Words by Yasmin Donald
Is the UK’s album chart system failing to showcase new talent, and in doing so confusing nostalgia for relevance and popularity?
Year-end charts may have first appeared in the UK over fifty years ago, but it’s only very recently that British artists have begun dominating them. Is this a sign that we are beginning to finally appreciate the wealth of talent we have in the UK, or does it signal we still have a very narrow range of popular music ?
One need only look at the top ten of the year-end UK album chart to realise that the way the chart system works is outdated: Out of all the albums on the list, a great number of them are greatest hits albums, with one of the oldest albums on the list being ABBA’s Gold, released in 1992.
You may be asking how it’s possible that an album from so long ago can be in a top 10 2022 Best Selling Album Chart? The answer to that comes down to sales, and streaming tends to account for a huge portion of them: If you were to stream an ABBA song , it is counted as a sale for the album it comes from and a sale for the compilation album.
It may be difficult to see how this is a problem, since this album chart is supposed to be representative of current music listening practices. Naturally, people want to consume the music from the large index of music accessible to us via streaming platforms, covering decades of diversified artists and genres and, with the increased popularity of vinyl music, music lovers will want to hear musicians new and old in this popular physical format. The huge problem with the chart system lies in the fact that greatest hits albums are designed to be timeless, and the way the chart counts sales means that emerging artists have stiff competition when trying to make the cut.
When it comes to music streams, new artists must overcome numerous hurdles before Spotify even start recommending the new artists’ music to users. The Spotify algorithm’s is apparently defined by its “Quality engagement metrics”; where Spotify looks at repeat listens, limited skips, high-follower-to-listener ratio, chatter in music press, and more. It appears that music marketing and resources playa huge role in an artist’s music reaching new listeners, which is something that pr-established artists will have no issue with.
Looking at the industry’s current demographic makeup, diversity isn’t as strong as it should be. The latest biennial report on diversity in the UK music industry states that 21.04 percent of those working in the industry identify as Black, Asian or an ethnic minority ; down 1.26 percent from 2020, and the metrics used by the album charts are only exacerbating this problem.
In its current state, the album chart’s metrics do not leave enough room for upcoming artists to be showcased. A change, however, to the UK album charts would mean more opportunity for new artists to emerge and prosper, helping to diversify the music industry as a whole. Plainly put, In order for the UK music industry to grow, it has to start letting new people through the door.