As more music consumption shifts from purchases to ad-supported free plays, should the Top 40 chart shift along with it? The response from The Official UK Charts Company is a resounding “maybe”.
MD Martin Talbot tells BBC News: “The key task that we’ve been getting to grips with over the past 18 months has been ensuring that – post-download and post-permanent ownership of music – we’re also counting how consumers are consuming their music in other ways … That’s been relatively simple when people have bought stuff to keep forever. But that’s going to become increasingly more complicated.”
The charts recognised the shift from physical to digital purchasing by including downloads in the Top 40 from 2005, but the rise of the ad-supported model – as we’ve been reporting here for several months – promises to augment the exchange of cash in music consumption. So when will plays from Spotify, We7 and others be recognised, too… ?
Talbot: “I’m sure it will come upon us quicker than we might anticipate but none of us really know when it will happen. I think ultimately it’s bound to happen. But that could be five years, it could be 10 years, it could be 20 years.”