More about: stormzyDrakeEd SheeranLittle Mix

New rules surrounding the Official Singles Chart are being introduced in July in order to support new music. The move comes after the ubiquity of Ed Sheeran saw him occupy 16 places of the Top 20 with tracks from just one album.

So how will it work? The most significant change is that artists will only be allowed to have their three most popular tracks based on sales and streams to be eligible for the Official Singles Chart Top 100.

It’s hoped that the change will make it easier for new artists and music to appear in the charts by preventing multiple tracks from single artist taking over the chart. Tracks will no longer be double counted between the Official Singles and Album Charts. The move is expected to increase the number of chart hits by 10%.

Also changing is the streams to sales ratio. It currently stands at 150 streams counting as a single sale but this will change to 300:1 when a song has been in the charts for a number of weeks but it’s popularity is on the wane.

The move comes after a year that’s seen artists such as Little Mix, The Weeknd, Chainsmokers, Drake, Stormzy and Ed Sheeran have multiple tracks in the Top 40. The most notorious episode occurred in February when no less than 16 tracks from Ed Sheeran’s third album, ÷, took up residency in the Top 20 like squatters in an empty Mayfair property.

The new rules have been put together by the Official Charts Company in consultation with record labels, retailers and digital music services.

More about: stormzyDrakeEd SheeranLittle Mix