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Frequently-Asked Questions

Q) What is the idea behind everyHit.com?
A) See the "about" section

Q) What do I do if I can't find a particular track listed?
A) It is there! Check your search criteria. Remove as many restrictions as possible. Blank the artist name. Set the search dates to cover a broad range. Under the "title" search box, select "contains the word" and enter a distinctive word (check spelling!) If you still can't find what you're looking for, use the feedback form to let us know.

Other tips:
  • Is there a number in the artist’s name / title? Try searching by number. (eg. "2 Unlimited", "Dance 2 Trance")
  • Think of abbreviations such as "Rockin’", "Livin’", "Dr" etc
  • Phonetic spellings are sometimes used by artists ('nite' is a common one!)
  • An artist name never begins with the word "The" (except for "The The and TheAudience!!")
  • Where two artists are involved in a hit '&' is used instead of "and." eg. "Simon & Garfunkel"
  • Think about spacing ... try "C J Lewis" if "CJ Lewis" doesn't work.
  • No expletives! Only the first and last letters are given. Every other letter is replaced by *!

Q) Which dates are covered?
A) From November 1952 (singles) / November 1958 (albums) to this week.

Q) What's a 'Hit'?
A single or album which occupies at least one week in the Top 40. Some argue that a place in the Top 75 is good enough to be classed as a 'hit' but we have higher standards than that! Radio and TV has long since used the yardstick of a Top 40 placing as the significant cut-off point. That tradition is continued here.

Q) Do you list individual Top 40s for every week?
A) No. Neither does any other web site. Nor is there a currently available publication which lists these.

Q) Do you provide sales figures for every hit?
A) No. Some sales statistics are quoted on the site but, for now, we've opted not to publish potentially sensitive retail data.

Q) Why do the dates listed in the 'UK Number 1s' pages appear to be Saturdays - six days after the song actually made number 1?
A) Charts are traditionally given a 'week-ending' (w/e) date. This has always been the Saturday after publication. So if you want to determine which track was top of the chart on the day on which you were born, you should consider it to be the first chart with a 'week-ending' date after your birthday.
For the record, until 1987, the chart was first made available on the Tuesday. Due to improved technology, from the beginning of October 1987 it was released on the Sunday. The convention of using Saturday as the 'week ending' has remained constant throughout. Any dates on everyhit.com refer to 'week ending' (but see the next FAQ - at the top of the next column - about 'realtime.')

Q) What's the difference between 'week-ending' Number 1s and 'realtime' Number 1s?
A) To work out what title was Number 1 on the day on which you were born it is necessary to know when the

chart was actually disclosed. The week-ending date does not help here. However, our date engine knows when each chart was unveiled. This will automatically give you an accurate answer to the real Number 1 for any given date.

Q) How many copies does a title have to sell to be a hit?
A) This obviously varies annually and from month-to-month. But, in a typical 2006 week...

Singles: A number 1 record has sold around 30,000 copies per week. Sales of around 13,000 have been sufficient to hit the top 10. A title selling over 2,500 copies would make the Top 40. These figures have approximately halved since 2002 - more at the no.1 position.

Albums: It often comes as a surprise to discover that, compared to singles, more than twice as many albums are sold in any given week. Average weekly sales figures for an album topping the main artist chart are approximately 100,000 (but there is huge variation). The number 10 album averages 23,500. A figure of 7,000 copies in a week should make the number 40 position.

There is a graph detailing sales of singles and albums for the past 50 years here.

Q) How does a disc become Platinum / Gold / Silver?
A) This has varied through history. Once upon a time, a single had to sell a million copies to go Platinum. But now the figures are:
   Singles: Platinum - 600,000 copies / Gold 400,000 copies / Silver 200,000 copies.
   Albums: Platinum - 300,000 copies / Gold 100,000 copies / Silver 60,000 copies.

Q) Where can I find this week's chart listings?
A) The UK singles chart can be found here. Albums are here.

Q) How do you get pages to load so quickly?
A) From the outset, the site was designed with speed of loading a priority. We know that it's content that you want from this site - not whizz-bang animations. Every detail has been designed with this in mind.

Q) Can I contribute information to everyHit.com?
A) Yes! If you have any interesting snippets (particularly info for our "notes" section) please send it to us via the feedback form. Please quote your source as we're keen only to print factually accurate information and may need to check it.

Q) Can I link from my website to everyHit.com?
A) Please do! You'll find a selection of banner/button graphics here.

Q) How can I use the info from everyHit.com?
A) This is an altruistic, non-commercial public resource for personal and educational use only.



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