Official Charts

What Official Charts does

The Official Charts Company (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is the mandated compiler of the official music and video charts for the United Kingdom, jointly owned by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). Founded in 1952 as the UK's first singles chart (published in the New Musical Express), it has continuously produced the official industry charts since 1960. The company operates as a data-aggregation and licensing business: it collects daily sales and streaming data from approximately 15,000 distribution points — covering roughly 99% of the singles market, 98% of albums, and 90% of video — and produces more than 50 charts per week (singles, albums, streaming, vinyl, video, and genre-specific). It has expanded this mandate internationally, taking over compilation of the Irish charts in 2017 and the French charts in 2021 under deals with IRMA and SNEP respectively.

The company's core product is the Official Chart Compilation Data Collection service, which feeds Official Charts Online — a subscription-based B2B analytics platform holding approximately 9 billion physical transactions and 7 billion audio/video streams — plus bespoke reports, data feeds, and chart licensing to broadcast partners including BBC Radio 1, Bauer Media, MTV, Music Week, and airline inflight systems. A consumer-facing website (OfficialCharts.com) reaches approximately 17 million users annually with 64 million page views. Lightning Live (launched 2015) extends chart methodology to album sales at live concerts and events. Revenue is generated from B2B subscriptions, broadcast and media licensing, brand licensing into consumer products (books, compilations, merchandise), and consumer site traffic. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; B2B contracts are calculated based on client market size, turnover, and market share. The company is mid-sized (11-50 employees), London-based, and operates as an independent private limited company without external venture capital or private equity involvement.

Name

Official Charts

Legal name

The Official UK Charts Company Limited

Website

https://officialcharts.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Official Charts Company is the mandated UK music chart compiler, jointly owned by BPI and ERA. It aggregates sales and streaming data from 15,000 distribution points to produce official charts, licensing data to broadcasters, labels, and brands while operating a consumer chart website.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Chart Data Services

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829)

akta.pro primary industry

B2B / Industrial Market Research (MPAAALAA)

Keywords

• Music chart compilation
• Chart data licensing
• Music industry analytics
• Official chart data
• Music market intelligence

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Official Charts Company is the official compiler of UK music charts, aggregating sales and streaming data from approximately 15,000 distribution points to produce over 50 charts across singles, albums, vinyl, streaming, video, and genre-specific formats. The company sells B2B data subscriptions through Official Charts Online, licenses chart data and the Official Charts brand to media partners and consumer brands, and operates the consumer-facing OfficialCharts.com website. Its dataset spans 70+ years of chart history and approximately 9 billion-plus physical transactions and 7 billion-plus audio/video streams.

Product overview

Official Charts Company operates as a B2B data and licensing business offering a portfolio of products and services to the global music, film, and video industries. The core offering is the Official Chart Compilation Data Collection service, which aggregates sales and streaming data from 15,000 distribution points to produce over 50 different charts. This data powers Official Charts Online (subscription-based B2B analytics platform), Bespoke Reports and Data Feeds, and feeds licensed content to BBC Radio 1, Music Week, NSM Music jukeboxes, and airline inflight systems. The consumer-facing OfficialCharts.com website serves as the primary interface for music fans to access charts, news, and historical data. Brand Licensing extends the Official Charts brand into consumer merchandise, while Lightning Live enables live event sales to count toward chart positions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Official Charts Online A subscription-based B2B web database providing comprehensive insight for the UK audio, video, and related industries. It contains approximately 9 billion-plus physical transactions and tracks from week 5 1994 to present, plus 7 billion-plus audio and video streams from week 1 2014 to date. The platform serves music industry professionals, record labels, publishers, and distributors requiring official, verified sales and streaming data for business decisions, royalty verification, and competitive benchmarking.
• Official Chart Licensing Licensing of Official Charts (Singles, Albums, and 50+ genre charts) to businesses for use in weekly or monthly programming across radio, print, digital services, television, and online platforms. Key partners include BBC Radio 1, Music Week, and NSM Music jukeboxes. The service provides same-weekday chart delivery for broadcast and digital programming needs.
• Brand Licensing Consumer brand licensing program expanding the Official Charts brand into various product categories, with focus on UK and Ireland market targeting 16-30 year-old and 8-16 year-old audiences. Includes books, music compilations, and merchandise partnerships with publishers such as Nine Eight Books, Michael O'Mara Books, and Virgin Books.
• Bespoke Reports and Data Feeds Tailored reports and data services customized to specific client requirements. Includes digital product files, value and genre data, industry-specific reports, corporate group analyses, and label or artist-specific reports. Offered to music industry professionals requiring custom analytics beyond standard subscription offerings.
• Lightning Live System created in 2015 enabling album sales at live concerts and events to be counted towards the Official Albums Chart, supporting labels and artists using shows to reach fans beyond traditional retail channels.
• OfficialCharts.com Consumer Website Consumer-facing website reaching up to 2.0 million consumers generating 7.2 million page impressions per month (17 million users and 64 million views per year). Serves as the destination music site for chart statistics, pop news archive, and music news. Features a database of 50,000+ artists, 88,000 singles, and 79,000 albums spanning eight decades.
• Official Chart Compilation Data Collection Market research service capturing daily sales and streaming information for all registered music and video products from 15,000 points of distribution including physical stores, digital outlets, and streaming services. Compiles charts from over 8,000 retailers representing approximately 99% of the singles market, 98% of the albums market, and 90% of the video market. This is the foundational data service that powers all other Official Charts offerings.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Billboard: Billboard operates the official US music charts (Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200) and provides chart-based data, news, and rankings—directly comparable to Official Charts as a national chart compiler with B2B data services and consumer media presence.
• Luminate: Luminate (formerly Nielsen Music/MRC Data) is the leading global music industry data and insights provider, offering sales, streaming, and radio tracking comparable to OCC's Official Charts Online subscription data services for music industry clients.
• GfK Entertainment: GfK Entertainment compiles the official German music charts (Offizielle Deutsche Charts) under a methodology similar to OCC's UK charts—a direct peer as another European national chart compiler serving the music industry with B2B data services.
• Music Week: Music Week is a UK music industry trade publication that publishes chart-related content and is itself a licensee of Official Charts data—serving overlapping audiences of music industry professionals needing chart information and analysis.

Regional players

• ARIA: ARIA compiles the official Australian music charts and provides industry data services—a comparable peer as a national music industry association that owns and operates chart compilation in a different geography from OCC.

Others

• SNEP: SNEP (Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique) is France's record labels association that partnered with OCC to compile official French charts—a peer industry body and current commercial partner in OCC's international expansion.
• IRMA: IRMA (Irish Recorded Music Association) is Ireland's music industry body that partnered with OCC to compile official Irish charts—an industry peer and current commercial partner in OCC's international expansion.

Broad incumbents

• Nielsen: Nielsen operates broader media measurement and ratings businesses that historically included music data (Nielsen SoundScan/BDS), making it a broad incumbent with overlapping B2B data capabilities in audience and content measurement.
• Spotify (Charts): Spotify publishes its own daily charts and viral rankings as part of its streaming platform—representing a broad incumbent with its own proprietary chart products that compete indirectly with OCC's compilation services for industry attention and data relevance.

Emerging players

• Chartmetric: Chartmetric provides cross-platform music analytics covering streaming, social, and radio data for industry professionals—an emerging data analytics player offering services adjacent to OCC's B2B Official Charts Online subscription product.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/officialcharts
• YouTubeyoutube.com/OfficialCharts
• Facebookfacebook.com/OfficialCharts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-official-charts-company
• Instagraminstagram.com/OfficialCharts
• TikToktiktok.com/@officialukcharts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Official Charts