but the uk singles charts mean NOTHING to me?? sexyback and scissor sisters aren't ever going to rock my world. as long as the albums sell, im a happy man.

as for fixing, i knew there had to be a reason those westlife rejects kept on having no. 1's y re-releasing the same song again, and again, and again

all sounds the same to me.....

The music industry is in complete flux regards over the counter / download sales.

2006 will be regarded as the birth year for downloads because they were first introduced into the official count and it would be idiotic to discount them seeing as many, including I, get their new music that way.

Moz is rightly pissed off that You Have Killed Me could have been a Number One, seeing as it was the most purchased single over the counter in the UK on it's first week of release. And American readers note, this is a proper singles chart with thousands of sales, unlike the slightly odd US version. I love America, go there all the time, but what's with the so-called singles chart? 3,400 sales for Number One?

You Have Killed Me being at Number One in the UK would also surely have helped Ringleader's longevity when released?

The Youngest and Future would also have been Top 10.

But 2006 is the watershed and it would be wrong to ignore downloads, which account for a significant part of the market.

There needs to be a more accurate system. A record company could easily download 2,000 copies independently easier than they could go to HMV and grab every copy going. Which has been done. It's a shame Sanctuary are broke and their iTunes credit card is probably invalid.

Moz can feel denied this year. It was unfortunate timing. But anyone who says downloads don't count is insane. This is how many choose to buy music now.

The singles chart is a joke, and has been for years. I find it embarrassing that Morrissey is so obsessed by chart placings, as if these things are still relevant. Especially when you consider that most of us will have bought both CD1 and CD2 of the same Moz single, many will undoubtedly have bought the 7" as well, so it's not as if Morrissey himself has not benefited from dubious methods.

The charts haven't meant anything to the majority of the public since the mid-90's when all that godawful sampled dance was assaulting our ears; it was downhill for TOTP from there. Moreover the people who avidly listen to Radio One chart placings are teenagers with very little spending power and rather fickle tastes.
I know sales matter to the record industry and money is an object to the artist, but Moz is still doing brilliantly in terms of profile, sales and column inches in the music press. I think his moaning is more to do with the fact that the charts have ceased to matter to music lovers because including downloads is no accurate measure of what the public actually want, more a case of what's cheap, readily available and shoved under their noses on Tesco.com or iTunes.
Granted, it's all part of the changing face of music, but I do find it a little sad that the concept of the 'single' seems to be obsolete, and the 'album' seems to be going the same way (most albums these days are a few singles plus filler). I think the rise in DIY bands using the internet is a good thing, but I also think that Morrissey may be one of the last 'true' pop stars in the sense of a worshipped frontman or solo artist ... I mean, would you really endure the crushing, the bruising and the rugby tackling security to get close to, say, Alex Turner of The Arctic Monkeys or Tom Smith of Editors? The recent clutch of popular bands all just seem a bit faceless for being so DIY and accessible ... or maybe I'm just getting old and longing for a bit of manufactured romance in my pop.

And we're sure he didn't know
            that even his own label, Sanctuary, hoped
            to manipulate the chart when he released
            the first single off his new album by
            discussing the idea of hiring someone
            to purchase multiple digital copies.

If the record labels are buying multiple downloaded copies of singles, they'll get almost all of that money back from the download stores. But do they then turn around and add the entire cost of each download, and not just the fraction that goes to the download stores, to the recording artist's tab for promotions? This could warrant a criminal investigation.

at the end of the day, it doesn't matter, i mean who really cares anymore as totp has gone etc. the only thing that gets me is that this really is fraud!it's almost the equivalent of accepting bungs for players, just on a lesser scale.

and i think in regard to moz, his problem is that he cares... because other bands are going to be falsely placed in the industry. if the music industry really is allowed to get away with it (which they will!) then there's no hope for no-one, especially the ones who want to make it but they are not mainstream enough. i feel a revolution coming on!!

You guys sound like a bunch of philisitnes lamenting the death of the vitrola.

Downloads are the way it is and thank God. Of course there are safeguards to lessen any outright manipulation, but at the end of the day, it's rather difficult to eradicate it completely. Get over it. I was unaware that there were people who still followed the music charts. I could care less.

More importantly, is Morrissey suddenly the pop chart hall monitor? Why does he even give a shit? Jesus, focus on making a great album, and let the rest come as it may. All of this groaning is because he simply can't accept that ROTT was a poor great album. His singles were the weakest of his career, and it reflects, nothing else.

The man wants to be on the outside, but prevalent in the mainstream at the same time. It sounds somewhat like a God complex.

In Morrissey's world, there's always some great conspiracy against him, stopping him from taking over the world. He's the epitome of someone who has lived the majority of his life inside a bubble, and has bscially lost touch.

He'll continue to champion the norms of his youth, as if the world should remain idle for his personal pleasure.