All valid points, but this is not strictly true nowadays, since many singles usually enter the chart a week before the physical release on downloads only causing the single to peak on its second week.reality_check wrote: In todays chart, singles rarely climb from their NE - this is usually the peak position.
There's also the fact that singles are nowadays played on the radio as early as two months before the actual release. For instance the Killers's When You Were Young was streamed in the net on July 10th, the promos were sent to radios on about July 17th while the actual physical single was out September 18th. The single reached number two and stayed there for another week, but one can't help thinking that nobody except the most fanatic fans are going to wait two months only to buy the single – no, they'll wait two extra weeks and buy the album then, leaving the single on the shelves. It's a great irony that radio is playing so many singles that are not available on that format, because the radio play of post-album singles usually begins 4-6 weeks before the physical release too, encouraging people to buy the available album instead of a forthcoming single.
