The Charts
Albums
The UK album charts show a very strong pattern at the moment. There are no women in the top 10 albums list. The charts are dominated by male singer-songwriters like Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Paolo Nutini and Ryan Adams. There is a range of genres including rock, indie and reggae. Further down the albums chart, there are some big names like Coldplay and Ellie Goulding.
In general, one thing I have noticed about the UK albums chart is that there is a range of genres and that it is filled mostly with male figures. I have also noticed that there are albums in the chart from many weeks or, in some cases, months or even years ago. Bob Marley's 'Legend' is at the number 6 spot and has been in the charts for 873 weeks now (almost 17 years). I think this shows that the albums chart is less driven by current trends and simply by what music is the best or the most influential over the long term, whatever the genre may be. The top 10 spots may be taken by new albums but the majority of the albums in the chart aren't new releases.
It is also worth noting how the charts can be influenced by artists' recent activites. Kate Bush recently announced a tour which sold out in very little time due to her being immensely popular and a classic British artist. At one point, she had 8 albums in the charts. This shows how much impact a big event like a tour or a reunion of a band can have on album sales.
Singles
The singles chart is very different to the albums chart. Pharrell Williams's 'Happy' has been in the chart for the longest out of the top 40 songs at 43 weeks. This is nothing compared to how long Kate Bush or Bob Marley have had albums in the charts. Singles aren't popular for as long as albums are because they are much shorter and there is less to discover or enjoy about them. Most singles in this chart will be played religiously for a couple of weeks on radio stations like Captial before being replaced by another single.
The top 10 is dominated by pop and dance music from big names like Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift. There are almost no rock, reggae or alternative songs in the entire top 40 in contrast to the albums chart which had a wide range of genres and styles. This is probably because the pop music is made for a target audience which prefers short form content, ie. a single instead of an album. For this reason, pop music dominates the singles chart while the albums chart has a good mix of music.
Conclusion
To conclude, the albums chart has a mix of different genres of music and mostly consists of male figures. It contains albums that have been around for months or even years and is a fairly good reflection of long term trends of popularity in the UK. The singles chart is dominated by pop music from both male and female figures. Artists in the singles chart are generally quite unique and bold figures, (Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, etc.), that young teenagers can look up to and record labels appeal to this target audience's desire for short form, generic content by regularly releasing singles, either from familiar figures like Chris Brown or from an exciting 'new' artist.
How Can I Use This Information
I can use this research to help decide what my artist should be like. I want the single to be popular and the most important thing for a single to be popular is the band's image. I can either choose to make them stand out as unique role models or I can make them quite generic so that people will be comfortable with them and be able to relate easily.
The most important thing is making the single popular. The top 10 singles are usually new releases so if I want my band to be popular, I will have to market the single well so that it reaches the top 10 when it is released.
Gaps In The Market
I think that most obvious thing is that there are very few females in the albums chart. The other obvious gap is in the singles charts, which consists almost exclusively of pop music. Music of any other genre such as rock or reggae would stand out (as royal blood did a couple of weeks ago).
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