Chart confusion - Huge disparity between Internet, local measurements

Mel Cooke, Sunday Gleaner Writer

On the Jamaica Weekly Music Countdown Charts for August 19-25, 2011, posted on the website www.reggae-vibes.com, Beenie Man's Nah Talk Too Long is the top dancehall single.

The top five is rounded out by Star a Star (Flippa Mafia), Swaggin' (Wayne Marshall featuring Tifa and Future Fambo), Wife a Wife (Lady Saw), and Summer Time (Vybz Kartel).

On the reggae side, Chris Demontague is on top with Missing You, Danglin follows with Keep on Believing, at number three is Love Alone (Rox Wayne), four is Right Man Fi Yuh (Robert Minott), and Jah Dore completes the top five with This Love is Over.

The sources for the song rankings are listed as sound systems, record shops, nightclubs, and radio play.

There is a dramatic difference between those rankings and the Stampede Street Chart of August 22, 2011. The number one dancehall song is One By One (Laza Morgan and Mavado). Next is Raving (Popcaan), then Blood a Boil (Khago), Delilah (Mavado), and Love Mi Life (Mavado). The Jamaica Music Weekly Countdown has One By One at 10 on its reggae listing, and on the dancehall chart, Raving at 17, Delilah at 12, Blood a Boil at six, and Love Mi Life is not mentioned in dispatches.

On the reggae side, the Stampede chart Iba Mahr is on top with Will I Wait, followed by Paper Loving (Chris Martin), No Body Bag (Prophecy), Call on Me (Chuck Fenda and Cherine Anderson), and Caan Stop Da Yute Ya (Denno). From that chart's top five, only Prophecy's No Body Bags makes the Jamaica Music Weekly Countdown, coming in at number 14.

In a previous interview with The Sunday Gleaner, Boswell 'Stampede' Lammie explained that charts are generated through feedback from club and dancehall selectors and "people in the streets" who follow music avidly. After receiving calls from a pool of respondents, Lammie is responsible for the final collation, using a percentage system to arrive at the positions.

On the digital front, Bob Marley dominates the iTunes reggae singles charts where positions are determined by the most credible marker - sales.

On Friday, Three Little Birds was number one in the United Kingdom, the United States, and The Netherlands. Could You Be Loved was on top in Spain and Greece. The live version of No Woman No Cry was at pole position in Italy and Portugal, and Redemption Song on top in Ireland.

Shaggy figures on many iTunes charts, with his current Sugarcane number one in Canada. Generally, though, it was older songs which dominated the reggae rankings.

The disparity begs the question, are Jamaican charts getting the formula right?