IFPI Greece

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. The association
publishes 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)[1] (English: Association of Greek Producers of Phonograms [AGPP]).[2] However, it is
generally referred to, and branded as, IFPI Greece.

IFPI Greece charts

History

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]
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] 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,[5] 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.[6] 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.

Current charts

Top 75 albums

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.

Top 200 Airplay chart

In 2011 IFPI Greece partnered up with a radio monitoring service MediaInspector to provide
the official Top 200 Airplay chart.[7] 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.[8]
Top 100 Digital Singles chart

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.[9] iTunes downloads are transformed into "stream points" at
some undisclosed ratio.[10] The chart was soon split into a local chart and an international
chart.[11] Since June 2020, Akazoo data was no longer considered.[12] Starting with week 4 of
2021, the charts also included sales certifications.[13]

Past charts

The Top 50 Greek Albums (Top 50 Ελληνικών Aλμπουμ) 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.[14] The chart was
discontinued in week 17, 2009.[15]

The Top 50 Foreign Albums (Top 50 Ξένων Aλμπουμ) chart was the official sales chart for
Greece of foreign repertoire. The chart was available at least until week 35, 2010[16] until it
was replaced with the combined Top 75 albums charts.

The Top 50 Singles chart was he official sales chart for singles. It was discontinued in week
19, 2008.[17]

The Top 30 Collections chart (Top 30 Συλλογών) was published from mid 2003[18] until it was
discontinued in week 19, 2008.[19]

The Top 20 DVD/Video chart was published from October 2004[20] until it was discontinued in
week 19, 2008.[21]

Certifications

Current certifications

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.[10] The award levels are 1,000,000 streams for Gold, 2,000,000
streams for Platinum and 10,000,000 streams for Diamond.[10] These awards started being
listed on week 4, 2021.[13]

Past certification levels

IFPI Greece published certification awards in the Top 75 Albums chart up to November
2013.[22] Prior to that, the award levels for albums were as follows.

For domestic repertoire:

Years Gold Platinum

Up to 1990[23] 50,000 100,000

1990–1997[24] 30,000 60,000

1997–09/2002 25,000 50,000

09/2002–09/2006[25] 20,000 40,000

09/2006–07/2008 15,000 30,000

07/2008–present[26] 6,000 12,000

For foreign repertoire:

Years Gold Platinum

1997–09/2002[27] 15,000 30,000

09/2002–09/2006 10,000 20,000

09/2006–06/2007[28] 7,500 15,000

06/2007–07/2008[29] 5,000 10,000

07/2008–present[26] 3,000 6,000

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

Singles

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.[26] Prior to June 2007, the
thresholds were 7,500 and 15,000 copies, respectively.

DVDs

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.[26] Prior to July 2008, the
thresholds were 5,000 and 10,000 copies, respectively.

Charts of Cyprus
The music industry of Cyprus closely mirrors that of Greece. Virtually all Greek and most of
the foreign music releases are provided by the record companies in Greece. Certifications for
sales of albums in Cyprus are different than that of Greece, with albums being certified Gold
with sales (instead of shipments) of 3,000 copies and Platinum with sales of 6,000. (1,500
for Gold singles/DVDs and 3,000 for Platinum)

Repercussions of recording infringement

Copyright violation is not a new phenomenon in the Greek music market. In the early 1980s,
cassette reproduction in-home and in-store accounted for eight out of every ten in the
market, however by the early 1990s that number dwindled to two out of every ten as a result
of public awareness campaigns and the prosecution of key producers.[30]

More recently Agence France-Presse noted that "CD and DVD piracy is extremely widespread
in Greece, with many Greeks preferring to purchase discs from peddlers touring cafes and
restaurants rather than from licensed shops, which they see as overpriced."[31] In its July
2006 report, the IFPI found that Greece, along with Italy and Spain, had alarmingly high
copyright infringement rates compared to other EU member states. Copyright violating
product was identified to account for 50% of all music sales in Greece and the IFPI blamed
"an overlenient judicial system and ineffectual policing was hampering the fight against
piracy."[32] Furthermore, the IFPI calculates a loss of profit of about 150 million euros per year
as of 2006.[31] In 2008, Kathimerini newspaper noted that sales of bootlegs is thought to have
cost Greece almost €1 billion in lost taxes over a nine-year period.[33]

Another repercussion of the rampant copying throughout Greece is the marked deterioration
in the sales certification thresholds of IFPI Greece. At a conference held in Athens in 2005,
Chairman and CEO of IFPI John Kennedy stated:

"Along with Spain, Greece is our biggest piracy problem country in

Western Europe. It joins countries like Estonia, Czech Republic and
Slovakia, all with piracy levels above 45%. In fact with a piracy rate of
around 50%, Greece is one of the very few Western European countries
where illegal music copies almost outnumber legal sales."[34]

The sharpest decline came with the current sales levels established in September 2008
where the gold and platinum levels for Greek repertoire were reduced by 60%, from 30,000 to
12,000 units for platinum status, and from 15,000 to 6,000 units for gold status. As a result,
Greece ranks amongst the lowest of EU states with regards to legal music recording sales.[34]
More recently, following the Greek debt crisis, a trend has been established for even
prominent artists to release their albums as covermounts with national Greek newspapers,
usually Real News. This facilitates a guaranteed a return for the record companies and artists
in the face of otherwise low legal sales. Albums distributed in this way are not eligible for
certification by IFPI Greece, so most go on to release them separately to boost sales and
possibly to be certified if they gain enough sales.

Anti-infringement campaigns

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,[35] 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.

Award ceremonies
Arion Music Awards (2002–2007)

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.[36] 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,[37] helping to demonstrate to audiences
the industry behind the music and by raising awareness on issues of bootlegged and
counterfeit CDs.[38] 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.

World Music Awards

The World Music Awards is an annual international awards ceremony since 1989 that
honours recording artists from all over the world based on global sales figures provided by
the IFPI. As the IFPI has significant roles and operations in Greece, it qualifies for its regional
awards in the best selling artist category. The regional awards, as with many of their other
awards, are not necessarily awarded annually, rather only when it is believed that an artist
has sold an extraordinary number of records for their country. "World's Best Selling Greek
Artist" is therefore the title bestowed upon Greek artists, and to this date it has been awarded
twice since 2002.

The first award was given in 2002 to Despina Vandi for her album Gia which reached 5×
platinum status, followed by Yiannis Kotsiras in 2003 for his album Live.

See also

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)

List of music recording certifications

List of number-one albums in Greece

References
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35. "Enforcement Bulletin - Issue 18" (https://web.archive.org/web/20121202142456/http://ifpi.org/cont

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36. Paraventes, Maria (May 4, 2002). Arion Awards Enjoy Double Success (https://books.google.com/boo
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External links

Official website (http://www.ifpi.gr)

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=IFPI_Greece&oldid=1070751173"

Last edited 12 days ago by Hiddenstranger