Misplaced Pages

The UK Singles Downloads Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the music industry. Since July 2015, the chart week runs from Friday to Thursday, with the chart date given as the following Thursday.

The main chart contains the Top 200 downloads (which are published in UKChartsPlus), with the top 100 published on the OCC website. The chart only uses sales of permanent digital downloads, that is single-download tracks on non-subscription online music stores. Some downloading services offer a monthly fee plan where generally an unlimited number of tracks can be downloaded within a month for a certain price. Tracks downloaded in those instances do not qualify.

An album equivalent, the UK Album Downloads Chart, was launched in April 2006.

History

Before the inauguration of the download chart, only sales of physical formats—such as CD, vinyl and cassette tape—contributed towards a single's position on the UK music charts. From the late 1990s onwards, these sales began to significantly decline. By the start of 2004, they had dropped to their lowest level in over 35 years, with singles needing to sell only 35,000 copies to reach number one. One year later, a limited edition re-release of "One Night" / "I Got Stung" by Elvis Presley topped the chart with 22,000 copies, making it the lowest selling number-one single at that time. Conversely, the music download market was growing considerably: during the same 2004–05 period, sales of downloads grew by 743%, and overtook physical sales in December 2004. The following year, the UK's online music revenue reached £42.1 million.

As a result of this growth, the OCC were commissioned in 2004 to compile a new music chart based solely on the UK's download sales, which was initially sponsored by Coca-Cola. A "sample" download chart was trialled for 10 weeks, with the first number one being "Bam Thwok" by American rock band Pixies. After this ten-week period, the UK Official Download Chart was launched on 1 September 2004, with Irish boy band Westlife achieving the first official number one. The group topped the chart with a live version of their 1999 single "Flying Without Wings", a move that UK chart commentator James Masterton branded a "stunt".

Sales of downloaded singles were finally incorporated into the UK Singles Chart on 17 April 2005, initially on the condition that physical copies were available to buy at the same time. In April 2006, the UK Official Download Chart was expanded to include an album chart. The first album to top the chart was This New Day by English alternative rock band Embrace. By 2007, the UK had become Europe's largest consumer of online music, with almost 78 million tracks being downloaded that year; by 2012, this figure had more than doubled.

The single with the longest stay on the Downloads Chart is "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, which stayed the top spot for 11 weeks. On the week end 26 December 2009, "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine became the fastest-selling download of all time. As of 9 September 2014, "Happy" by Pharrell Williams is the most downloaded song in UK music download history.

In 2006, McFly became the first band to have two number one singles with "Star Girl" on both the UK Downloads Chart and the UK Singles Chart at the same time.

In 2024 Coldplay became the 500th song to top the chart with "We Pray"

Criteria for inclusion

• The track must have a maximum playing time of 15 minutes.
• PDDs (Permanent Digital Downloads) must be bought by the retailer at a minimum of 40p per track, or 32p if the record company does not publish a set dealer price. The retailer may sell tracks at a loss at its own discretion.

Most-downloaded by year

See also

• Lists of UK Singles Downloads Chart number ones
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Downloads Chart
• UK Singles Chart
• UK Album Downloads Chart

References

1. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
2. ^ Youngs, Ian (12 April 2005). "How downloads will change the chart". London: BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 January 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
3. "Single sales drop to all-time low". London: Newsround. 2 February 2004. Archived from the original on 30 May 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2005.
4. Wray, James (16 January 2005). "Elvis Takes Record But With Few Records". Monsters and Critics. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
5. Schott, Ben; Cock-Starkey, Claire (2005). "Chapter V. Music & Cinema". In Schott, Ben (ed.). Schott's Almanac 2006 (1st ed.). London: Bloomsbury. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-7475-8307-3. OCLC 62292696. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
6. "Downloads overtake single sales". London: BBC News. 7 January 2005. Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
7. ^ Schott, Ben; Cock-Starkey, Claire (2007). "Chapter V. Music & Cinema". In Schott, Ben (ed.). Schott's Almanac 2008 (1st ed.). London: Bloomsbury. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-7475-8469-8. OCLC 271877788. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
8. "Coca Cola to sponsor pop charts". London: BBC News. 1 December 2003. Archived from the original on 30 July 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
9. Miles, Stuart (28 June 2004). "Official downloads chart to be launched in UK". Pocket-lint. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
10. Oates, John (28 June 2004). "Pixies top UK download chart". The Register. Archived from the original on 20 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
11. "Westlife top first download chart". London: BBC News. 1 September 2004. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
12. Masterton, James (5 September 2004). "Chart Commentary from James Masterton". London: LAUNCHcast. Archived from the original on 8 September 2004. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
13. "Digital Download Factsheet" (PDF). London: Official Charts Company. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
14. "Adele and Ed Sheeran push digital albums sales over the 100 million milestone". London: Official Charts Company. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
15. "1 billionth singles download is sold in the UK!". London: Official Charts Company. 9 April 2013. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
16. Sexton, Paul (21 December 2009). Smith, Danyel (ed.). "Rage Against the Machine Beats 'X Factor' to U.K. Xmas No. 1". Billboard. New York City: Prometheus. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 3695401. Archived from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
17. Copsey, Rob (9 September 2014). "Pharrell's Happy now the UK's most downloaded track of all time". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
18. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
19. "Tony Christie still top download". London: Newsround. 6 April 2005. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
20. "Digital Download Factsheet" (PDF). London: Official Charts Company. January 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
21. Coleman, Maureen. "Superstar Leona on Simon, Jedward, that shock attack and playing Belfast". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast: Independent News & Media. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
22. Cleland, Gary (12 December 2007). "Amy Winehouse tops year end iTunes chart". The Daily Telegraph. London. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 6412514. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
23. "Lady Gaga crowned queen of the downloads". The Daily Telegraph. London. 7 September 2009. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 6412514. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
24. Copsey, Rob (1 January 2015). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of 2014". Official Charts Company.
25. "The Official Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2016". Official Charts Company.
26. "The Top 40 biggest songs of 2017 on the Official Chart". Official Charts Company.
27. "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2018". Official Charts Company.
28. Copsey, Rob (4 January 2021). "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2020". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
29. Griffiths, George (4 January 2022). "The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2021". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
30. Griffiths, George (4 January 2023). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2022". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

External links

• Official Singles Downloads Chart at the Official Charts Company
• The Official UK Top 20 Download Chart at MTV UK

v t e UK music charts
UK singles	Number ones 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Number one artists Most number ones Christmas Posthumous Scottish One-hit wonders in Scotland List of artists by number of UK Independent Singles Chart number ones Instrumental Simultaneous UK and U.S. Simultaneous with album Top tens 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Most top tens Best-selling 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s (decade) 2010s 1900s 21st century All time Yearly Most-downloaded (2000s) Most streamed Million-sellers Platinum singles (pre-2000) Platinum singles (post-2000) Most weeks on chart One-hit wonders Records and statistics
UK albums	Number ones 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Most number ones Number-one in most decades Christmas Posthumous Simultaneous UK and U.S. Simultaneous with single Top tens 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Most top tens Best-selling 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s (decade) 2010s 21st century All time Yearly Most weeks on chart One-hit wonders
Genre charts	Number ones Afrobeats Singles Americana Albums Christian & Gospel Albums Classical Artist Albums Country (albums/airplay) Dance (singles/albums) Indie (singles/albums) Indie Breakers (singles/albums) Jazz & Blues Albums R&B (singles/albums) Rock & Metal Singles and Albums Specialist Classical Albums
Other charts	Current Album Downloads Albums Streaming Audio Streaming Compilations Midweeks Progressive Record Store (2010s/2020s) Singles Downloads (2000s/2010s/2020s) List of UK Singles Sales Chart number ones UKHot40 Vinyl Albums Vinyl Singles The Official Big Top 40 Former 1952–1969 1Xtra Classical Singles Number-one EPs Fab 40 Fresh 40 Hit40UK Mersey Beat The Network Chart Show NME Official Subscription Plays Chart Pepsi Chart Pick of the Pops Record Mirror Top Pops
Related	Charts Plus Hit Music Media Research Information Bureau Music Week Official Charts Company The Official Chart Record Business Timeline of chart shows on UK radio UK Video Charts British Hit Singles & Albums The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles UKChartsPlus
Record production portal

• 2004 establishments in the United Kingdom
• British record charts