Westlife top first download chart
The first official download chart was unveiled with Westlife's Flying Without Wings at number one.
The chart is based on music legally downloaded from the internet. Many predict it will spell the end of the traditional top 40 and hasten the demise of High Street record shops.
But although the download chart represents the future of the music industry, it was a re-released track from 1999 which claimed the top spot.
Westlife re-issued Flying Without Wings especially for the occasion and fans downloaded it in their thousands to help the band secure a place in chart history.
The Irish boyband outsold the likes of Blazin' Squad, Maroon 5 and Keane.
The chart was counted down on Radio 1 during the Scott Mills Show and will be broadcast from 6pm-7pm every Wednesday.
It is compiled on the basis of tracks legally downloaded from online sites including iTunes and Napster.
Their download sales data is transmitted daily to an independent market research company for the purposes of compiling the chart.
More than two million tracks have been legally downloaded since January. The arrival of Apple's iTunes, where songs are available for as little as 79p each, has fuelled demand.
The scale of the download market is vast when compared with the traditional singles market.
While 200 or so singles are available to buy in record shops each week, the download chart is registering sales of more than 40,000 different tracks per week.
As sales are not restricted to new releases, classic songs could make their way into the chart.
Flying Without Wings and the number two track, Blazin' Day by Blazin' Squad, are both download exclusives. Maroon 5, currently on tour, have three entries in the download top 20.
Top 20
1 Flying Without Wings - Westlife (download exclusive)
2 Blazin' Day - Blazin' Squad (download exclusive)
3 She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5 (current top 40 single)
4 Lola's Theme - Shapeshifters (former number one, current top 40 single)
5 American Idiot - Green Day (pre-release track)
6 This Love - Maroon 5 (former top 40 single)
7 Dry Your Eyes - The Streets (former number one, current top 40 single)
8 Bedshaped - Keane (current top 40 single)
9 Laura - Scissor Sisters (former top 40 single)
10 Apocalypse Please - Muse (download exclusive)
11 Sick And Tired - Anastacia (current top 40 single)
12 Dumb - 411 (current top 40 single)
13 Everybody's Changing - Keane (former top 40 single)
14 Left Outside Alone - Anastacia (former top 40 single)
15 My Happy Ending - Avril Lavigne (current top 40 single)
16 Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do - Goldie Lookin' Chain (current top 40 single)
17 Single - Natasha Bedingfield (former top 40 single)
18 Harder To Breathe - Maroon 5 (former top 40 single)
19 Hey Ya - Outkast (former top 40 single)
20 Sunshine - Twista (pre-release)
