Profile Martin Talbot Martin Talbot with Ed Sheeran Something needed to make sense of the chaos of all of this music being created. What better than a chart that reflects consumption across all age groups and demographics, across the whole country transformed everything again and created other challenges, Talbot recalls. Something needed to make sense of the chaos of all of this music being created. What better than a chart that reflects consumption across all age groups and demographics, across the whole country. The chart we create isnt just taking data from one particular platform it is taking data from all of them. The Official Charts Company gathers data, with support from Kantar, from 8,000 sources daily from major streaming services to online and high street retailers, supermarkets and independent record shops. The data it gathers equates to more than 99% of the total UK singles market, 98% of the albums market and 90% of the countrys DVD market. In comparison, the first UK chart the brainchild of NME publisher Percy Dickens and printed on 14 November 1952 was based on about 20 phone calls to record shops. The first number one? Al Martino with Here in My Heart. Data quality was a challenge when streaming first arrived 20 Impact ISSUE 43 2023_pp18-21_Profile.indd 20 18/09/2023 12:02