Not that I have much to add to this anyway, but I'm not sure I quite get the point of this discussion. Are you trying to establish which charts are more relevant? Of course the US are more relevant. Bigger market - nr 1 in the states means more copies sold, more money made, more people touched etc. Therefore, every band would prefer to top the US charts over UK, Germany or Australia.

Is the debate about the quality of the music that tops either of the charts? There is no difference really. Charts SUCK either side of the pond. Anecdotally, I remember listening to a local radio station in my hometown and the DJ goes something like: "How can a country that gave us the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath fall for the Cheeky Girls? How is that possible???" and then played some Cheeky Girls (who in fact are from Cluj! :P)

Is it about the power to set trends? It's not the charts who have the 'power' to do that. Trends are set by media mostly…all that charts do is reflect that. Yes, they are then used to gain more media exposure and that brings you back to point 1 - topping the charts in the US leads to more media exposure in a bigger market.

I think where the discussion is actually aiming at is what country has more potential to be a trend-setter. Frankly speaking, it has always been the UK. Since the Beatles really. Most of what the US has ever done was to respond.

The Beatles - The Beach Boys
Led Zeppelin - Aerosmith
David Bowie - Alice Cooper
The Sex Pistols - The Ramones
T-Rex - The New York Dolls
Iron Maiden - Metallica
Def Leppard - Bon Jovi

Most of what happened between Elvis and Nirvana was UK driven. Did the charts reflect that? Sometimes, not often though, really not often. And since the whole digital revolution in music, who cares really? No one! Yes, it's a nice achievement to be nr1, but it doesn't mean shit. I personally can't remember a single Nr1 either from the UK or from the US in the last couple of years other than Adelle. Who is from the UK and even Slash thinks is great.

Anyhow - enough rambling. What is the point of this discussion?