Finally the top 40 has been updated to what it should have been years ago. CD singles, airplay and mp3 downloads have always been the way to determine who is number 1 at 6.55 on a Sunday. Well now there is a new system. Big Top 40 use iTunes and iTunes only to determine who is number 1. So for the 4 hours they are on air the Top 40 can change continuously until they have been played.
There could be plenty of issues with this, but lets go with it for a second. At the top of the show, Lady GaGa was at number 22 with Paparazzi, as of typing this, it has moved up to number 9. 2 hours and some loyal fans and the single can fly to the top of the charts. In the last hour the top 10 songs get 'locked down' and from then on can't move for the purpose of this chart. Confusing but clever.
This means that people can't actually influence the chart right up until the last minute (in theory) but pretty close to. It also means a song can be released any day of the week and still have an equal opportunity of hitting number 1. iTunes have cleverly jumped on this venture, hint hint nice money earner there! Oh well, at least they have finally got a system that is actually interesting.
As you can see Dizzee Rascal has moved up 1 place from 8th to 7th with in 30 minutes. See, it can be interesting. Or boring, because I now know who number 1 is an hour early. Damn.