Top Of The Pops 2010
In the beginning, all you needed to compile the list of the most popular records was to check how much was manufactured and what was left on the shelves. Later, various types of media (vinyl, LPs, singles, tapes, etc.) complicated things. In this sense, the origins of downloading can be traced back to the early days of taping when copies started distorting the statistics.
Then came the age of DATs, CDs and DVDs; things that are slowly disappearing into cyberspace. We have to accept that downloading is a fact of life, albeit mostly illegal beyond the very first step.
Due to the fragmented nature of service providers and the lack of any centralized statistics, it is becoming increasingly difficult to compile a true hit list. Anyone willing to undertake such a task will arrive at a set of data so approximate, that it would be foolish to accept it as a fact by shoppers, professionals and artists alike.