Chart starts counting downloads

Tony Christie and Peter Kay have been at number one for a month

A shake-up of the UK singles chart is taking place this week as legal music downloads are counted alongside singles bought from shops for the first time.

Songs downloaded from approved internet retailers from 10 April will go towards the tune's official chart place.

The first Top 40 to incorporate online sales will be revealed on 17 April.

More than 4.5 million songs were downloaded on official services between January and March - making up 45% of the total singles market.

The move comes seven months after the first separate download chart was compiled.

Stereophonics had the top download for the first three months of 2005

Veteran crooner Tony Christie is aiming to be the first number one in the integrated chart after spending four weeks at the top of the existing Top 40.

His song (Is This The Way To) Amarillo, featuring comedian Peter Kay, has also been top of the download chart for the last two weeks.

The combination of physical and download sales would lead to a "golden age for the single", the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has predicted.

BPI chairman Peter Jamieson said: "These figures suggest that the addition of downloads to the official singles chart will take the market to new audiences and broaden the appeal of the singles market."

But some independent labels are not happy, saying they do not yet have a large enough presence on Apple's iTunes download service, which has an 80% share of the market.

Download habits

"No-one is pretending that indie representation on the download platforms is as good as it could and should be, and there is a long way to go," the BPI said.

Recent figures for sales from January to March highlighted the differences between the habits of downloaders and shop buyers.

Rock band Stereophonics had the biggest-selling download for those three months, while Amarillo topped the CD sales list.

The BPI also revealed 96% of downloaders were male and 93% were over 25 - but CD buyers were more likely to be younger and female.