Charts FAQs

How are the ARIA Charts prepared and calculated each week?

The aim of the ARIA Charts is to reflect and inform consumer choice in a dynamic way. The purpose of the ARIA Charts is to accurately report on music consumption in Australia at any given time. This involves adjusting to changing music consumption patterns as they occur. Thus, where once the ARIA Charts were predominantly tracking physical product sales, the charts now encompass physical, digital and streaming activity. 

The ARIA Charts are calculated once a week on Friday. They are based on retail recorded music sales and streaming activity within Australia for the week from the preceding Friday to the Thursday prior to calculation. The new charts are usually uploaded to the ARIA Charts website on Saturday night at 5pm (Sydney time).

ARIA membership is not a prerequisite for the inclusion of specific releases in the ARIA Charts, but products must meet the various eligibility rules, which are all set out in the Code of Practice for ARIA Charts (the Code).

The Code provides all of the detail on how the charts are calculated, but here is an overview of how the ARIA Charts are prepared:

• Record Suppliers (eg. record labels or artists) advise ARIA the details of product released, and the items they wish to be surveyed on particular charts (eg. National singles chart, Country or Classical album charts). They also advise ARIA of any particular promotional activity (eg. in-store/promotional appearances by an artist) that might be happening through any of ARIA’s Chart Information Providers. Record Suppliers also advise ARIA of any product that is issued with multiple catalogue numbers so that, where appropriate, the sales for those products can be combined for chart calculation purposes (eg. standard version and limited-edition tour release).
• ARIA receives electronic file submissions from participating retailers and music services (Information Providers) covering the chart week. Click here to access a list of participating retailers.
• Multiple sales of a title purchased by a single customer at any one time are ineligible for inclusion in the ARIA Charts.
• ARIA performs diagnostic tests on the data, to isolate any anomalies or corrupted data, check that abnormal sales patterns that are observed in relation to a single retailer or series of retailers can be explained (eg. resulting from an in-store appearance), and that releases achieving significant sales have not been inadvertently omitted from survey. Where necessary, ARIA contacts the relevant retail outlet or record supplier for further information, clarification or supply of data as the case may be.
• If an abnormal pattern of sales within a store’s file submission cannot be adequately explained, all the sales data for that particular outlet will be discarded and excluded from the calculation for that week. 
• ARIA undertakes a weighting process on the total recorded music sales data. The weighting process seeks to represent, as closely as possible, the total Australian physical retail sales for each product each week based on the significant sample data received by ARIA. This weighting process is based on the wholesale sales shipments by major record companies to all music retailers in Australia. Separate weighting tables are produced for albums and singles. Weighting factors are adjusted from week to week to reflect the sample size of each given week.
• If a file contains sales for particular products which were the subject of specific promotional activity (eg. in-store appearances) in that store during that week, the sales relating to that particular activity are flagged to ensure they are not ‘weighted’ during the chart calculation process.

This is an overview of the chart preparation procedure only. Full details on the procedure are set out in the Code of Practice for ARIA Charts.

I'm independently releasing my music. What must happen for it to chart?

First and foremost, it must be eligible for inclusion in the chart. For more information on the eligibility rules, Data Rules and other rules for the ARIA Charts, please review the ARIA Charts Code of Practice.

Please note that, unless your release is being sold through one of our contributing ARIA Chart Stores or available on one of the contributing music services, then it will not achieve a chart position.

If you are confident that your product will be selling through one or more of the stores or services listed on our website, the next step is for you to provide us with information about your product / release (eg. barcode, catalogue number, title) and a survey request (setting out the range of charts on which you hope to have your release appear). Both steps MUST be taken for your product to have any chance of charting, as ARIA will not otherwise have the relevant information. You can provide the necessary information to ARIA here

It is also worth noting that if you plan on doing any instore appearances or special promotions that might cause a sales spike in some stores; we need to be notified in writing at least 5 days prior to the event taking place. To do this, an email should be sent to charts.mail@aria.com.au outlining exactly where and when the event or instore is to occur. Immediately after the event we should also be notified of the exact number of units sold. 

If we find an unusual number of sales reported for your product and we have not been notified of any such activity, we reserve the right to remove those sales from the chart calculation all together. 

Please contact the ARIA Chart Department if you have further queries in relation to the eligibility rules or any other requirements.

I'm independently releasing my music. Do I need a barcode?

No, but a barcode can provide a unique way of identifying your product. 

The ARIA Chart are calculated from sales data gathered electronically from computerised stores across Australia. These stores provide ARIA with information on all their recorded music sales in any given week. The products (releases) are identified to ARIA through either catalogue numbers or barcodes or, preferably, both.

If there is no barcode, accurate identification is impossible. You should at least ensure that the catalogue number you choose is unique to your product.

What is an ISRC / Catalogue number?

An ISRC is an International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) and is the international system for the identification of recorded music and music videos. Each ISRC is a unique identifier that can be permanently encoded into a recording or music video. 

A catalogue number is a number a record label assigns to a release for identification purposes. Often a catalogue number will be displayed on the spine of a CD.

How many sales does it take to reach No.100, 50, 40, 10, 1, etc? 

There is no fixed number of sales required to achieve a certain chart position in any given week. 

I am a working club/touring DJ residing in Australia. How do I contribute to the ARIA Club Chart each week?

Please contact the ARIA Club Chart Co-ordinator for details.

I’m looking for a chart from the past and can’t find it anywhere. Are past ARIA Charts available anywhere on the website?

ARIA is in the process of reviewing and redeveloping its web presence to increase the interactivity of the chart and include some access to archival chart information. You can, however, already view end of year charts for the years 1988 to 2018 here.

Can ARIA provide me with old chart related information, for example a chart history for a specific artist?

The ARIA Charts date back to the middle of 1983 but our database only goes back to mid-1988 when we started calculating the charts in-house. Accessing information for ad-hoc chart enquiries can be quite time consuming and may incur a charge. If you would like to know how much your request will cost, email us your requirements and we will see if we are able to help

I'd like to buy some of the titles appearing on the ARIA Charts. Am I able to buy them directly from your site?

We do not sell music on our site. If you wish to purchase any of the titles listed on any of our Charts, contact a music retailer. A list of retailers contributing to the ARIA Charts can be found here.

I would like to attend the ARIA Awards, how do I go about getting a ticket?

Stay tuned to the ARIA Awards website for updates on ticketing for the event.