What is " Chart music"?

[Excalibur]

I've had this before, and never really found a good answer. Clients don't seem to actually mean " this week's charts". But what do they actually mean? What do you play when given the same remit?

How far back are you allowed to go in the charts? A month? A year? Two tears? Ten years? Are we only allowed music which became a chart hit, rather than a " turntable hit "?

All yours folks, I'm beaten with this.

[rth_discos]

I tend to work from around the last 5 years for "chart music", with a focus on the last 12 months.

Mainly depends how many "chart music" songs are required as to how far back I'll go.

If someone asks for "Chart music", to me they are saying "play the songs I'm hearing on Capital/Kiss".

[Benny Smyth]

Over the last year, most of clients have said to me that they don't know what's in the charts at the moment (for context, I tend to market myself towards engaged couples in their mid 20s to late 30s, with a lean towards indie/rock/alternative). Certainly any that do mention the word "chart" in their preferences, it usually feels like a throwaway word...at the very least they feel somewhat blasé about it.

My impressions are that my clients mostly associate today's charts with artists such as Dave, Stormzy, Aitch, et al, which a couple of years ago would be much more accurate than it is today. I think we may still be having a bit of a hangover from that, which is a shame because since the pandemic, I think that we have had a lot of songs that are worth playing, with probably the most obvious example being Head & Heart. It's one that fills a dance floor on a regular basis, but my clients have never mentioned it.

We're in an age of too much content. These songs are great, but they got forgotten not because folk don't enjoy them, but because there is a million other things being streamed into our skulls. On the one hand, it's great playing these songs and making your audience go "Oh yeah...this song exists - I love this!", but also disheartening because your client can't tell you that they like this sort of stuff because they get distracted by the waves of music that they're not so keen on. For someone who prides himself on being able to dig into the details of what my clients love, I'm now concerned that it's too difficult a question to answer in 2022, so they go back to their comfort zone of what enjoyed 10-15 years ago.

So the question is "What is chat music?" and my incredibly on the fence and unhelpful answer is if you ask ten different clients, you'll receive ten different answers.

[Imagine]

I tend to work from around the last 5 years for "chart music", with a focus on the last 12 months.

Mainly depends how many "chart music" songs are required as to how far back I'll go.

If someone asks for "Chart music", to me they are saying "play the songs I'm hearing on Capital/Kiss".

^^^ THIS ^^^

I have a group of playlists based on decades, and then split into pop, rock, dance etc. within each decade (OK if the files have the correct year in them, luckily PromoOnly and Mastermix do ). It makes it a doddle if they want "chart music" to just browse those folders from the current decade and play.

I also have a playlist which is updated regularly based on the Kiss/Capital playlists (here's an example - I update mine monthly)

I'm not overly familiar with the newer stuff because I just don't have the time to sit and listen and absorb it all (our clients are the same - they "hear" it on Kiss/Capital/Spotify but don't actually "know" what it is like the old days where you could name the top 10 songs). Unlike Benny, my marketing is aimed fairly and squarely at those wanting music from the '70s to the '90s so it's very rare to play anything from the current chart.

By the way, there IS still an official UK top 40 as we know and remember it


Last night, I was asked for some up-to-date stuff. I resorted to things like Starships, We Found Love and the Majestic version of Rasputin, because they knew and whooped to that rather than the stuff from the past couple of years. I had played a couple from the current top 40 and got blank looks.

As Benny alluded to - there's just TOO much now for people to know what they actually like.

[rth_discos]

We Found Love

This highlights the absurdity of the situation.

That song is now 11 years old, yet correctly still seems to be classed as "chart music".

Imagine doing a gig on Millennium Eve on 31st Dec 1999, being asked to play "chart music" and sticking on Yazz - The Only Way Is Up, from 1988.

Because that's the same age gap of song!

[Nakatomi]

This highlights the absurdity of the situation.

That song is now 11 years old, yet correctly still seems to be classed as "chart music".

Imagine doing a gig on Millennium Eve on 31st Dec 1999, being asked to play "chart music" and sticking on Yazz - The Only Way Is Up, from 1988.

Because that's the same age gap of song!

In the minds of a lot of people I encounter, it'd be Uptown Funk not We Found Love. Mind, the speed the charts move at these days I wouldn't be surprised if. It was still in the top 100

[DJ Jules]

Additional irony... Capital dedicates more than half of its air time to 'club classics' which could mean anything from 1990 onwards. Kiss regularly mixes in Kisstory tracks which are anything more than 2yrs old.

The official UK chart is regularly topped by tracks that are over 20 or 30 years old due to the impact of streaming and adverts, TV and tiktok bringing old tracks back into the spotlight. So 'Chart' as it used to be defined by the top 40, is basically dead.

If someone says 'Chart' to me now, they'll get a mix of music from the last 3 to 5 years, depending on the age of the audience. I agree with Benny, there's some cracking danceable, upbeat music around at the moment form the likes of Joel Corey, Lizzo, Guetta, Calvin Harris, etc. It's not all rap and grime

How often do I play it....? Not very often.

[Excalibur]

I tend to work from around the last 5 years for "chart music", with a focus on the last 12 months.

Mainly depends how many "chart music" songs are required as to how far back I'll go.

Six ing hours!

So the question is "What is chat music?" and my incredibly on the fence and unhelpful answer is if you ask ten different clients, you'll receive ten different answers.

Thank you for your detailed and insightful answer Benny, much appreciated.

^^^ THIS ^^^

Last night, I was asked for some up-to-date stuff. I resorted to things like Starships, We Found Love and the Majestic version of Rasputin, because they knew and whooped to that rather than the stuff from the past couple of years. I had played a couple from the current top 40 and got blank looks.

As Benny alluded to - there's just TOO much now for people to know what they actually like.

Wayne, I don't think you've quite grasped the concept of " Modern ".

OK to all the folk who have replied, thanks for the thoughts so far.
Surprisingly, I reckon I'm closest to Benny, which is strange. I don't think " Chart " specifies anything other than " recent", and how recent is open to debate. Moves Like Jagger is about thirty years old, but comes out almost every gig, and to many would be classed as Chart.

Gavin, I understand what you say. I'm guilty of slipping them in from much further back, I have to admit.

Wayne, much of my music is logged by years, so that's not a huge problem. Must look at this Kiss/Capital playlist lark.

Julian/Justin, the charts are an anomaly. The big number one this week is forgotten next week, but Uptown Funk and the like live on in a time capsule all of their own. And woe betide anyone who takes umbrage in December at the white haired Old Git's choice of musical delights, and asks for " some chart music ", cos they're likely to be assaulted with the full Xmas Hamper of Shaky, Mariah, Noddy and The Pogues, cos they'll all be in that month's chart. To be fair, as I found out from my recent trawl through the last two Now albums, there is indeed a lot of pleasant 120-125BPM stuff about.

Right, I will give some more info about what caused this post. I was booked for a Baby Shower, populated by Benny's mid 20's to late 30's mainly. Full daylight, absolutely no reaction, other than a reminder to play " Chart", brought on by my playing Forever In Blue Jeans. Obviously a heinous crime.

My second question, based on that experience: does Chart = Background? If I wanted dancing, I'd be looking for the tried and tested ones from all areas. I totally accept that there is dance music being produced today, but could you do a whole evening of any function without going back further than say 2017? I doubt it. ( Even though it seems I effectively did on Sunday, and wanted to hang myself from the truss by the end )

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Didn't Kate Bush get to number 1 recently?

If they ask for chart I'd prod them to sign post me a bit more just like if they ask for 'rock' or 'indie' or 'dance' 9 times out of 10 it's the kind of stuff we've already discussed - not super up to date. I used to listen to radio 1 en route to work and back solely to keep up with the odd track I thought 'I should probably get that as it'll be a hit' but I can't remember the last time I did that.

[Excalibur]

Didn't Kate Bush get to number 1 recently?

If they ask for chart I'd prod them to sign post me a bit more just like if they ask for 'rock' or 'indie' or 'dance' 9 times out of 10 it's the kind of stuff we've already discussed - not super up to date. I used to listen to radio 1 en route to work and back solely to keep up with the odd track I thought 'I should probably get that as it'll be a hit' but I can't remember the last time I did that.

She did indeed Jim, and I got asked for it incessantly for a while.