IFPI Greece

IFPI Greece founded the first official music charts in Greece in 1989.[3] 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.[3] By May 1991, the charts were discontinued after it was discovered that they were easily manipulated.[4] 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.[4] 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".[4] The IFPI Greece charts were published in Pop & Rock magazine.[5]

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.[4] It was planned for these reformed charts to be operable by early 1992.[4] The Greek charts were then compiled by Virgin after Virgin was sold to EMI in March 1992.[6][7] However, by mid-September 1992, the Greek charts were compiled by Pop & Rock magazine.[8] The last Greek singles and albums charts to be published in Music & Media magazine was on July 3, 1993 and it was provided by Pop & Rock magazine.[9]

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,[10] 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.

In January 2010, IFPI Greece announced that they would start providing the Top 50 Foreign Albums chart on their website again, although the reformed charting system is not yet functional. Thus the Top 50 Foreign Albums chart continues to utilize the old charting system, while it is the only chart they currently provide.[11] IFPI debuted its new chart in early October 2010. The new chart, Top 75 Combined Repertoire, is now the sole chart by IFPI Greece and lists the top 75 domestic and foreign albums in the country.

The Top 75 Combined Repertoire chart is the official albums chart of Greece. It debuted in October 2010, replacing and combining the prior separate Greek-language and foreign album charts.

In 2011 IFPI Greece partnered up with a radio monitoring service MediaInspector to provide the official Top 200 Airplay chart.[12] The company monitors a total of more than 450 radio stations around Greece, and compiles a combined repertoire chart. The top 20 positions are provided at www.airplaychart.gr and at IFPI Greece website.[13]

In 2018, IFPI started publishing the Top 100 Digital Singles chart. The chart is based on streaming data provided by Akazoo, Spotify, Apple Music, Napster and Deezer as well as song downloads from iTunes.[14] iTunes downloads are transformed into "stream points" at some undisclosed ratio.[15] The chart was soon split into a local chart and an international chart.[16] Since June 2020, Akazoo data was no longer considered.[17] Starting with week 4 of 2021, the charts also included sales certifications.[18]

The Top 50 Greek Albums (Top 50 Ελληνικών Αλμπουμ) chart was the official albums chart of Greece for Greek-language repertoire. Sales of domestic repertoire are higher in Greece compared to other IFPI nations, outnumbering foreign repertoire sales.[19] The chart was discontinued in week 17, 2009.[20]

The Top 50 Foreign Albums (Top 50 Ξένων Αλμπουμ) chart was the official sales chart for Greece of foreign repertoire. The chart was available at least until week 35, 2010[21] until it was replaced with the combined Top 75 albums charts.

The Top 50 Singles chart was the official sales chart for singles. It was discontinued in week 19, 2008.[22]

The Top 30 Collections chart (Top 30 Συλλογών) was published from mid 2003[23] until it was discontinued in week 19, 2008.[24]

The Top 20 DVD/Video chart was published from October 2004[25] until it was discontinued in week 19, 2008.[26]

As of 2021, IFPI Greece provides certifications, or "awards", only for digital singles. Awards are based on the number of streams, where iTunes downloads are transformed to streams at some undisclosed ratio.[15] The award levels are 1,000,000 streams for Gold, 2,000,000 streams for Platinum and 10,000,000 streams for Diamond.[15] These awards started being listed on week 4, 2021.[18]

IFPI Greece published certification awards in the Top 75 Albums chart up to November 2013.[27] Prior to that, the award levels for albums were as follows.

For domestic repertoire:

For foreign repertoire:

Prior to 1997, the sales thresholds for foreign repertoire were the same as domestic ones.

Single awards were available until the cancellation of the Top 50 Singles chart in 2008. The awards levels weer 3,000 for Gold and 6,000 for Platinum.[31] Prior to June 2007, the thresholds were 7,500 and 15,000 copies, respectively.

DVD awards were available until the cancellation of the Top 20 DVD/Video chart in 2008. The awards levels weer 3,000 for Gold and 6,000 for Platinum.[31] Prior to July 2008, the thresholds were 5,000 and 10,000 copies, respectively.

2005 version of the "Piracy kills music" logo

IFPI Greece runs a campaign against copyright violation with the help of the recording industry. Beginning in 2002,[40] During IFPI Greece's first annual "Arion Music Awards", its "Piracy Kills Music" campaign was launched, aimed at raising awareness among consumers. Campaign logos would appear on almost every album release, inserted into music videos broadcasts, and public service announcements were designed as magazine and newspaper ads. The slogan was also heard regularly in radio spots of major radio stations.

From 2002 to 2004, the slogan appeared as a logo featuring an open, red-colored hand print in the background. In 2005, the logo was updated with a differently stylized straight red-colored hand containing a black disc in its palm, with the "Piracy Kills Music" slogan appearing as caption below it. In 2007, IFPI Greece changed its anti-infringement slogan to "Let Music Live" which would appear as a caption to a colorful musical note. This tactic of imprinting CDs and music videos appears to be fading as fewer labels have chosen to continue this practice since 2009.

The Arion Music Awards were the official industry awards organized by Greece's charting authority, IFPI Greece. The awards are named after the Ancient Greek poet Arion as an expression of the diversity in Greek music.[41] The awards debuted in 2002 following the discontinuation of the "Pop Corn Music Awards", which were organized by the defunct Greek magazine "Pop Corn" from the early 1990s until 2001. The Arions were broadcast by Mega Channel in their first five years before moving to ANT1 channel later. In the first years, the awards were praised by industry and viewers alike,[42] helping to demonstrate to audiences the industry behind the music and by raising awareness on issues of bootlegged and counterfeit CDs.[43] They also effectively balanced the majority of genres present in the local market. The awards have been put on hiatus since 2007 for various reasons ranging from falling TV ratings, low artist attendance, and to a general crisis in Greek discography attributed to falling sales and heavy infringement. MAD Video Music Awards presented by music television station MAD TV, which primarily awards music videos, is currently the only mainstream music award in Greece.