| Media Control GfK International | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1976 |
| Type | Market research, Service Provider of Media Monitoring, Analysis and Evaluation |
| Headquarters | Baden Baden |
| Location | Germany |
| Managing Director | Ulrike Altig[1] |
| Website | www.media-control.de |
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie (Federal Association of Phonographic Industry). Media Control GfK International is the provider of weekly Top-100 single/album, Compilation, Jazz Top-30, Classic Top-20, Schlager Longplay Top-20, Music-DVD Top-20 and the official-Dance (ODC) Top-50 charts.[2]
Official charts in Germany are presented by various companies who release charts on a weekly basis, online or on television. One example would be VIVA music channel which was founded in 1993.[3] Another two examples would be MusicLoad and MIX 1 both of which are online associations who post almost all the charts on weekly bases published by Media Control GfK International.[4][5] The entire batch of the official charts; however, is presented by online enterprise called Charts.de which happens to be the subsidiary of Media Control GfK International.[6]
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Charts have been published in Germany since 1959, in a magazine called Der Musikmarkt (The Music Market), which has played an important role in the German music industry.[7] Since 1959, the growing desire for having a well developed music program has made Bunderverband Musikindustrie work together with charts provider to improve the way the charts were determined.
For this purpose, different research institutes were tested, out of which Media Control, based in Baden Baden was selected. Hence, the first official charts were made available in the magazine Der Musikmarkt in September 1977.[7]
Initially, there used to be 50 positions only, which later in January 1980, was extended to 75 slots.[7] Since 1989; however, Media Control has adapted the international standards providing 100 positions, called "Media Control Top 100".[7] Since 2001, the Top-100 singles charts was modified to reflect the sales of the singles.[7]
Media Control developed "Music Video charts" in 2001, which later, in 2004, was renamed as "DVD charts".[7] While Music-videos have their own separate charts, in 2001, Media Control made it possible for the Music-video singles to have the ability to enter the Top-100 singles chart. Similarly, in 2002, it was made available for the Music-video albums to chart on the Top-100 album chart, if the Video album contains at least 50% of audio recording. If not, then, the DVD album could qualify for DVD chart only.[7] In the same vein, if an audio CD contains at least 50% of Video recording, then, it could qualify to chart on the DVD chart.[7]
In 2004, Germany became one of the first music markets wherein sales charts were reflected by online digital downloads.[8]
Digital-only releases came into existence on July 13, 2007 for online downloads only, which also altered the way the sales figures were conducted up to that point. Consequently, chart positions would no longer be affected by the number of sold music downloads as before, but rather, they would be affected by the sales value of the sold product. Thus, the best-selling albums would not necessarily be the ones ending up in the number one position on the charts.[9]
There are currently 3000 outlets that report their sales on weekly bases in Germany.[7] The weekly sales data is transmitted to Media Control via communication network channel, PhonoNet.[7]
List of charts that are provided by Media Control.[10]
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