Well, it didn’t take long for this to cause problems.  This week’s top seller is “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee.  And this week’s most streamed record is “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee.  And yet…

1.  DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna & Bryson Tiller – “Wild Thoughts”

This entered at number 3 at the end of June, and spent the last three weeks at number 2.  This week, it is the second-most purchased and the second-most streamed single.  So why is it number one?

Because the new chart rules, which were intended to hustle fading records out of their chart, have not operated as expected.  The change, you’ll recall, is to downweight the streams of records which have been on the chart for at least ten weeks, and whose combined sales-and-streams total has been falling for three straight weeks.  It’s actually more subtle and complicated than that – for example, there are rules to reactivate singles which really are getting a second wind – but this is the gist.  The logical justification for this rule, beyond speeding up the charts as an end in itself, is a bit shaky.  It can be rationalised, though.  If a track has been out for that long and it’s no longer building an audience, there’s a good chance that its streams represent continuing plays from people whose support for the track has already registered on the chart multiple times before.

The problem here is that “Despacito” was miles ahead of the pack and so it managed to pass the ten week mark and spend three weeks in decline all while remaining comfortably at number one.  The very fact that it still made a close number two even after its streams were downweighted – and actually has a reasonable shot at getting the top slot back next week – shows how far ahead it is.  So DJ Khaled and co get a number one single with an almighty asterisk next to it, and if this sort of thing keeps happening, you can probably expect some re-tooling.

It’s the second number for DJ Khaled, following “I’m The One” earlier in the year.  It goes without saying that it’s the first for Bryson Tiller.  And Rihanna gets her ninth number one, which is getting into elite territory; it’s equal to Abba and the Spice Girls.  The eight were “Umbrella” (2007), “Take a Bow” (2008), Jay-Z’s “Run This Town” (2009), “Only Girl (In The World)” (2010), “What’s My Name?” (2010), “We Found Love” (2011), “Diamonds” (2012) and Eminem’s “Monster” (2013).  Nothing in the last three years, though she’s had some big hits in that time.

Not much going on in the rest of the top 20.  “Your Song” by Rita Ora climbs 8-7, “Power” by Little Mix” is up 10-8, and “Crying in the Club” by Camila Cabello is up 14-13.  “Malibu” by Miley Cyrus entered at 11 in May and I haven’t mentioned it since, but it’s been hovering around the mid-table ever since and it’s moved 24-19-16-14 over the last few weeks, which seems worth a mention.  “Sun Comes Up” by Rudimental featuring James Arthur goes 18-16, and “Know No Better” by Major Lazer featuring Travis Scott & Camila Cabello goes 19-17.  “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons moves 24-20, giving them a fourth top 20 hit.  “Bad Liar” by Selena Gomez is up 23-21.  And “Chasing Highs” by Alma is up 28-25.  No shortage of climbers, then, but it’s all incremental stuff.  This isn’t quite what they were hoping for when they changed the rules.

26.  The Script – “Rain”

This week’s highest new entry.  The Script haven’t had a single out since 2014, and this is the lead single from their upcoming album.  In the past, they’ve had big hits with the first single from an album, but it’s 2017 and a number 26 debut is pretty respectable.  The Script seem to have abandoned all pretence of being a rock band at this point, and are now an unabashed MOR pop act, which is something they’re reasonably good at in a Maroon 5 sort of way.

26.  Demi Lovato – “Sorry Not Sorry”

Yeah, that’s definitely a real house party.  Totally believe that.  Anyway, this is the lead single from her next album, and it was a midweek release which now registers on the top 40 in its first full week.  I’m not sure I buy Demi Lovato in this persona, to be honest.  (I’m not sure she does either, given the ending of the video.)  It’s above-average but generic US R&B pop.  This is the highest chart placing for one of her own singles since “Cool For The Summer” made the top 10 in 2015.  Weirdly, she’s competing with herself, because she’s also on “Instruction” by Jax Jones featuring Demi Lovato & Stefflon Don, which climbs 38-32 this week.

“XO Tour Llif3” by Lil Uzi Vert enters the top 30, moving 33-29.

33.  Selena Gomez featuring Gucci Mane – “Fetish”

Traditionally you wouldn’t release a second single while “Bad Liar” was still climbing the chart, but climbing takes a while these days, and the concept of multiple promotional singles seems to be in fashion anyway.  Despite being billed as “Audio”, what’s embedded above is actually a minimalist video, and probably a more effective one than whatever will end up being the “real” video.

36.  Dua Lipa – “New Rules”

One last single from the album, which came out back in mid-June.  It’s a Eurobeat break-up song, and it grows on you pretty quickly.

38.  Yungen featuring Yxng Bane – “Bestie”

Grime, in crossover mode.

On the album chart:

• “Night and Day” by the Vamps enters at 1.  A boy band?  This feels like a hangover from a past era, though it’s actually their third album and first number one.  They did get a single from this album to number 24, “All Night”, and that was with the help of a remix.
• “King of the North” by Bugzy Malone at 4.  Manchester rap, and this is his third top ten album.  Single: “Bruce Wayne”.
• For some reason, “The Ultimate Collection” by John Denver re-enters at 5.  This year is the twentieth anniversary of his death, but that’s not until October.  The album made number 7 on release six years ago, so this is a new peak.  Denver’s only UK hit single was “Annie’s Song”, a number 1in 1974.
• “Ultralife” by Oh Wonder at 8.  London pop duo; their self-titled debut made number 26 two years ago, so a big improvement here.  Single: “High on Humans”.
• “Saturday Night at the Movies” by Joe McElderry at 10.  Fifty minutes of cinema-themed MOR barrel-scraping from the 2009 X Factor winner (the series where Olly Murs came second).  Bizarrely, the single is a cover of “Daydream Believer”, which the track listing attempts to justify on the grounds that features on “Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story”, a 2000 TV biopic.
• “Mura Masa” by Mura Masa at 19.  He’s a producer from Guernsey, and this is his debut solo album.  Single: “1 Night”.
• “The Last Night of the Electrics” by Status Quo at 24.  It’s a live album.  Their YouTube listing are not modest: “Britain’s best-loved rockers Status Quo premiere their wonderful performance of ‘Caroline’…”
• “God First” by Mr Jukes at 31.  A sample-heavy soul and R&B solo project from Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club.  Single: “Grant Green”.
• “Jungle Rules” by French Montana at 32.  The single “Unforgettable” is still at number 3.  This is his first appearance in the album chart.