Billboard charts

The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine. The two primary charts – the Hot 100 (top 100 singles) and the Billboard 200 (top 200 albums) – factor in airplay, as well as music sales in all relevant formats.

On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade. The first Music Popularity Chart was calculated in July 1940. A variety of song charts followed, which were eventually consolidated into the Hot 100 by mid-1958. The Hot 100 currently combines single sales, radio airplay and digital downloads.

All of Billboard's charts use this basic formula. What separates the charts is which stations and stores are used – each musical genre having a core audience or retail group. Each genre's department at Billboard is headed up by a chart manager, who makes these determinations.

For many years, a song had to be commercially available as a single to be considered for any of Billboard's charts. At the time, instead of using SoundScan or BDS, Billboard obtained its data from manual reports filled out by radio stations and stores. According to the 50th Anniversary issue of Billboard, prior to the official implementation of Nielsen SoundScan tracking in November 1991, many radio stations and retail stores removed songs from their manual reports after the associated record labels stopped promoting a particular single. Thus songs fell quickly after peaking and had shorter chart lives. In 1990, the country singles chart was the first chart to use SoundScan and BDS. They were followed by the Hot 100 and the R&B chart in 1991. Today, all of Billboard's charts use this technology.

Before September 1995, singles were allowed to chart in the week they first went on sale based on airplay points alone. The policy was changed in September 1995 to only allow a single to debut after a full week of sales on combined sales and airplay points. This allowed several tracks to debut at number one.

In December 1998, the policy was further modified to allow tracks to chart on the basis of airplay alone without a commercial release. This change was made to reflect the changing realities of the music business. Previous to this, several substantial radio and MTV hits had not appeared on the Billboard chart at all, because many major labels chose not to release them as standalone singles, hoping their unavailability would spur greater album sales. Not offering a popular song to the public as a single was unheard of before the 1970s. The genres that suffered most at the time were those that increasingly impacted pop culture, including new genres such as trip hop and grunge. Among the many pre-1999 songs that had ended up in this Hot 100 limbo were The Cardigans' "Lovefool", Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn", Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris", OMC's "How Bizarre", Sugar Ray's "Fly" and No Doubt's "Don't Speak".

Starting in 2005, Billboard changed its methodology to allow paid digital downloads from digital music stores such as iTunes to chart with or without the help of radio airplay.

Contents

A variety of charts

Originally, Billboard had separate charts for different measures of popularity, including disk jockey playings, juke box song selection, and best selling records in retail stores. A composite standing chart that combined these gradually grew to become a top 100, the ancestor of the current Hot 100 chart. The juke box chart ceased publication after the June 17, 1957 issue, the disk jockey chart, after the July 28, 1958 issue, and the best seller chart, after the October 13, 1958 issue. The July 28, 1958 issue was also the last issue that called the composite chart the Top 100; the following week began the Hot 100.

Currently, Billboard publishes many different charts, with the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 being the most famous. Billboard also has charts for the following music styles: rock, country, dance, bluegrass, jazz, classical, R&B, rap, electronic, pop, Latin, Christian music, comedy albums, and even for ringtones for mobile (cell) phones. In 2009 Billboard partnered with MetroLyrics to offer top 10 lyrics for each of the charts.

At year's end

At the end of each year, Billboard tallies the results of all of its charts, and the results are published in a year-end issue and heard on year-end editions of its American Top 40 and American Country Countdown radio broadcasts, in addition to being announced in the press. Between 1991 and 2006, the top single/album/artist(s) in each of those charts was/were awarded in the form of the annual Billboard Music Awards, which were annually held in December until the awards went dormant in 2007 (plans for a new version of the awards in 2008 fell through, and no awards have been held since 2007). The year-end charts cover a period from the first week of December of the previous year to the last week of November of the respective year.[1]

Singles and tracks

All-genre

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
The Billboard Hot 100 sales + airplay 100
  • The US music industry standard singles popularity chart
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 25
  • Ranks the top 25 songs below #100 that have not yet appeared on the Hot 100.
  • Can also be considered a 25-position addendum to the Hot 100.
  • But a song cannot appear on the Bubbling Under chart if it has appeared on the Hot 100.
Heatseekers Songs 25
  • Ranks songs from new artists/bands that have never attained the top 50 of the Hot 100.
  • If a song reaches the top 50, it and any of the artist's/band's subsequent singles are ineligible for the chart.
Hot 100 Airplay airplay (audience) 75
  • Measures radio airplay audience impressions on 1,233 radio stations encompassing all formats.
  • One of three component charts of the Hot 100
Hot Singles Sales physical sales 50
  • Measures sales of commercial singles
  • One of three component charts of the Hot 100
  • No recurrent chart
Hot Digital Songs digital sales 75
  • Ranks top-selling digital song sales
  • Combines different versions of songs for a summarized figure
  • One of the three component charts of the Hot 100
  • No recurrent chart
Hot Digital Tracks 75
  • Ranks digital song sales with different versions of songs listed
  • No recurrent chart

R&B/Hip-Hop

Chart Title Description
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs lists the most popuby combining airplay from Urban AC and R&B/Hip-Hop stations and record sales from Urban markets.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay measures airplay based on audience impressions from various R&B/Hip-Hop Stations, and is the airplay component of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop The Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop ranks songs by combining airplay base on radio plays (spins) from 76 R&B/Hip-Hop Stations.
Hot Adult R&B Airplay The Hot Adult R&B Airplay measures airplay from 65 Urban AC radio stations.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales is the sales component of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It is a separate panel of sales of commercial 12" Maxi singles in the urban market.
Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles The Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles ranks the top 25 singles gaining poins to debut inside the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The top 25 positions are the twenty-five space below the one-hundred point on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Rhythmic Top 40 Measures airplay spins on 72 rhythmic stations. Rhythmic is a music radio format that includes of a mix of dance, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and R&B hits. These stations also contribute to Dance/Mix Show Airplay panel
Hot Rap Songs The Hot Rap Songs ranks the top 25 Hip-Hop/Rap songs by combining airplay on rhythmic and mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop radio stations.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrents The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ranks songs that have fallen below #50 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and have been on that chart for over 20 weeks.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay ranks the songs that have fallen below #25 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and have been on that chart for over 20 weeks.

Adult/Pop

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
Top 40 Mainstream airplay (spins) 40
Adult Top 40 40
Adult Contemporary 30

Country

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
Hot Country Songs airplay (audience) 60
  • Measures airplay audience impression on 126 country music stations

Rock

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
Rock Songs airplay (audience) 50
  • Measures airplay audience impression on 180 radio stations encompassing mainstream rock, alternative, active rock, heritage rock, and Triple A stations
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks airplay (spins) 40
  • Measures airplay spins on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music but are not modern rock (i.e., alternative).
Alternative Songs 40
Active Rock 40
  • Measures airplay spins on 57 active rock radio stations, which plays current rock artists with a mix of classic rock songs
Heritage Rock 30
Triple A 30

Dance

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
Hot Dance Club Songs reports from DJs 50
  • Compiled exclusively from playlists submitted by nightclub disc jockeys, who must apply and meet certain criteria to become Billboard-reporting DJs
Dance/Mix Show Airplay Continuous airplay (Spins from exclusive reporters)
Mix show airplay (Spins from Mainstream and Rhythmic stations)
25
  • Originally called Hot Dance Airplay when it was launched in 2003. A monitored dance music radio chart of 6 dance stations that came about as a result of the small but influential impact of dance music on the radio and the stations that program it.
  • Renamed Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart on November 19, 2011. The chart now includes the 141 Mainstream Top 40 and 72 Rhythmic Top 40 reporters that features mix shows in their programming.
Hot Dance Singles Sales 10
  • A chart that measures the sale of commercially released singles in the dance music market, including remixes. It was formerly known as Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, when the chart was restricted to sales of the 12" Maxi Single and CD Maxi Single format, but in recent years, singles only released in the CD Single format have apparently been counted too.
Hot Dance/Electronic Digital Songs 50
  • A chart that tracks the digital download of dance music singles, including tracks that are exclusively available online only. This chart also includes previously released dance and disco songs that became available for downloading.

Latin

Billboard Chart Title Description
Hot Latin Songs The Hot Latin Songs (a.k.a., Hot Latin Tracks) is a weekly music chart for Spanish language singles in the American music market. It was established by the magazine in 1986, when music labels and Billboard realized that Spanish-language songs had a great potential to the American audiences. The chart is based on airplay on 123 Latin music stations. Songs on the chart are not necessarily in Spanish language.
Latin Pop Airplay The Latin Pop Airplay is a weekly monitored Latin pop music radio chart that ranks the most played Latin pop songs on Latin music stations. It was established by the magazine in 1994.
Latin Regional Mexican Airplay The Latin Regional Mexican Airplay is a weekly chart that ranks Regional Mexican music information from different genres like Mariachi, Norteño, Banda and Duranguense. This chart is based on airplay from 65 regional Mexican stations; the radio charts are compiled using information tracked by from Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. It was established by the magazine in 1994.
Latin Tropical Airplay The Latin Tropical Airplay (a.k.a., Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay) is a weekly monitored chart that ranks Tropical music information from different genres like Merengue, Salsa, Bachata, Guaracha and others on 18 Latin music stations. It was established by the magazine in 1994.
Latin Rhythm Airplay The Latin Rhythm Airplay chart comprises singles and tracks from artists who represent the Hispanic rhythmic/Hurban genre including Reggaeton, Hispanic R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic Pop/Dance and crossovers from English-language and/or bilingual acts, monitoring 8 Latin rhythm radio stations. This chart came about as a result of radio stations tapping into the growing second and third generation Hispanic audience who wanted a Spanish-speaking or bilingual alternative to the formats they felt represented them. The magazine established it in 2005.

Christian

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
Christian Songs airplay (audience) 50
  • Measures airplay audience impression on 96 Christian radio stations
Hot Christian AC Songs airplay (spins) 30
Hot Gospel Songs 30
  • Measures airplay spins on 48 Gospel stations

Jazz

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
Smooth Jazz Songs airplay (spins) 30
  • Measures airplay spins on 14 smooth jazz stations

Ringtones

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
Hot Ringtones ringtone sale 40
Hot RingMasters 40
  • Ranks weekly sales of master ringtones for mobile phones
Hot Videoclips 25
  • Ranks top 25 most popular music videos according to digital sales and TV play on channels such as TRL and 106 & Park

Canadian charts

Chart Title Chart type Number of
positions
Description
Canadian Hot 100 airplay + sales 100
  • Canadian music industry standard singles popularity chart
Emerging Canadian Artist 30
  • Ranks most popular songs by emerging Canadian artists
  • Artists are considered emerging until 12 months after the date their first Canadian Hot 100 charting entry reaches the top 40.
  • No recurrent chart
Hot Digital Song digital sales 75
  • Ranks top-selling digital song sales
  • Combines different versions of songs for summarized figure
  • one of the component charts of Canadian Hot 100.
  • No recurrent chart
Hot 100 Airplay airplay (audience) 75
  • Measures radio airplay audience impressions on 137 radio stations from five different formats
  • One of the component charts of Canadian Hot 100.
All-format Airplay airplay (spins) 50
  • Measures radio airplay spins on 137 radio stations from five formats.
  • A 100-position chart is available at Jam! Canoe website.
CHR/Top 40 Airplay 50
  • Measures radio airplay spins on 25 CHR radio stations
AC Airplay 50
  • Measures radio airplay spins on 28 AC radio stations
Hot AC Airplay 50
  • Measures radio airplay spins on 24 Hot AC radio stations
Country Airplay 50
  • Measures radio airplay spins on 31 country radio stations.
Rock Airplay 50
  • Measures radio airplay spins on 29 rock radio stations

International charts

Billboard Chart Title Description
Brasil Hot 100 Airplay The Brazil Hot 100 Airplay ranks the most listening singles and tracks in Brazil.
Brasil Hot Pop Songs Brazilian Hot 40 songs ranks the most listening pop singles and tracks in Brazil.
Brasil Hot Popular Songs Brazilian Hot 40 songs ranks the most listening national music styles singles and tracks in Brazil.
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles The Eurochart Hot 100 Singles ranks the best selling singles in Europe by combining sales from various countries in Europe.
Greek Top 10 Chart The Greek Top 10 Chart ranks the best selling digital singles and tracks in Greece.
Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 ranks the best selling singles and tracks in Japan.
Korea K-Pop Hot 100[1] The Korea K-Pop Hot 100 ranks the best selling singles and tracks in South Korea.
Turkey Top 20 Chart Turkey Top 20 Chart ranks the best selling and the most listening foreign singles and tracks in Turkey.
Turkish Top 20 Chart Turkish Top 20 Chart ranks the best selling and the most listening Turkish singles and tracks in Turkey.
Turkish Rock Top 20 Chart Turkey Top 20 Chart ranks the best selling and the most listening Turkish rock singles and tracks in Turkey.
Global Dance Tracks Global Dance Tracks is a weekly international survey of the songs that are most popular in dance clubs globally. It is compiled by Billboard exclusively from playlists submitted by nightclub disc jockeys who must apply and meet certain criteria to become Billboard-reporting DJs.

Discontinued charts

Chart Title Discontinued date Description
Country Single Sales 2005
  • Ranks top selling commercial country singles
Pop 100 June 13, 2009
  • Ranked songs by combining airplay focused on pop radio and sales
  • The chart's importance is replaced by the Top 40 Mainstream chart
Pop 100 Airplay
  • Measured pop radio airplay
  • One of three component charts of the Pop 100

Albums

Chart Title Number of
positions
Description
The Billboard 200 200
  • Industry standard, includes albums from any genre.
  • Includes both new and catalog albums.
Top Current Albums 200
  • The same chart as Billboard 200, with catalog titles removed
Top Pop Catalog Albums 50
  • An album becomes a catalog title when it is more than 18 months old and has fallen below position 100 on the Billboard 200.
Top Internet Albums 40
Tastemakers
  • Ranked albums based on "an influential panel of indie stores and small regional chains."[2]
Top Digital Albums 50
Heatseekers Albums 50
  • Ranks albums from new artists/bands that have never attained the top 100 of Billboard 200.
  • If an album reaches the top 100, it and any of the artist's/band's subsequent singles are ineligible for the chart.
Heatseekers Albums (East North Central)
Heatseekers Albums (Middle Atlantic)
Heatseekers Albums (Mountain)
Heatseekers Albums (Northeast)
Heatseekers Albums (Pacific)
Heatseekers Albums (South Atlantic)
Heatseekers Albums (South Central)
Heatseekers Albums (West North Central)
Top Independent Albums 50
Top Rock Albums 25
Top Alternative Albums
Top Hard Rock Albums 20
Top Folk Albums 15
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 100
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums 100
Top Rap Albums 30
Top Country Albums 75
Top Country Catalog Albums 75
Top Bluegrass Albums 15
Top Latin Albums 30
Regional Mexican Albums
Latin Pop Albums 30
Tropical Albums
Latin Rhythm Albums
Top Classical Albums
  • Traditional Classical albums
Top Classical Crossover Albums
Classical Albums
  • Available only on billboard.com
Top Classical Budget Albums
Top Classical Midline Albums
Top Christian Albums 50
Top Gospel Albums 40
Top Christian & Gospel Albums
Top Jazz Albums
  • Traditional Jazz albums
Top Contemporary Jazz
Jazz Albums 35
  • Available only on billboard.com
Top Dance/Electronic Albums 25
Top Blues Albums
Top Cast Albums
Top Comedy Albums
Top Compilation Albums 20
Top Holiday Albums 50
Top Kid Audio 15
Top New Age Albums
Top Reggae Albums
Top Soundtracks 30
Top World Albums
  • Ranks biggest-selling world music albums, including catalog titles

Other charts

In December 2010, Billboard announced a new chart titled Social 50, which ranks the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites. The Social 50 chart tallies artists' popularity using their weekly additions of friends/fans/followers, along with weekly artist page views and weekly song plays on Myspace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and iLike.[3]

In January 2011, Billboard introduced another chart called Uncharted, which lists new and developing artists, who are yet to appear on any major Billboard chart, "...regardless of their country of origin."[4] The ranking is based on the views and fans on social networking websites like Myspace and Facebook. To appear on Uncharted, the artists must be registered Myspace Music artists, and should not have appeared on any major Billboard charts before.[4]

Further reading

References

General

Specific

External links