BBC Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper has endorsed the Official Charts Company’s revamp of the Singles Chart, saying the changes will make the chart “more relevant” to Radio 1’s young listenership and help break new artists.

Music Week exclusively revealed the chart changes in this week’s issue. From today (June 30), only the three most popular tracks by a lead artist will be eligible for the Top 100. And, after a record has been on the charts for at least 10 weeks, any track which has declined in sales for three consecutive weeks will see its streams: sales ratio change from 150:1 to 300:1 in an attempt to accelerate its disappearance from the chart. 

“It makes the chart more relevant to our listeners because the chart is about stories,” Cooper told Music Week at the launch of Radio 1’s 50th anniversary programming. “And the changes the Official Charts Company have made will allow more of those stories to happen throughout the year. You want more movement. It’s good for us broadcasting the chart, but it’s also good for the music industry.” 

And, after a difficult couple of years for breaking new UK artists, Cooper said the move would help generate more hits for fresh talent.

“I hope that these changes mean that you get an increase in diversity of artists in the Top 20 each week, therefore giving them a higher profile and hopefully making them sell more records and breaking a bigger range of artists,” he said. “We don’t want [the chart] to be filled with just a small group of very famous, established artists.

The first chart under the new rules will be published a week today (July 7). Radio 1 broadcasts the new chart on air every Friday.

For more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to receive our daily Morning Briefing newsletter