{"id":9401,"slug":"itunes-apple-purchase-streaming-gap-corrected-2026","title":"iTunes Store Top Songs slots that never reach the same African market’s Apple Music streaming chart, 17 markets, 16 August to 6 November 2026","source":"This desk's own daily collection of Apple's two public chart feeds (afw_chart_snapshot \/ afw_chart_entry): the iTunes Store Top Songs RSS feed, which ranks paid downloads, and the Apple Music Top Songs feed, which ranks streams","source_url":"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/ng\/rss\/topsongs\/limit=100\/json","source_type":"computed","method":"Population: every date on which this desk's chart store holds BOTH an iTunes Store Top Songs chart (paid downloads, itunes.apple.com\/{cc}\/rss\/topsongs) and an Apple Music Top Songs chart (streams, rss.marketingtools.apple.com\/api\/v2\/{cc}\/music\/most-played) for the same African market, 16 August to 6 November 2026 inclusive. That gives 1,153 paired market-days across 17 markets and 87,082 iTunes chart slots inside those paired days. Titles are matched on a normalised string: Unicode decomposed, combining accents removed, lowercased, every non-alphanumeric character replaced by a space, whitespace collapsed; the match key is normalised title plus normalised credited artist. same_day_on_apple counts iTunes slots whose key appears on that market's Apple Music chart on that same date. never_slots counts iTunes slots whose key appears on that market's Apple Music chart on NO date in the whole window, which is a strictly stronger test than same-day absence: never_slots is therefore smaller than itunes_slots minus same_day_on_apple, and the difference is carried in timing_only_slots (charted on Apple at some point in the window, but not on the same day). This distinction corrects an earlier build of this dataset in which never_slots was computed as the same-day complement while being described as a window-wide test. never_slots_strict repeats the window-wide test after also stripping 'feat'\/'ft'\/'featuring'\/'with' credit tails from both titles and artists, to test whether credit formatting rather than genuine absence explains the gap. never_slots_titleonly repeats the window-wide test on the normalised TITLE alone, ignoring the artist string entirely, which bounds how much of the gap could be caused by the two feeds crediting the same recording differently. artist_absent_count is the subset of never_slots whose normalised artist string appears nowhere on that market's Apple Music chart across the entire window, under any title. The iTunes chart varies in length snapshot to snapshot (47 to 99 positions observed) because it lists only titles clearing Apple's own reporting threshold for paid downloads that day, rather than a fixed panel depth; every iTunes position present is checked against the market's full Apple Music chart. Apple's streaming songs chart holds exactly 100 positions on 2,782 of 2,801 snapshots in the full window. All percentages are computed in this dataset, not in prose. One row per market, sorted by never_slots descending.","unit":"count","license":"Afrobeats Wire's compilation and analysis are licensed CC BY 4.0. Rights in the underlying source data remain with the source named above.","confidence":"high","retrieved":"2026-11-07 13:48:48","n":17,"first_party":0,"columns":[{"key":"market","label":"Market","type":"text"},{"key":"iso2","label":"ISO","type":"text"},{"key":"paired_days","label":"Paired market-days","type":"number"},{"key":"itunes_slots","label":"iTunes chart slots","type":"number"},{"key":"same_day_on_apple","label":"Same day on Apple Music","type":"number"},{"key":"same_day_pct","label":"Same-day overlap, %","type":"number"},{"key":"timing_only_slots","label":"Charted on Apple, but not same day","type":"number"},{"key":"timing_only_pct","label":"Timing only, %","type":"number"},{"key":"never_slots","label":"Never on Apple Music in window","type":"number"},{"key":"never_pct","label":"Never-charting, %","type":"number"},{"key":"never_slots_strict","label":"Never on Apple (feat-stripped match)","type":"number"},{"key":"never_pct_strict","label":"Never-charting, strict match, %","type":"number"},{"key":"never_slots_titleonly","label":"Never on Apple (title-only match)","type":"number"},{"key":"top10_slots","label":"iTunes top-10 slots","type":"number"},{"key":"top10_never_slots","label":"iTunes top-10 slots never on Apple","type":"number"},{"key":"top10_never_pct","label":"Top-10 never-charting, %","type":"number"},{"key":"artist_absent_count","label":"Never-charting slots by an artist absent from Apple entirely","type":"number"},{"key":"artist_absent_pct","label":"Of never-charting slots, artist entirely absent, %","type":"number"}],"rows":[{"market":"Namibia","iso2":"NA","paired_days":69,"itunes_slots":6450,"same_day_on_apple":132,"same_day_pct":2.05,"timing_only_slots":65,"timing_only_pct":1.01,"never_slots":6253,"never_pct":96.95,"never_slots_strict":6253,"never_pct_strict":96.95,"never_slots_titleonly":6240,"top10_slots":690,"top10_never_slots":666,"top10_never_pct":96.52,"artist_absent_count":6065,"artist_absent_pct":96.99},{"market":"Kenya","iso2":"KE","paired_days":73,"itunes_slots":6097,"same_day_on_apple":184,"same_day_pct":3.02,"timing_only_slots":80,"timing_only_pct":1.31,"never_slots":5833,"never_pct":95.67,"never_slots_strict":5833,"never_pct_strict":95.67,"never_slots_titleonly":5795,"top10_slots":730,"top10_never_slots":679,"top10_never_pct":93.01,"artist_absent_count":5512,"artist_absent_pct":94.5},{"market":"Egypt","iso2":"EG","paired_days":69,"itunes_slots":6561,"same_day_on_apple":639,"same_day_pct":9.74,"timing_only_slots":147,"timing_only_pct":2.24,"never_slots":5775,"never_pct":88.02,"never_slots_strict":5775,"never_pct_strict":88.02,"never_slots_titleonly":5773,"top10_slots":690,"top10_never_slots":456,"top10_never_pct":66.09,"artist_absent_count":4993,"artist_absent_pct":86.46},{"market":"Uganda","iso2":"UG","paired_days":77,"itunes_slots":6049,"same_day_on_apple":212,"same_day_pct":3.5,"timing_only_slots":111,"timing_only_pct":1.84,"never_slots":5726,"never_pct":94.66,"never_slots_strict":5719,"never_pct_strict":94.54,"never_slots_titleonly":5706,"top10_slots":770,"top10_never_slots":703,"top10_never_pct":91.3,"artist_absent_count":5187,"artist_absent_pct":90.59},{"market":"Zimbabwe","iso2":"ZW","paired_days":71,"itunes_slots":5921,"same_day_on_apple":553,"same_day_pct":9.34,"timing_only_slots":107,"timing_only_pct":1.81,"never_slots":5261,"never_pct":88.85,"never_slots_strict":5261,"never_pct_strict":88.85,"never_slots_titleonly":5245,"top10_slots":710,"top10_never_slots":595,"top10_never_pct":83.8,"artist_absent_count":4764,"artist_absent_pct":90.55},{"market":"Mauritius","iso2":"MU","paired_days":69,"itunes_slots":5739,"same_day_on_apple":314,"same_day_pct":5.47,"timing_only_slots":213,"timing_only_pct":3.71,"never_slots":5212,"never_pct":90.82,"never_slots_strict":5212,"never_pct_strict":90.82,"never_slots_titleonly":5196,"top10_slots":690,"top10_never_slots":633,"top10_never_pct":91.74,"artist_absent_count":4669,"artist_absent_pct":89.58},{"market":"South Africa","iso2":"ZA","paired_days":68,"itunes_slots":6186,"same_day_on_apple":808,"same_day_pct":13.06,"timing_only_slots":295,"timing_only_pct":4.77,"never_slots":5083,"never_pct":82.17,"never_slots_strict":5081,"never_pct_strict":82.14,"never_slots_titleonly":5054,"top10_slots":680,"top10_never_slots":449,"top10_never_pct":66.03,"artist_absent_count":4783,"artist_absent_pct":94.1},{"market":"Botswana","iso2":"BW","paired_days":72,"itunes_slots":5455,"same_day_on_apple":335,"same_day_pct":6.14,"timing_only_slots":223,"timing_only_pct":4.09,"never_slots":4897,"never_pct":89.77,"never_slots_strict":4897,"never_pct_strict":89.77,"never_slots_titleonly":4893,"top10_slots":720,"top10_never_slots":613,"top10_never_pct":85.14,"artist_absent_count":4311,"artist_absent_pct":88.03},{"market":"Ghana","iso2":"GH","paired_days":70,"itunes_slots":4881,"same_day_on_apple":376,"same_day_pct":7.7,"timing_only_slots":62,"timing_only_pct":1.27,"never_slots":4443,"never_pct":91.03,"never_slots_strict":4443,"never_pct_strict":91.03,"never_slots_titleonly":4417,"top10_slots":700,"top10_never_slots":594,"top10_never_pct":84.86,"artist_absent_count":4145,"artist_absent_pct":93.29},{"market":"Eswatini","iso2":"SZ","paired_days":70,"itunes_slots":4917,"same_day_on_apple":358,"same_day_pct":7.28,"timing_only_slots":292,"timing_only_pct":5.94,"never_slots":4267,"never_pct":86.78,"never_slots_strict":4267,"never_pct_strict":86.78,"never_slots_titleonly":4267,"top10_slots":700,"top10_never_slots":558,"top10_never_pct":79.71,"artist_absent_count":3497,"artist_absent_pct":81.95},{"market":"Guinea-Bissau","iso2":"GW","paired_days":70,"itunes_slots":4613,"same_day_on_apple":27,"same_day_pct":0.59,"timing_only_slots":355,"timing_only_pct":7.7,"never_slots":4231,"never_pct":91.72,"never_slots_strict":4231,"never_pct_strict":91.72,"never_slots_titleonly":4131,"top10_slots":700,"top10_never_slots":691,"top10_never_pct":98.71,"artist_absent_count":3531,"artist_absent_pct":83.46},{"market":"Cabo Verde","iso2":"CV","paired_days":66,"itunes_slots":4341,"same_day_on_apple":21,"same_day_pct":0.48,"timing_only_slots":139,"timing_only_pct":3.2,"never_slots":4181,"never_pct":96.31,"never_slots_strict":4181,"never_pct_strict":96.31,"never_slots_titleonly":4169,"top10_slots":660,"top10_never_slots":634,"top10_never_pct":96.06,"artist_absent_count":3586,"artist_absent_pct":85.77},{"market":"Nigeria","iso2":"NG","paired_days":64,"itunes_slots":4798,"same_day_on_apple":516,"same_day_pct":10.75,"timing_only_slots":121,"timing_only_pct":2.52,"never_slots":4161,"never_pct":86.72,"never_slots_strict":4158,"never_pct_strict":86.66,"never_slots_titleonly":4121,"top10_slots":640,"top10_never_slots":451,"top10_never_pct":70.47,"artist_absent_count":3735,"artist_absent_pct":89.76},{"market":"Mozambique","iso2":"MZ","paired_days":67,"itunes_slots":4229,"same_day_on_apple":69,"same_day_pct":1.63,"timing_only_slots":97,"timing_only_pct":2.29,"never_slots":4063,"never_pct":96.07,"never_slots_strict":4063,"never_pct_strict":96.07,"never_slots_titleonly":4063,"top10_slots":670,"top10_never_slots":640,"top10_never_pct":95.52,"artist_absent_count":3945,"artist_absent_pct":97.1},{"market":"Niger","iso2":"NE","paired_days":68,"itunes_slots":3834,"same_day_on_apple":13,"same_day_pct":0.34,"timing_only_slots":80,"timing_only_pct":2.09,"never_slots":3741,"never_pct":97.57,"never_slots_strict":3741,"never_pct_strict":97.57,"never_slots_titleonly":3741,"top10_slots":680,"top10_never_slots":656,"top10_never_pct":96.47,"artist_absent_count":3487,"artist_absent_pct":93.21},{"market":"Gambia","iso2":"GM","paired_days":74,"itunes_slots":3864,"same_day_on_apple":37,"same_day_pct":0.96,"timing_only_slots":145,"timing_only_pct":3.75,"never_slots":3682,"never_pct":95.29,"never_slots_strict":3682,"never_pct_strict":95.29,"never_slots_titleonly":3622,"top10_slots":740,"top10_never_slots":726,"top10_never_pct":98.11,"artist_absent_count":2925,"artist_absent_pct":79.44},{"market":"Burkina Faso","iso2":"BF","paired_days":36,"itunes_slots":3147,"same_day_on_apple":136,"same_day_pct":4.32,"timing_only_slots":630,"timing_only_pct":20.02,"never_slots":2381,"never_pct":75.66,"never_slots_strict":2381,"never_pct_strict":75.66,"never_slots_titleonly":2361,"top10_slots":360,"top10_never_slots":304,"top10_never_pct":84.44,"artist_absent_count":1126,"artist_absent_pct":47.29}]}