Music Single Downloads

U.K. to Launch Weekly Sales Chart for Music Single Downloads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 29, 2004 - 7:06am.
London -- The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said it would launch an official chart for downloaded music singles by Sept. 1. The BPI said the chart would record the sale of paid tracks from websites run by OD2, iTunes, HMV, Coca-Cola and Microsoft's MSN, among others. The organization has already released a Top 20 list for the third week of June, with the Pixies' iTunes-exclusive "Bam Thwok" leading U.K. download sales, followed by Maroon5's "This Love," OutKast's "Hey Ya!" and Anastacia's "Left Outside Alone." "Music remains overwhelmingly a CD market," said BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson. "But the excitement and energy surrounding the new legal music sites is giving a lift to the entire market." The chart will be compiled by the Official UK Chart Company, and the results will be broadcast by Radio 1, the BPI said.