A new report from the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) have produced the first ever global analysis of music charts with some fascinating results.

WIN are an organisation that represents the international music industry in order to protect and act towards their best interests. Their latest study is a world first report that looks at the data of music charts around the world.

The study takes some information from independent music associations from 28 countries, including; China Brazil, South Africa and the US. The rest of their data is taken from WINTEL and the IFPI’s RIN which features information on the values of each market, country populations, market share split between independent music and major labels, and more.

The most notable findings in the report are listed below:

  • The UK appears to have the model that most developed markets base their current streaming conversion formula on.
  • Sweden was the first country in the world to include streaming into their chart calculation. 128.1m of their total 182m (or 70%) recorded music revenue derive from subscription streams.
  • There is little or no appetite in China for official charts, however individual services do publish their own. In the calculations/methodology, social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo play a huge part. They are monitored for shares, likes and comments. This data is used as part of the chart calculations.
  • Most countries operate with a 100/150 track streams = 1 track download basis. This is often multiplied by 10 to find the stream to album download/physical purchase ratio.
  • A significant proportion of markets have more complicated calculations for albums (for example, the top two tracks from an album may be averaged out to represent the average number of streams, so to avoid ‘one hit wonders’ topping the charts).
  • RIM in Malaysia is proposing changing its stream to album download ratio to 4,500 track streams = 1 album download.
  • Ringback tones are still a very relevant business model in especially Asian countries including Malaysia, China and Japan
  • Many countries have yet to incorporate streaming into their charts, such as Italy, Brazil and Poland.

WIN CEO, Alison Wenham said: “WIN Global Chart Report 2017 provides the first ever global overview of chart reporting, making available important market intelligence and insight. As the music industry evolves towards becoming a truly global marketplace it is vital that we have an in-depth understanding of how different territories collate sales information and measure success.

“This new study will also serve as a valuable tool in our ongoing mission to protect the interests of the global independent music community and to ensure fair access to markets and level playing fields for independent music around the world.”