Last week Online's Natalie Hanman wrote about the actual effects that including download sales had on the Top 40. Apart from Gorillaz, who gamed the system a little and made it to No 22, the effect of digital sales was not necessarily obvious.
On Sunday, however, these influences were hard to find, apart from a few subtle moves in the ladder of pop popularity. Oh My Gosh by Basement Jaxx, for example, would have been at No 45 if just physical format sales were counted, but instead made No 27. And Dakota by Stereophonics reached No 34 instead of No 46.
This week, however, things are a little bit clearer. Thanks to figures supplied by the Association of Independent Music - who are lobbying for changes in the system to help independent labels - we can see who the winners and losers are. The same acts as last week did well in the top 40 (physical chart position first, followed by combined chart position):
Gorillaz 75>21
Basement Jaxx 43>28
Stereophonics 53>31
But some lost position because of a lack of download sales:
Melanie C 37>42
DJ Tiesto 36>44
Elvis Presley 38>47
Other acts making the most of downloading including Kaiser Chiefs, Chemical Brothers and Athlete, with Faithless and Elton John suffering.
Update: Here's what Aim has to say, which to me says that although its a mixed bag for independent labels, as a whole they give as good as they get: "69% of indie singles in the top 75 are lower than they would have been without combining the two charts, and indie singles in the top 75 lose an average of 0.6 places through combination. If you exclude Beggars Group & V2, they average 3 places lower. In the top 75, majors average 29.2% of sales in digital format, while independents average 26.1%."
