The British Phonographic Organisation (BPI) has announced that a combined physical and digital singles chart will be published on April 17th. Reported by industry magazine Music Week, it is expected that the move will transform the UK singles market.
Speaking to the magazine, BPI executive chairman Peter Jamieson said that the new-look chart would offer a far better reflection of consumer tastes. He explained: "It will be the most significant change in the way the chart is made up for many, many years and it reflects the way consumers are now buying music."
Digital downloads have now dramatically closed the gap on physical sales.
Last week there were 342,000 downloads, compared to 396,000 sales of physical formats. The Chemical Brothers currently top the official Download Chart with "Galvanize".
However, the move to merge the two charts was delayed from a proposed launch on March 20th because independent labels are still under-represented on digital services.
Music Week reports that of the 26 independent releases featured in the physical singles Top 75 a week ago, six were not available on any of the leading iTunes, OD2 and Napster services, seven were only on one and 10 tracks were on two. On this, Omar Maskatiya from the Official Charts Company commented: "It became clear over the first couple of months of this year the indies wouldn't be reflected as they are in the physical chart at the moment. The situation has been improving, but not in time for a March 20th launch."
