Handbags out among the people behind the three main music charts. As you will recall as of January there are now three music charts - the UK Top 40 broadcast by Radio 1, the Hit 40 UK (formerly the Pepsi and Network chart) broadcast by most commercial pop stations and the Smash Hits Chart, broadcast by radio stations in the EMAP group. The former is based exclusively on record sales, the second includes airplay stats, the latter also includes request stats from EMAP's jukebox TV channels.
Aside from the battle for listeners (which tends to be won by the Neil Fox fronted Hit 40 UK) the world of music charts also has a battle for credibility and that's what the latest argument centres on - which chart most accurately represents what the kids are listening too?
Even though the network chart has the edge in terms of listeners, the music industry has tended to pay more attention to the Radio 1 chart because it is based exclusively on record sales - ie how many units the record label has shifted that week. Although what music consumers are listening to on their local radio stations could influence album sales and is therefore of commercial relevance, so few playlists are now locally managed record labels can check airplay by looking at data supplied by the radio groups direct.
However the people behind the EMAP chart reckon that by adding statistics on the tracks their viewers are requesting via Smash Hits TV and The Box their chart is a more accurate representation of teenager musical taste - and that the Radio 1 will become less and less relevant as singles sales continue to slide, and, if as many predict, the MP3 download replaces the single as a way for distributing tracks and promoting albums.
Mark Story, Programming MD for Emap Radio told the Media Guardian: "The charts have in the past stimulated sales but with the single itself merely a promotional tool, the singles sales chart is well past its sell-by date and everyone knows it."
Emap Performance Tim Schoonmaker chief executive added: "In 1959 the most popular song was accurately reflected in how many people tripped down to Woolworths. But these days people consume music in very different ways... the singles model is a bit broken."
But Radio 1 are defensive of their format. Ben Cooper from the station responded: "Getting the audience to buy the product is the best way to put a chart together. It is crystal clear. The other charts are a little muddied - they are put together by radio programmers. The commercial charts are not as clear and definite to the public and they can be altered to suit commercial interests."
The people behind the Hit 40 UK are no fans of the Radio 1 chart of course, though there is still a little bitterness about EMAP's decision to create their own chart. The chart's Rob Corlett told the Guardian: "Singles volumes are in decline and those numbers need to be boosted by being combined with another methods. But Emap had a successful format with Neil Fox and the Pepsi Chart and they made the decision to break away as part of the overall group strategy. It will be interesting to see the impact on Emap's stations on Rajar day."