Download to Number One

I found that there is a new thing happening in music downloads.. A UK band's song has gone to number one from only downloads. According to the article, downloads are now allowed to be counted towards the band sales even though the music isn't being sold in stores. Up until now downloads werent counted.

This is an interesting shift in the importance of the internet. It is impossible to ignore the amount of people purchasing music online and must be calculated in popularity in listing hits. Legalizing downloads has become a pressing inevitable issue.

It should be interesting to see how this effects the US music industry. there is also an example of a Ne-yo song that is on the top of the charts unreleased. the BBC article that Scobliezer links gives better details.