IFPI Greece
| Music of Greece | |
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| General topics | |
| Genres | |
| Specific forms | |
| Media and performance | |
| Music awards |
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| Music charts |
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| Music festivals | |
| Music media |
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| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | |
| National anthem | "Hymn to Liberty" |
| Regional music | |
| Related areas | Cyprus, Pontus, Constantinople, South Italy |
| Regional styles |
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International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece, or simply IFPI Greece, is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently a Top-75 combined repertoire albums sales chart is compiled. The charts is published by IFPI Greece and sponsored by Cyta Hellas.
The domestic trade name of IFPI Greece is Ένωση Ελλήνων Παραγωγών Ηχογραφημάτων (ΕΕΠΗ) (English: Association of Greek Producers of Phonograms [AGPP]). However, it is generally referred to, and branded as, IFPI Greece.
IFPI Greece founded the first official music charts in Greece in 1989. There were two top 20 albums charts, one for domestic and the other for foreign repertoire. The broadcast rights of the charts were acquired by ANT1 radio. Prior to the introduction of industry charts by IFPI Greece, unreliable charts were being published by various magazines which lacked credibility and authority over the monitoring of record sales. By May 1991, the charts were discontinued after it was discovered that they were easily manipulated. Executives blamed artists who made themselves appear more popular by buying hundreds of copies of their own albums in an attempt to gain more bargaining power for shows and appearances. Also cited was the large number of small shops which lacked detailed sales data required as a basis toward an accurate tracking system. In response to the discontinuation, Viko Antypas, managing director of PolyGram Greece, referred to the charts as "an experiment that failed".
Realizing the importance of having a national chart, which "helped bring the Greek music industry back into the public eye", IFPI sought to employ a system where albums would be tracked based upon actual sales to the public, as opposed to the number of retail shipments as was previously used. It was planned for these reformed charts to be operable by early 1992, however a complete overhaul of the charting method never materialized and future charts were once again based upon shipments, this time with adjusted figures via the sampling of record store inventories to form an estimation of actual consumer sales.
In March 2009 IFPI Greece announced that they would close their charts for a period of time in order to renew their charting system. There will be a shift from wholesale (manufacturer to retailer) to point of sale (retailer to consumer) sales, as well as the integration of legal digital downloads. The implementation of a point of sale tracking method will solve the longstanding issue of accurate consumer sales tracking, a pending issue identified since 1991 with the first discontinuation of the charts. Inclusion of digital downloads will also prompt the revival of the singles chart, as the decrease in sales and releases of CD singles had led to the discontinuation of the physical singles chart. Nielsen Soundscan is already engaged in the monitoring of digital downloads sold in Greece, which is compiled into a chart currently published under the international charts section of Billboard.
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Wikipedia