Fewer records than ever before are entering the UK top 40 as fans keep streaming the same songs over and over again.

This Friday, Drake registered a 14th week at No1 in the UK singles chart – but the reality is the No1 song One Dance by Drake isn’t the best-selling record of the last seven days. It doesn’t even figure in the top 10!!

In fact the Drake single only topped the sales-only chart in the first three weeks of its No1 tenure. It’s only the inclusion of streaming data (where 100 plays count as one sale) that has given him the the No1 spot. And that’s something that’s starting to worry the music industry, because now that the charts measure consumption rather than purchases, they have practically ground to a halt.

Harry Magee, who manages One Direction and Little Mix, comments: “I think it’s a problem. There’s been a lot of talk about how hard it is to break a new act at the minute – and it certainly is. It’s harder for artists and it’s harder for the industry. It’s a problem we’re still getting our heads around.”

Radio 1’s head of music, Chris Price, is also very concerned: “We’re asking serious questions because, as a new music station, we have to keep pushing the agenda forward. So we’re even having to ask whether we keep Drake on the playlist. It would be, I think, unprecedented to take the number one record off the Radio 1 playlist. It didn’t happen with Bryan Adams… but we’ve got new music to break. We’ve got to satisfy our listeners’ impatience to hear new music.”

If you are becoming a little bored with Drake at No1 and the invisible download / streaming in general, how about ordering your favourite song in a physical format as a framed vinyl single?. If intended as a gift, you can also personalise it with an inscribed / engraved plaque… ORDER NOW…. www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/