BBC gazumped by Virgin Napster deal

Virgin Radio and Napster are to launch a download music chart to compete with a similar service being offered by the BBC. The Virgin Radio chart will be aiming to steal the Beeb's thunder, as it is to be launched three days before the Radio 1 chart.

Charts of online music sales are an area of growing interest, with downloads accounting for an ever-greater share of the music sales. However, a variety of charts offered in association with a variety of services means a muddying of waters which once relied on one authoritative chart to show which artists were outselling their pop rivals.

Unlike traditional charts, such as the current Official UK top 40, it's unlikely the chart-toppers will always be new releases - buoyed by marketing campaigns, fads and label-led price cuts.

The Napster chart will show the 20 most popular downloads in any given week, a list is likely to include popular classics alongside recent hits from past months - at least while the novelty of download services is still fresh and people catch up on their back-catalogues of music.

Napster will still contribute sales figures to the BBC chart, which will draw its chart from sales across a range of online services.