Am i the only one who doesnt understand the charts anymore?

[jonloch1]

I'm a big JLS fan [the UK boyband, not Jamie Lyn Spears lol] and was gutted to see it only made it to no76. But tbh I honestly don't understand the charts anymore as they were no4 on iTunes and all of Steps singles recently have charted low and they àre deemed a success but according to the official charts website Scared Of The Dark only went to ño37. And the rest of their singles have missed top 10 most have missed top 20. But they are deemed a success. And I remember Claire saying in an interview in 2017 that their physical sales were tiny but their streaming figures were huge but Ed Sheeren was the other way around. And it looks like JLS Is the same as Steps which makes sense because all their fans are young and probably just stream their music now hence why they are only no76 on the official chart but no4 on iTunes

I mean this isn't me being an avid JLS fan sticking up for them no matter what. I like their song but I was worried it wasn't catchy enough for general non JLS fans. But I genuinely don't understand the charts and people saying oh it's no76 on the official charts it's a flop which I don't blame them for because I initially felt the same. But they are no4 on iTunes and no5 on the official download chart (Ed Sheeran is only no4 on that chart) which I would have thought was good considering most JLS fans are young and won't buy physical CD singles anymore (it must be 20 years since I did) hence why they charted very low in the official 100. But people are quick to label them a flop even though Steps and many others are the same

What exactly makes a single deemed as 'successful'? Because people are saying JLS have 'flopped' because they are only no76 in the UK charts but then i can see why as their fans are still young and none of them would buy their physical CD single now. Same with Steps. But then they are no4 on iTunes and no5 on the official download chart and it seems everyone is forgetting that, they are just focusing on the official UK chart which nowadays seems irrelevant. You could go to no1 and sell only 1,000 copies nowadays

Are the charts even relevant now?

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[Jordan Miller]

Not me thinking JLS was

[Moscow]

It depends how you are thinking of it, charts have been manipulated since day one you guys really think Mariah had 19 No 1 without payola? US is not even her biggest market, I love Mariah but lets not be delusional. 

Earlier, MTV or radio was the only way to listen to music so whatever was new you knew it now with streaming era it's not possible because it's too flooded. 

Then, streaming is 92% of the business now but they are not paying artists their lunches thats why artists like Ariana, Taylor are bringing back vinyls so that their fans buy it. 

Charts have always been manipulated but now as everything is digitally its even more now, you can buy 10 copies of one song if your fave releases them and fans will because music buying is hell cheap now digitally these all things adds up, like planet her by doja sold 10K physically but she had huge radio push and play listing so it gave her the boost in streaming hence she charted among the top 5 on BB! 

Fans use VPN, host buying parties so that their fave can chart and it's really not that difficult also you can easily do it thats why charts are dead and it really doesn't matter neither should be compared as physical era charts was very difficult and people went out to buy your music + buying music was also expensive those days. 

 

[Lou]

Jamie lynn is sooooo irrelevant. It's no surprise she hasn't peak on the 100 billboard chart 

[FemmeFataleBrit]

5 minutes ago, Lou said:

Jamie lynn is sooooo irrelevant. It's no surprise she hasn't peak on the 100 billboard chart 

Can’t tell if you’re joking or not but OP isn’t referring to Jamie Lynn. JLS is a popular UK band from the 2000s.

[Broccoli Spears]

The UK charts are particularly a mess but all charts are meaningless now given the way “sales” are counted.

[jonloch1]

38 minutes ago, FemmeFataleBrit said:

Can’t tell if you’re joking or not but OP isn’t referring to Jamie Lynn. JLS is a popular UK band from the 2000s.

PMSL yeh im not talking about Jamie Lynn haha its weird, some people on here abbreviate her name to JLS and i always think its the UK boyband that im talking about on this thread lol

[jonloch1]

25 minutes ago, Broccoli Spears said:

The UK charts are particularly a mess but all charts are meaningless now given the way “sales” are counted.

yeh thats my problem now. people are saying JLS have flopped which i understand why because they are only no 76 on the UK singles chart which at first sounds bad and years ago that would have been end of music career. But they are no5 on the downloads charts  and no4 on iTunes which in 2021 i would have thought that would make it deemed  'successful' because who buys physical singles now anyway. Majority downloads and streams. So i would think a top 5 on the downloads and iTunes chart would make the single deemed a 'success' but people are calling it a 'flop' which i dont understand

[F3rzz]

i thought it was Jumbo Lou releasing "Eternal Love" and just got mad ajwkjkwjkaw the nerve the cheek the gall and the gumption

[F3rzz]

9 minutes ago, jonloch1 said:

yeh thats my problem now. people are saying JLS have flopped which i understand why because they are only no 76 on the UK singles chart which at first sounds bad and years ago that would have been end of music career. But they are no5 on the downloads charts  and no4 on iTunes which in 2021 i would have thought that would make it deemed  'successful' because who buys physical singles now anyway. Majority downloads and streams. So i would think a top 5 on the downloads and iTunes chart would make the single deemed a 'success' but people are calling it a 'flop' which i dont understand

if not many people "buy" music then it's not as difficult to chart in "Buying lists" therefore making those lists kinda irrelevant. that's my guess

[jonloch1]

1 minute ago, F3rzz said:

if not many people "buy" music then it's not as difficult to chart in "Buying lists" therefore making those lists kinda irrelevant. that's my guess

yeh. tbh many JLS fans are young under 30 year old who wont buy physical copies [including me, i buy physical CD albums but havent bought a CD single in 20 y;ears at least] so its no wonder they charted low in the official chart. But what i dont understand is why people still fixate on the official chart and say oh they only got to no76 which i understand why because that looks bad, but completely ignore thats its no4 on download charts and i think no5 on iTunes which to me sounds like a success. i dont get it. But all of Steps singles since 2017 have all missed top 20 but they are deemed a 'success'. doesnt make sense lol

[bh9789]

At least one JLS has had a sustaining music career in many countries where as the other JLS is facing repercussions for backing the wrong people.  

[LeglessJamie]

I mean it's easy to manipulate the charts when fans gather as one... when you're a premium Spotify user per example, it takes about 100 streams of 1 song to count as a sale (free users would have to stream it about 600 times).

When Britney released Mood Ring on streaming platforms or whenever Taylor releases new music, I download it, shut my wifi off and let it play all day AND night. I streamed Mood Ring about 1200 times one the first day when it got released, meaning she got around 12 sales from me ALONE.

While 12 sales may look not that much, you have to multiply it for ALL fans doing this. + I also buy and gift though iTunes as well.

Streaming made manipulating thr charts only easier.

Also iTunes uses a different algorithm so being #1 on iTunes doesn't mean it will chart on the Billboard charts at #1 at all but the chances are higher since they count as sales.

Charts are just a sum of streaming, buying, ...

[Princess Britney 007]

Just like how the internet has changed the way people consume the entertainment stuff. 

[jonloch1]

12 hours ago, IForgotYouExisted said:

I mean it's easy to manipulate the charts when fans gather as one... when you're a premium Spotify user per example, it takes about 100 streams of 1 song to count as a sale (free users would have to stream it about 600 times).

its funny you say that because i do remember Claire from Steps saying in this interview  in 2017 ive put up below, you have to play an album 1,000 times for 1 album sale. which to me boggles my mind. i dont play even my favourite artist's album a thousand times, maybe over like 10 years not certainly not in a week and i doubt anyone else does. so its no wonder a lot of singles are charting low. its like, i looked into Steps recent chart positions in the UK and i was shocked that their comeback single Scared of the Dark only went to no37 , no 7 on downloads and then the rest of their singles since then havent even charted and most have missed the top 20. [i love Steps btw and im seeing  them in November so im not bashing them lol]. so it doesnt make sense that Steps are deemed a 'success'. but because JLS' comeback single only went no76 [but went top 10 on itunes and downloads], people are already labelling them a 'flop'. it doesnt make sense lol

,

[Mxra]

26 minutes ago, jonloch1 said:

[i love Steps btw and im seeing  them in November so im not bashing them lol].

I'm going to see them in November too. I met them today at their Leeds album signing. They were all really nice! :D 

Also: charts to me don't make any sense either, especially how things like the itunes charts translate to the official charts. Steps have big physical sales but very low streaming sales. I'm curious to see how WTFH2 does in the charts. Seems like it's selling well physically but streaming wise, it's being streamed less than WTFH which debuted at #2.  

[Spicechinodiva]

I think streaming should be not counted at all cos repeating a track, counts it should be cut off..

 

ABBA went top ten due to having the physical available at the same time then waiting a couple of months. 

[jonloch1]

1 hour ago, ol123 said:

I'm going to see them in November too. I met them today at their Leeds album signing. They were all really nice! :D 

Also: charts to me don't make any sense either, especially how things like the itunes charts translate to the official charts. Steps have big physical sales but very low streaming sales. I'm curious to see how WTFH2 does in the charts. Seems like it's selling well physically but streaming wise, it's being streamed less than WTFH which debuted at #2.  

Yeh so is  WTFH2 a success then? Cos ok  its selling well physically and very few are streaming it. so is it a 'flop' because practically no one is streaming it? it just makes no sense

im jealous you met them lol they do seem lovely in  every interview they do. i havent seen them live before, tried in 2017 but couldnt get tickets. just hope November still happens  

[LeglessJamie]

12 hours ago, jonloch1 said:

its funny you say that because i do remember Claire from Steps saying in this interview  in 2017 ive put up below, you have to play an album 1,000 times for 1 album sale. which to me boggles my mind. i dont play even my favourite artist's album a thousand times, maybe over like 10 years not certainly not in a week and i doubt anyone else does. so its no wonder a lot of singles are charting low. its like, i looked into Steps recent chart positions in the UK and i was shocked that their comeback single Scared of the Dark only went to no37 , no 7 on downloads and then the rest of their singles since then havent even charted and most have missed the top 20. [i love Steps btw and im seeing  them in November so im not bashing them lol]. so it doesnt make sense that Steps are deemed a 'success'. but because JLS' comeback single only went no76 [but went top 10 on itunes and downloads], people are already labelling them a 'flop'. it doesnt make sense lol

,

download the album, shut off your wifi and mute the sound.

Then let it play all night for the entire week. It counts as streams and thus as sales.

I do this ALL the time since years for Britney and Taylor Swift ;) 

[jonloch1]

9 hours ago, IForgotYouExisted said:

download the album, shut off your wifi and mute the sound.

Then let it play all night for the entire week. It counts as streams and thus as sales.

I do this ALL the time since years for Britney and Taylor Swift ;) 

Its quite ridiculas we have to do that nowadays though lol