Surprise David Bowie single leads to UK charts rule change

Following on from the chin-scratching furore caused by David Bowie’s surprise single ‘Where Are We Now?’ earlier this year, the UK Official Charts Company have adjusted a ruling regarding so-called ‘instant gratification tracks’.

These tracks in question relate to songs that are released as part of a pre-order promotional campaign regarding an upcoming album, as Bowie’s number was for his comeback record The Next Day.

At the time, it was ruled that only the single sales alone would count to the end of week charts, and not the album pre-orders as well, which came with an instant (and free) download of the single.

However, now the OCC have made a u-turn and have ruled that in the future these statistics will be included together, as some fans will be prompted to pre-order the entire release because they want the single as well.

‘Where Are We Now?’ still managed to make the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart despite only lone track purchases being counted.