 This Sunday will see the biggest change ever to the UK Singles Chart as it is set to include online music downloads for the very first time. But is this a good thing? Many Independent labels beg to differ. But isn’t it about time that the music industry faced facts that music consumption is changing and that online is becoming increasingly important to their business? UKMusic.com investigates…
The announcement of the new merged chart has sparked much criticism amongst many smaller independent record labels that fear the new chart favours the four major labels - Universal, Warner Music, EMI and Sony BMG.
Artists releasing material under major labels tend to have their tracks prioritised by the download websites that are responsible for selling them. Smaller independent labels are often at a disadvantage because they are not yet set up to supply their tracks digitally, so many are missing out on possible sales.
AIM - The Association of Independent Music – has submitted an official complaint to the Office of Fair Trading stating that the new chart will disadvantage 25% of the market and asking them to intervene and prevent the new chart from going ahead.
Alison Wenham, Aim's chairwoman, said: [I]"I am astounded that the industry thinks the chart is fit for consumer use, because it disadvantages 25% of the market. I haven't heard a good reason why it should launch now, apart from people saying that if we don't do it now, the singles chart will die. That's not a good enough reason to kill the Indies."[/I]
The fact remains that 400,000 download sales are made each week. In a climate that has seen more than a 50% decline in single sales since the late 90’s this is a fact that cannot be ignored. It is also worth noting that this year's biggest-selling download so far has been Dakota by the Stereophonics - released on the indie label V2!
So will the dying singles chart be saved at the expense of killing off the Indies? Probably not. But perhaps it would be fairer to delay the merged chart until independents have the same access to Internet retailers as some of the larger music labels.
People tend to resist change, but without change you cannot have progress and the digital revolution is already here - the future is online.
[b]Words By: Sarah Villegas[/b]
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