Virgin pips Radio 1 in online chart countdown
Virgin Radio has trumped Radio 1 by signing a deal with online music service Napster to launch a download chart that will launch three days before the BBC broadcasts its first rundown of the biggest selling online tracks.
Radio 1 announced earlier this month it had signed a deal with the Official Chart Company to broadcast a weekly download chart, which will attempt to track the recent upsurge in popularity for online music purchases.
But now Virgin Radio has nipped in ahead of the BBC with its own download chart, which will launch at 7pm on Sunday August 29.
The Virgin Radio chart will be presented by Ben Jones and will count down the 20 most popular tracks among Napster users that week.
"This groundbreaking chart with Napster puts Virgin Radio at the innovative edge of the radio industry," said John Pearson, the chief executive of Virgin Radio.
"Napster is the premier online music partner in the UK and this is the first step in what will become a much broader partnership," he added.
He said Virgin Radio's 4.4 million listeners were more au fait with downloading technology than those of any other radio station, with the station's research showing they were more likely to purchase tracks online and more likely to own an MP3 player.
Unlike the BBC chart, which is based on sales of downloaded tracks from a variety of online music stores, the Virgin rundown will be compiled exclusively by Napster and combine download sales with tracks listened to by the online retailer's subscribers.
The music industry believes the launch of download radio shows will help revive interest in the charts, with early signs that the audience buying downloads is older than the teenage market that drives the singles chart.
Music executives hope that a wider range of artists will be featured, with tracks that stay in the charts longer and move up and down depending on their popularity rather than because of price-cutting campaigns and marketing muscle.
Napster, iTunes and MyCokeMusic allow customers to pick and choose single tracks, so there is also the possibility that album tracks and back catalogue artists will feature in the rundowns.
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