Britain's first official chart of the most popular music tracks downloaded legally from the Internet will be launched in September, the Official UK Chart Company (OCC) says.
The chart reflects the "huge interest" in downloading as a new format, the company said.
The advent of the new chart on September 1 -- which will be released alongside the weekly singles and albums charts -- follows the acceleration in Europe of music downloading services.
The European download market, which still lags well behind that of North America, has experienced a flurry of activity in the past few weeks with the emergence of rival services backed by record executives anxious to stem the flow of pirated music swapped online.
Data from Apple Computer Inc.'s recently launched iTunes as well as from other retailers such as mycokemusic.com and Napster will be used to compile the chart, which will include as "broad a sample as possible", an OCC spokesman said.
He added that although the new chart would reflect many of the country's most popular singles, there was likely to be a much broader selection of musical downloads.
A sample chart released by the company showed 15 of the top 20 downloads were either current or previous top 40 singles, while three were forthcoming singles and two were exclusive downloads not available in any other format -- including the number one ranked "Bam Thwok" from the Pixies.
OCC charts director Omar Maskatiya said the creation of the new list marked "the most significant development in the charts since the advent of the compact disc 20 years ago".
The British record industry praised it as an indication of how new music services have energised flagging sales of recorded music.
"Downloads are not a replacement for the physical single or album," said Peter Jamieson, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry.
"Sales of tracks via download will likely be a fraction of those on album or even single for some time to come," he said in a statement.
"But the excitement and energy surrounding the new legal music sites is giving a lift to the entire market."
Britain's market for legal music downloads broke the 500,000 mark for the year earlier this month, giving modest hope to a music industry that saw sales of CD singles plummet by 32 percent during the first quarter from the same period a year ago.
The chart reflects the "huge interest" in downloading as a new format, the company said.
The advent of the new chart on September 1 -- which will be released alongside the weekly singles and albums charts -- follows the acceleration in Europe of music downloading services.
The European download market, which still lags well behind that of North America, has experienced a flurry of activity in the past few weeks with the emergence of rival services backed by record executives anxious to stem the flow of pirated music swapped online.
Data from Apple Computer Inc.'s recently launched iTunes as well as from other retailers such as mycokemusic.com and Napster will be used to compile the chart, which will include as "broad a sample as possible", an OCC spokesman said.
He added that although the new chart would reflect many of the country's most popular singles, there was likely to be a much broader selection of musical downloads.
A sample chart released by the company showed 15 of the top 20 downloads were either current or previous top 40 singles, while three were forthcoming singles and two were exclusive downloads not available in any other format -- including the number one ranked "Bam Thwok" from the Pixies.
OCC charts director Omar Maskatiya said the creation of the new list marked "the most significant development in the charts since the advent of the compact disc 20 years ago".
The British record industry praised it as an indication of how new music services have energised flagging sales of recorded music.
"Downloads are not a replacement for the physical single or album," said Peter Jamieson, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry.
"Sales of tracks via download will likely be a fraction of those on album or even single for some time to come," he said in a statement.
"But the excitement and energy surrounding the new legal music sites is giving a lift to the entire market."
Britain's market for legal music downloads broke the 500,000 mark for the year earlier this month, giving modest hope to a music industry that saw sales of CD singles plummet by 32 percent during the first quarter from the same period a year ago.
