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Number One’s 

I have a long standing suspicion of numbers when they are used to prove something. I think it started with Led Zeppelin. They were a rock group who refused to sell out by releasing a single when the hight of success was supposed to be a number one single and an appearance on Top of the Pops (TOTPs). Of course I watched TOTPs but only to rubbish acts and ask ,” who on earth is buying that record”. My suspicions were later confirmed when a documentary exposed the scandal of the record industry fiddling the sales figures to get records into the top 20 charts thus ensuring they got on TOTPs and on radio play lists which inturn resulted in more sales. 

Streaming has rendered the whole idea of a top twenty singles/songs meaningless ever since Ed Sheeran had seven songs in the top ten as fans streamed songs from the same album. Or when an old song by Kate  Bush was streamed more times than any new song following its use in a popular Netflix show but did not go to number one until they changed the rules about songs more than three years old. 

But despite the fiddling, the manipulation, the drawing of unjustified conclusions and obscuring the reality we place great store by our chart toppers, the Top 20 and our league tables of the of best. And the more significance and importance we attach to our charted performance the greater the temptation to fiddle the figures. 

Local Government is no different to anywhere else when it comes to league tables. By all means treat them as an indication of something, a prompt for further investigation, but don’t get complacent with better than expected returns or put too much pressure on to “improve the figures”. 

Blair Mcpherson former Director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk 

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