Making room for a Rhapsody

Ever since Wizard and Slade were glam-rocking to the top of the Christmas charts in the 1970s the battle for Christmas number one has been grabbing the attention of the British public. But look at the charts as we tick over into the new year and something different has happened; thanks to some Amazon manipulation of the algorithms which decide who tops the charts Ellie Goulding’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s River took the coveted end of year spot.

Not heard it? I’m not surprised - the song was an Amazon exclusive, not available on Apple Music or Spotify.

So how did this relatively unknown song manage to top the charts? The track was recorded by Amazon so the only way to listen to it was through their own streaming service. By front-loading the track on to Amazon’s generic Christmas playlists whenever anyone asked Alexa to play Christmas music Ellie played out, leaving Christmas shindigs across the country adding to the stream count despite few of them manually opting-in to hear it, and many not aware they had listened to it at all.

This, in combination with the UK Chart’s Accelerated Decline - where songs more than three years old are not weighted as heavily as fresh ones - meant that River was able to muscle out annual favourites like Mariah and Wham! despite them being played more.

Lee Thompson (@leethommo on Twitter) was the first to point out this inconsistency, added to with a useful thread from Dan Barker (@danbarker):

In a fitting end to the 2010s, Jeff Bezos is responsible for the last Number 1 Single of the year, Ellie Goulding's "River" (by Joni Mitchell).

Here's how:

1. You can't find it on Spotify, Apple, Google.
2. That's because - aside from Youtube - it's Amazon exclusive.

and...
— dan barker (@danbarker) December 28, 2019

So what can we do about the algorithm’s increasing stronghold on attention - and how can we make sure that creativity has room to shine? We need to make room for a Rhapsody.

Bohemian Rhapsody is the UK's third-best-selling single of all time, and the only song to be the UK Christmas number one twice by the same artist. But would it get through the algorithms if it were released today? Almost certainly not.

It has a 49 second long intro, when Spotify favours quick hooks to avoid skipping. It is five minutes and 55 seconds long, when in 2019 the top charting song’s average length was three minutes 30 seconds. It doesn’t sound like anything made before it, when Spotify recycles sounds it knows are palatable to the ear.

To stop these broken systems putting caps on creativity we need to take more responsibility for what we give our attention to, leaving a welcome space for content like Bohemian Rhapsody that doesn’t fall into the traps of lowest common denominator content.

So whilst the gears of legislation grind too slowly to catch up with the creators of these algorithms, take the law into your own hands. Create a playlist that takes you back to your final year of University. Send it to your friends. Implore them to add the songs you’d forgotten about. Put on that song that got you through your last break up. The next time you’re at the gym play the song that pushed you to your PB. Do what the robots wish they could.

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