Music DLC to Count in UK Singles Charts

Impulse Singstore buys might start affecting more than just your wallet.
Published 10/07/2009 at 13:30 by Lorcan
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Whether you’re downloading the latest Pearl Jam album for a rock off with your friends or “Hit me Baby One More Time” as a quiet guilty pleasure you’ve never really had to think about the effect your purchases can have on the wider world. However, if talks between format holders and publishers go to plan, that could change as the Official Charts Company hopes to include gaming DLC in the official UK charts.

Opinion is divided as to whether this is a good thing or not but to be honest, with the singles chart in the state that it is right now, can it get any worse? I’m seventeen and I think it’s full of rubbish. Regardless, it’s fantastic to see gaming getting this kind of recognition and is being taken seriously by other industries. Not only that, but with DLC having more of an effect it will also make it more attractive to record companies meaning we could get even more great stuff to download and play.

To get a song in the top ten nowadays you only need around 5000 sales and by the end of last year, the Rock Band store had passed 28 million downloads and this number can only have grown since then. This is the figure for total worldwide sales but once you factor in Singstar, Guitar Hero and Lips for the UK alone, there are a lot of gaming musical downloads so should this go through, we might see it having an even bigger effect than what we might be expecting.

Thanks, Tuffcub

Comments

Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.

  1. I think this is brilliant
    And I’m 17 too, and think that the chart is a pile.


  2. Can only be good news. It will promote more musicians to get involved with games and maybe it will help clear the charts of the mindless drivel that is usually in there.


  3. I can’t see this actually having an effect on the top 40. The whole Top 200 maybe but seriously, I can’t imagine that there’d be enough people buying the DLC straight away for it to cause enough of a ripple.
    Like you say though, it should certainly mean better DLC for the games…and possibly some kind of competitive pricing.


  4. You’re only 17? I for some reason thought you were all miles older than me (17 too!)


  5. The charts have only ever been used as a marketing tool to sell music and tell people what they should buy, so I guess this wont make much difference to the world.. Although, it would be nice to see Pearl Jam in the charts again (As you can prolly guess, Im waaay over 17). :)


  6. I think this could be a double edged sword; it will possibly mean more exposure for the bands/artists but will put even more pressure on the labels to license the tracks out to the games companies that pay through very little.


  7. You only need 5000 songs to get into the top ten? Really?


    • Only if it’s been a really poor week, for the last two weeks 10th place has sold over 20k units. To be fair the singles market is pretty much dead.


  8. 16 and I quite like chart music. Guess I’m too mainstream ha.

    But this is quite interesting. Reckon it shall have a bigger effect than expected!


  9. The charts suck so much, even top of the pops isn’t on because they suck.
    Game DLC should be included and I think it’s a good idea.


  10. i think its a great idea to do this it will have a huge effect


  11. hmm 15 but heay i like chart music! good job gh