Hot 100 Airplay (Radio Songs)

The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay)^[1] is released weekly by Billboard magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout the United States across all musical genres. It is one of the three components, along with sales (both physical and the digital) and streaming activity, that determine the chart positions of songs on the Billboard Hot 100.

Chart data collection

The airplay-only chart debuted as a 30-position chart on October 20, 1984. It was expanded to 40 positions on May 31, 1986, and to 75 positions on December 8, 1990.^[2]

Each week, the Radio Songs chart ranks the 100 songs with the most airplay points (frequently referred to as audience impressions, which is a calculation of the number of times a song is played and the audience size of the station playing the tune). A song can pick up an airplay point every time it is selected to be played on specific radio stations that Billboard monitors. Radio stations across the board are used, from Top 40 Mainstream (which plays a wide variety of music that is generally the most popular songs of the time) to more genre-specific radio stations such as urban radio and country music. Paid plays of a song or treatment as bumper music do not count as an impression.

During the early years of the chart, only airplay data from top 40 radio stations were compiled to generate the chart. Effective from issue dated July 17, 1993, adult contemporary stations were added to the panel, followed by modern rock few months later. However, beginning in December 1998, the chart profile expanded to include airplay data from radio stations of other formats such as R&B, rock and country. To preserve the notion of the former chart, the Top 40 Tracks chart (now defunct) was introduced at the same time.

Per Billboard (as of October 2011):

"1,214 stations, encompassing pop, adult, rock, country, R&B/hip-hop, Christian, gospel, dance, jazz and Latin formats, are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by Nielsen Broadcast Data System. This data is used to compile the Billboard Hot 100."

The radio airplay data was collected on a Wednesday to Tuesday weekly cycle, but since July 2015, this has been changed to a Monday to Sunday cycle.^[3]

Strength of airplay

Singles usually enter the Radio Songs chart before any other, because in most cases, they hit the airwaves before being made commercially available online or in stores. Prior to December 5, 1998, the Hot 100 was solely compiled of songs that were commercially available. This means that songs could enter the airplay chart, but would not be eligible for the Hot 100 unless a commercial single in stores was issued. In the 1990s, numerous tracks such as "Don't Speak" by No Doubt, "Lovefool" by The Cardigans, "3 A.M." by Matchbox 20, "When I Come Around" by Green Day all did well on the Airplay chart, but were not allowed to enter the Hot 100 because no commercial single was available, even though they would have probably been significant hits on the Hot 100 without the need of a commercial single.

Due to circumstances like this becoming a growing trend with major record labels to release singles only to radio (as they felt commercial releases were a factor in decreasing album sales), many in the music industry requested that Billboard rethink its long-standing rule of "singles only" on the Hot 100. Billboard conducted extensive research and polls of music and recording industry insiders to assess the need for such a revamp of the chart, and it was concluded that allowing airplay-only singles into the Hot 100 was the correct choice, as the chart has always been a reflection of what songs are most popular in the United States. This new rule would present an accurate tool for those in the music industry to gauge the popularity of their "product" and to analyze marketing strategies, etc.

Album cut implementation

After December 5, 1998, songs could chart on the Hot 100 with just airplay points. However, before they were allowed onto the Hot 100, they had to make the Top 75 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. Starting from the chart issue of February 12, 2005, songs without a retail component were allowed to chart on the Hot 100 regardless of their rank on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.^[4] Songs that charted on the Hot 100 without a commercial single release were known as album cuts. The first airplay-only single to hit number one on the Hot 100 came in June 2000 when Aaliyah's "Try Again" spent one week at the top. The method of radio-only cuts eventually stopped after the incorporation of digital downloaded music-based points into the Hot 100, which made album cuts always available to download, even if not released as a single.

Song records

Highest debut

No. 2

• Madonna – "Erotica" (October 17, 1992)

No. 4

• Mariah Carey – "I'll Be There" (May 30, 1992)
• Janet Jackson – "That's the Way Love Goes" (May 1, 1993)

No. 6

• Lady Gaga – "Born This Way" (February 26, 2011)

No. 8

• Mariah Carey – "Fantasy" (September 9, 1995)

No. 9

• Janet Jackson – "All for You" (March 17, 2001)

Most weeks at number one

18 weeks

• Goo Goo Dolls – "Iris" (1998)

16 weeks

• No Doubt – "Don't Speak" (1996–1997)
• Mariah Carey – "We Belong Together" (2005)

14 weeks

• Céline Dion – "Because You Loved Me" (1996)
• Alicia Keys – "No One" (2007–2008)

13 weeks

• Boyz II Men – "End of the Road" (1992)
• Ace Of Base – "The Sign" (1994)
• Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men – "One Sweet Day" (1995)
• Donna Lewis – "I Love You Always Forever" (1996)
• TLC – "No Scrubs" (1999)

12 weeks:

• Boyz II Men – "I'll Make Love to You" (1994)
• Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland – "Dilemma" (2002)
• Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris – "Yeah!" (2004)
• Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris – "We Found Love" (2011–2012)
• Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – "Uptown Funk" (2015)
• Ed Sheeran – "Shape of You" (2017)

11 weeks

• Whitney Houston – "I Will Always Love You" (1992–1993)
• Mariah Carey – "Dreamlover" (1993)
• Boyz II Men – "On Bended Knee" (1994–1995)
• Natalie Imbruglia – "Torn" (1998)
• Eminem – "Lose Yourself" (2002–2003)
• Mario – "Let Me Love You" (2005)
• Beyoncé – "Irreplaceable" (2006–2007)
• Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell and T.I. – "Blurred Lines" (2013)
• Adele – "Hello" (2015–2016)
• Justin Bieber – "Love Yourself" (2016)
• The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey – "Closer" (2016)

10 weeks

• Mariah Carey – "Someday" (1991)
• Janet Jackson – "That's the Way Love Goes" (1993)
• Mariah Carey – "Hero" (1993–1994)
• Seal – "Kiss from a Rose" (1995)
• Céline Dion – "My Heart Will Go On" (1998)
• Usher – "U Got It Bad" (2001–2002)
• Ashanti – "Foolish" (2002)
• Lil Wayne featuring Static Major – "Lollipop" (2008)

Most weeks at number two (without hitting number one)

10 weeks

• Real McCoy – "Another Night" (1994–1995)
• Mariah Carey – "Always Be My Baby" (1996)
• Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott – "Work It" (2002–2003)
• Chris Brown featuring T-Pain – "Kiss Kiss" (2007–2008)

9 weeks

• Creed – "With Arms Wide Open" (2000)
• Nickelback – "How You Remind Me" (2001–2002)
• OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown – "The Way You Move" (2003–2004)
• Akon featuring Snoop Dogg – "I Wanna Love You" (2006–2007)
• Green Day – "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (2005)
• Twenty One Pilots – "Stressed Out" (2016)

8 weeks

• Timmy T – "One More Try" (1991)
• Color Me Badd – "I Wanna Sex You Up" (1991)
• Sheryl Crow – "All I Wanna Do" (1994)
• The Cardigans – "Lovefool" (1997)
• Mario Winans featuring Enya and P. Diddy – "I Don't Wanna Know" (2004)

Highest audience peaks

• 228.9 million, "Blurred Lines", Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell and T.I., August 31, 2013^[5]
• 225.9 million, "Happy", Pharrell Williams, April 12, 2014^[6]
• 212.1 million, "We Belong Together", Mariah Carey, July 9, 2005
• 196.3 million, "Irreplaceable", Beyoncé, January 20, 2007
• 196.0 million, "All of Me", John Legend, May 10, 2014^[7]
• 192.5 million, "No One", Alicia Keys, December 22, 2007
• 189.8 million, "Uptown Funk", Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, February 28, 2015^[8]
• 189.6 million, "Let Me Love You", Mario, February 5, 2005
• 185.0 million, "Shape of You", Ed Sheeran, April 29, 2017^[9]
• 175.6 million, "Gold Digger", Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, October 22, 2005

Listed here are airplay peaks by song. Even if a song has registered enough impressions to be listed during multiple weeks, it is only listed once.

• Source: ^[10]

Audience milestones

Artist records

Artists with the most number ones after BDS-based chart's December 1990 inception

• 12 – Rihanna
• 11 – Mariah Carey
• 7 – Usher, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars
• 6 – Ludacris, Kanye West, Taylor Swift
• 5 – 50 Cent, Beyoncé, Boyz II Men, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5

Source:^[11]

Most cumulative weeks at number one

• 94 – Mariah Carey
• 68 – Rihanna
• 50 – Usher, Boyz II Men
• 46 – Bruno Mars
• 36 – Beyoncé

Most consecutive number ones

• Katy Perry – 5 ("California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)")

Self-replacement at number one

• Boyz II Men – "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" (December 1994)
• Mariah Carey – "One Sweet Day" replaced "Fantasy" (December 1995)
• Nelly – "Dilemma" replaced "Hot in Herre" (August 2002)
• Usher – "Confessions Part II" replaced "Burn", which replaced "Yeah!" (May, July 2004)
• Mariah Carey – "Shake It Off" replaced "We Belong Together" (September 2005)
• T.I. – "Live Your Life" replaced "Whatever You Like" (November 2008)
• Rihanna – "What's My Name?" replaced "Only Girl (In the World)" (January 2011)
• The Weeknd – "The Hills" replaced "Can't Feel My Face" (September 2015)
• Justin Bieber – "Love Yourself" replaced "Sorry" (February 2016)

Use in countdown shows

From November 30, 1991 until January 2, 1993, the American Top 40 countdown show used the top 40 portion of this chart as its main source.

References

External links

• Current Hot 100 - Top 25 Positions