In recent days there have been numerous, hard-to-overlook sudden huge leaps on the charts (both in terms of ranks for individual albums, and number of albums on the all-time chart) for several classic European artists (notably, Georges Brassens and Leo Ferre). These are due entirely to updated charts from two users, BenKar and Lalulilelo.
I'm not going to argue that these artists and their albums don't deserve more recognition. But this level of chart movement for so many albums, in such a short time, is highly unusual. And someone (not me) once left a comment on one of Lalulilelo's charts that it was suspiciously similar to one of BenKar's. This might be worth looking into.
This looks like a situation where a couple of folks from France (on different ISPs, if I'm allowed to say that) just decided that French music wasn't getting enough respect here and decided to do something about it. I'd have to say that what they're doing is within the rules, though it's presumably against the "spirit" of BEA. Or, that's how I would put it anyway.
If they were trying to be sneaky, they'd include some Radiohead or Pink Floyd albums up in there to look like they were trying to "fit in," but they're not, it's just all French stuff. And they're not really trying to pump up a specific LP, unless it's Jacques Brel's Ces Gens-Là maybe — but Brel is a fairly big name internationally, and that's probably his best album. So... I guess don't be surprised if AlbumMaster decides this is legitimate. The French have their musical idols too, just like everybody else! 😐
given how many users almost exclusively chart USA/UK albums, i think it's just as likely they really prefer the albums they're charting, which doesn't go against the spirit of BEA whatsoever. _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
Thanks for highlighting. Tbh, as long as there's no duplicate accounts/gaming going on, personally in favour of more diversity. (I'll check into the accounts to make sure there's nothing nefarious happening).
Hi! I just saw your post, sorry for the misunderstanding. I am not BenKar but I know her personally. We like similar artists but not in the same way. I have been going to BEA for 13 years now and grew up with the site. I decided to create my account and first charts in 2018. Yes I noticed that some French-speaking artists were very little represented but I'm not trying to push them up the charts, just to share my favorite albums with the community.
This misunderstanding allowed me to write my first post on the forum.
Have a good day !
Hi! I just saw your post, sorry for the misunderstanding. I am not BenKar but I know her personally. We like similar artists but not in the same way. I have been going to BEA for 13 years now and grew up with the site. I decided to create my account and first charts in 2018. Yes I noticed that some French-speaking artists were very little represented but I'm not trying to push them up the charts, just to share my favorite albums with the community.
This misunderstanding allowed me to write my first post on the forum.
Have a good day !
Thanks! No worries - it's just that I follow the charts pretty closely, and things like this tend to catch my eye. Nothing wrong with more international diversity!
It's interesting how, once you move into the 3000+ overall rankings any one user can radically boost virtually any album of their choosing from absolute obscurity to kinda noticeable. In terms of French records, years ago now Jimmy Dread and I inadvertently did this with Catherine Ribeiro's Paix, shooting it from the 30ks to where it is now. I think this is really a consequence of how the overall chart pulls from chart selections, with major bias for greatest charts, rather than from an aggregation of ratings.
I would say that in general the charts from these two users look to have mostly functioned to inflate the albums from France, Belgium and Quebec which are already the most popular French albums on the site. It's almost as if they just extracted the overall chart filtered by French albums into a greatest albums chart, but they have also added new French albums to the site so it doesn't look especially nefarious, just nationalistic.
It's interesting how, once you move into the 3000+ overall rankings any one user can radically boost virtually any album of their choosing from absolute obscurity to kinda noticeable. In terms of French records, years ago now Jimmy Dread and I inadvertently did this with Catherine Ribeiro's Paix, shooting it from the 30ks to where it is now. I think this is really a consequence of how the overall chart pulls from chart selections, with major bias for greatest charts, rather than from an aggregation of ratings..
Agree, rankings here can have that effect, especially in the long tail where rankings can jump many places with an additional chart placement (but that's an artefact of how rankings work here - there's also a ratings chart hidden away somewhere).
National and language bias is evident in users from all countries - you can see that already in most charts across the site. It's just more noticeable when a non-native English speaker adds a chart.
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