The singles chart means a lot to the music industry. For decades, it was the measure of success. But when the internet took off around 2000 and sales of singles nosedived due to music piracy, the metrics used to compile this chart became increasingly useless. Here’s a UK example of how much things changed.
In 1997, following the death of Princess Diana, Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind” sold 1.55 million copies in a week, an easy number one. Nine years later, an American indie band called Orson made it to number one in the UK by selling just 17,694 copies of a track called “No Tomorrow.” And that was enough to make it the 12th best-selling song in the UK in 2006.
It wasn’t until 2008 that streaming was incorporated into singles chart tabulation.
© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Ad Choices
