1962.


See also

*
UK Singles Chart records and statistics The UK Singles Chart was first compiled in 1969. However the records and statistics listed here date back to 1952 because the Official Charts Company counts a selected period of the ''New Musical Express'' chart (only from 1952 to 1960) and the ...
* List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart *
List of artists who have spent the most weeks on the UK music charts This is a list of artists who have spent more than 1000 weeks on the UK Singles Chart and UK Albums Chart combined. Only 33 artists have achieved this milestone. It uses the methodology used to compile a top 500 list in the ''British Hit Singles ...
* List of best-selling singles by year in the United Kingdom * List of UK Singles Chart number ones *
List of UK Singles Chart Christmas number ones In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volum ...
*
Lists of UK top 10 singles List of UK top-ten singles is a series of lists showing all the singles that have reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart in a particular year. Before 1969, there was no single officially recognised chart, but the ''New Musical Express'' (1952 ...
*
Official Classical Singles Chart The Official Classical Singles Chart was a record chart based on downloads and music streaming, streaming of classical music in the United Kingdom. Each week's chart was compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) and was first published on Mon ...
* Official Subscription Plays Chart *
List of one-hit wonders on the UK Singles Chart This is a list of artists who have achieved one number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart and no other entry on the chart. The list uses the strict '' The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' definition of "one-hit wonder", a term also commonly use ...
*
UK R&B Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Albums, or simply the UK Urban Chart) are 40-posi ...
*
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
*
UK Singles Downloads Chart The UK Singles Downloads Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the music industry. Since July 2015, the chart week runs from Friday to Thursday, with the chart date given as the following Thursday. The main chart con ...
*
UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...
;Chart magazines * ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...
'' (incorporated ''Disc and Music Echo'' in 1975 and became Music Week's dance section in 1991) * ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' (incorporated ''Record Mirror'' in 1991) * '' Charts Plus'' (a subscription newsletter published by Music Week in the 1990s) * '' Hit Music'' (a subscription newsletter published by Music Week, published alongside Charts Plus) * ''
UKChartsPlus ''UKChartsPlus'' is an independent weekly newsletter about the UK music charts. It was first published in September 2001 as ''ChartsPlus'' in order to authoritatively record the official music chart information in the United Kingdom, as compiled ...
'' (the replacement to Hit Music and the original Charts Plus newsletters) * '' Record Retailer'' * ''
Number One Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...
(used the Network Chart until being bought by the BBC) ;Rival charts and chart shows * ''
The Network Chart Show ''The Commercial Radio Chart Show'' is a radio programme that was broadcast across commercial adult contemporary and contemporary hit radio stations across the United Kingdom, from 30 September 1984 to 30 December 2018. It had many different nam ...
'' * Pepsi Chart * '' Hit40uk'' * '' The Sky VIP Official Big Top 40'' * The eXpat Chart * MiTracks Countdown (developed by EMAP and GCap Media, used by cd:uk on ITV in 2005) * ''Massive 40 - The Ultimate UK Chart Show'' (currently presented by Jason Scott, this is a chart show for community stations like Takeover Radio in Leicester and Hive Radio UK in Manchester. Produced by Mike Robinson, using data compiled from the UK and Ireland by DTR, the show is broadcast on a Sunday and features the Top 40 records played in full as well a separate charts for albums and pre-releases). * ''The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read'', a pop music countdown featuring veteran acts, presented by the former Radio 1 disc jockey
Mike Read Michael David Kenneth Read (born 1 March 1947) is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter. Read has been a broadcaster since 1976, best known for having been a DJ with BBC Radio 1, and television host for musi ...
and shared by
Talking Pictures TV Talking Pictures TV (TPTV) is a British free-to-air vintage-film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky channel 343, but later also became available on Freeview, Freesat, and Virgin Media. It is on air for 24 h ...
, the Local TV network of channels and various radio stations. ;Chart books * ''
Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of t ...
'' (originally just the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles) * ''
The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles ''The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles'' is a charts reference book published in October 2008. It replaces the ''Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums'', after the Guinness World Records brand was sold to The Jim Pattison Group (owner o ...
'' (a continuation of the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles)


Notes


References

;Footnotes ;Sources * * * *


External links

*
Rules for Chart Eligibility: Singles
*
Music Week
Top 75 {{DEFAULTSORT:Uk Singles Chart BBC Radio 1 British record charts 1969 establishments in the United Kingdom