ARIA have announced the creation of a unified singles chart, incorporating both in-store and download sales.
Currently there are two separate ARIA charts for singles, the 'regular' charts for in-store sales, plus an added chart cataloguing online downloads of singles. From October 8 both charts will be merged into one, the first accounting for sales from September 30 to October 6.ARIA Chart and Marketing Committee Chairman John Parker, said that the chart was "the logical next step" and hopes that the new integrated chart will "accurately represent overall sales of singles, be they physical or digital, in the local market place."
Digital sales are estimated to comprise around 30% of all singles sales in Australia and in the first half of the year digital downloads accounted for 5.5% of the overall value of the recorded music market, up from 1.5% in 2005.
Although, there is a concern about how the digital sales will be represented. For instance, there are currently two versions of Sandi Thom's 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker' on the digital charts, yet both versions would only appear as one sale on the physical charts. How ARIA will account for sales in this scenario is as yet unknown.
