This month marks 10 years since streaming was added into the UK’s Official Chart.
In July 2014, the first Official Singles Chart based on something other than pure sales was published, and the first No.1 to be crowned based on combined sales and streams was Problem by Ariana Grande Feat Iggy Azalea. According to Official Charts Company data, the track racked up 112,900 chart units that week – made up of 105,560 downloads, 200 physical copies and 712,500 streams.
Ed Sheeran has been labelled the 'king of the streaming era' as the singer’s 2017 album Divide and its lead single, Shape of You, have been named No.1 biggest album and song since streams were incorporated into the chart ten years ago.
Divide, the album from which six songs entered the Top 20 upon their release, contributing to a rule change to cap entries at a maximum of three per artist, has racked up 4.26 million chart units across both streaming-equivalent and pure sales. The record is also the most-streamed album of all time in the UK.
Shape of You has 6.29m chart units, made up of 864,000 downloads and 627.27m streams.
Sheeran has also earned the second and third most-streamed songs in the UK (Shape of You and Perfect), eight of the Top 40 most-downloaded songs of the last decade, and the biggest week of video streams ever when Bad Habits earned 8.79m over seven days in July 2021.
Here a list of chart moments that came as a result of the Official Charts streaming era:
Biggest song of the Official Chart streaming era (sales and streams combined): Ed Sheeran – Shape of You: 6,291,000
Biggest album of the Official Chart streaming era (sales and streams combined): Ed Sheeran – Divide: 4,263,000
Most streamed song of the Official Chart streaming era (audio and video streams): Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved: 697,500,000
Most streamed album of the Official Chart streaming era (audio and video streams): Ed Sheeran – Divide: 1,790,000
Most streamed video of the Official Chart streaming era: Pinkfong – Baby Shark: 271,968,000
Best-selling song of the Official Chart streaming era (downloads and physical): Mark Ronson Feat Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk: 1,700,000
Best-selling album of the Official Chart streaming era (downloads and physical sales): Adele – 25: 3,391,000
Most UK total streams in a week (audio and video streams): Adele – Easy On Me (Week 42 2022): 24,000,000
Most UK video streams in a week (video streams only): Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits (Week 26 2021): 8,792,000
Most downloaded single of the Official Chart streaming era: Mark Ronson Feat Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk: 1,698,000
“We are delighted to be celebrating this exciting landmark for the Official Charts, 10 years since the way we measured music fandom changed forever,” said Martin Talbot, Official Charts CEO. “It feels like only yesterday that streams were ushered into the Official Singles Chart for the first time – and yet we seem to have enjoyed access to every track in music history, instantly, delivered like water through a digital pipe, for a lifetime. Streaming has ushered in an era of unlimited choice of music, deliverable through the widest range of methods – as physical discs, permanent downloads, audio streams or video plays. The consumer truly is spoilt for choice. It is also important to celebrate Ed Sheeran too, for delivering both the biggest track and biggest album of the new era. What a decade it has been for the Suffolk-raised superstar. Congratulations Ed!”
Min-seok Kim, CEO of Baby Shark creators The Pinkfong Company, commented: "We are thrilled and honoured that Baby Shark has become the most streamed video in the UK Official Charts streaming era. As a firm believer in the power of music, we’re grateful for this incredible milestone and the love from our UK fans for the last 10 years, and will continue to create joyful songs and content that can connect people across cultures and generations."
“Streaming has transformed how music is discovered and enjoyed by fans and has enabled many more artists to thrive with the support of their labels in building their careers and connecting with audiences at home and around the world,” added Jo Twist OBE, BPI Chief Executive. “Such has been its remarkable impact, success for artists is now measured in the hundreds of millions and even billions of streams annually – last year alone well over 200 saw their songs streamed over 100m times in the UK.”
