Official Irish Downloads Chart Coming...

[Shakyfan]

According to Hot Press magazine Ireland may be about to get an official downloads chart. The weekly chart is currently based entirely on over the counter sales but IRMA are currently in discussions about getting test data to see how the introduction of downloads would affect the main chart. It is hoped to get a downloads-only chart up and running by the start of July and if all goes well with that a combined chart would be introduced later.

[Colin]

Great! About time too! I hope they combine the charts soon, its so much better that way, and the UK chart is looking better than ever

[beatlened]

Where do Irish people download from? What are the most popular sites? and are any of them actually based in Ireland?

[Shakyfan]

There's a link on the Irma homepage which throws up some legal download sites!

Name: Content Partners: Minimum Songs:

Ireland

Connect Ireland All majors and indies 500000

Eircom All majors 250,000 by 8,500 artists

iTunes Ireland All majors and indies 700,000

Mycokemusic All majors and indies 350000

Vitaminic Music Club Ireland All majors and some indies 500,000

Wippit Ireland All majors and indies 1,000,000

I've used the Eircom one and it's OK!

And here is the very first published Irish download chart:

Numbers in brackets indicate position on the overall, combined chart

01 (01) HIPS DON'T LIE Shakira feat Wyclef Jean
02 (03) MANEATER Nelly Furtado
03 (07) SEXY LOVE Ne-Yo
04 (02) I WISH I WAS A PUNK ROCKER Sandi Thom
05 (--) UNFAITHFUL Rihanna
06 (16) JULY (LIVE) Mundy
07 (06) FROM PARIS TO BERLIN Infernal
08 (04) BUTTONS Pussycat Dolls
09 (17) FASTER KILL PUSSYCAT Oakenfold feat. Brittany Murphy
10 (--) AIN'T NO OTHER MAN Christina Aguilera
11 (11) CRAZY Gnarls Barkley
12 (25) STAND BY ME Shayne Ward
13 (--) STARS ARE BLIND Paris Hilton
14 (21) DANI CALIFORNIA Red Hot Chili Peppers
15 (08) HARD ROCK HALLELUJAH Lordi
16 (19) IN THE MORNING Razorlight
17 (18) MAS QUE NADA Sergio Mendes feat. Black Eyed Peas
18 (27) STEADY, AS SHE GOES Raconteurs
19 (09) WHO KNEW P!nk
20 (12) BREAKAWAY Kelly Clarkson

It does seem that download singles are not allowed to chart on the combined chart until a physical format has been released...though with no figures published, we can't speculate if the tally of downloads that got Rihanna, for instance, to #5 on the download chart would have warranted a place in the Top 50 combined chart.

Biggest beneficiaries from having downloads included this week are Oakenfold & Brittany Murphy, whose decline is halted and who rebound 10 places on the main chart; the Chili Peppers, who climb back 12 places to #21 on the combined chart; Shayne Ward, who may have been on course to miss the Top 30 except for a far better showing on downloads than on physicals; and the Raconteurs, who find themselves at #27, up 19 places on last week's singles chart position.

[CZB]

Biggest beneficiaries from having downloads included this week are....... Shayne Ward, who may have been on course to miss the Top 30 except for a far better showing on downloads than on physicals......

Even more so than you thought, according to what Larry Gogan said on the chart show this afternoon:

"And after the break, we'll have the very first record to make the charts on downloads alone."

And what Larry then said after playing the new hit may (or may not!) help to clarify the rules:

"Well, it wasn't available in shops until today, but it was available on downloads since last Friday. And on those sales alone, it's made number 25 today for Shayne Ward and 'Stand by Me'. And no doubt it's gonna go much higher by next week."

I was much more surprised by the very late arrivals in the Irish charts only today of two fairly long-running UK hits:

37 ---- 01 MONSTER - AUTOMATIC Bunique/Polydor
38 ---- 01 FILL MY LITTLE WORLD - FEELING Universal

and wondered if they too benefited from the rules change.

"Well, it wasn't available in shops until today, but it was available on downloads since last Friday. And on those sales alone, it's made number 25 today for Shayne Ward and 'Stand by Me'. And no doubt it's gonna go much higher by next week."

Thanks for that...I knew the others definitely weren't on physical release but I just assumed that the Shayne Ward single was. So now we know that downloads are to be included at the same stage as in the UK - 1 week before physical release.

And if the #12 download can make it to #25 on the combined chart without any physical sales, it seems to suggest the download market, for singles at least, is quite a bit more than the 14% overall figure that was mentioned in the press releases.

[Euterpe]

UK & Ireland have the same new releases every week. why are not the charts compiled together?
Germany and Austria, US & Canada....stupid borders :x

[Shakyfan]

UK & Ireland have the same new releases every week. why are not the charts compiled together?
Germany and Austria, US & Canada....stupid borders :x

Because they're separate countries? and have separate music industries?

UK & Ireland have the same new releases every week. why are not the charts compiled together?
Germany and Austria, US & Canada....stupid borders :x

I'm not sure how serious you were with your post, but what you wrote was not 100% true. While all the major labels that operate in Ireland are basically sub-offices of the British parent, many do release Irish-only product, more so with albums than singles. And of the 50 or so new singles released each week in the UK, many of these will never make it on to Irish shelves. Ireland has a very active independent label sector, and many hit singles and albums either never get released outside of Ireland, or do so much later.

That's another reason why no such chart would ever be compiled...the relative sizes of the 2 markets mean that an Ireland-only single or album would be all but ruled out of appearing in the Top 75, let alone the Top 40.

Downloads account for 31% of sales in the Top 50 this week, and for the Top 3 titles they account for 24% (Shakira), 18% (Sandi Thom) and 28% (Nelly Furtado).

31% is ahead of the share that downloads had in April 2005 when they were combined in the UK singles chart - though, of course, downloads now consistently account for over half the UK singles market.