The Billboard Top 100 is the main U.S.
singles popularity chart used by Billboard
magazine. The new charts go into effect
every Saturday, while the charts are posted every previous
Thursday on the website. What is now the Hot Top 100 existed
for nearly 15 years as almost a half-dozen different charts.
Apparently all the charts became a little too difficult
for industry professionals to keep track of, so Billboard
started the main Hot 100 chart on August 4, 1958.
Currently, Billboard uses a system called
Nielsen Soundscan to track sales of singles as well as
different genres of albums. Essentially, it's a system
that registers sales when the album or single is purchased
at the cash register of SoundScan-enabled stores. Billboard
also uses a system called Broadcast Data Systems or BDS,
which they own as a subsidiary, to track radio airplay.
Essentially, each song has something like a fingerprint.
When it is played on a radio station that is contracted
to use BDS, a detection is made. These detections are
added it up every week among all radio stations to determine
airplay points.
Each of Billboard's many charts use this
basic formula. What separates the charts is what stations
or stores each chart uses. Each genre's department at
Billboard is headed up by chart managers, who makes these
determinations. Sometimes, what's ok on one chart is not
ok on another chart. 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. 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 and
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 #1. In December 1998, the policy
was further modified to allow tracks to chart on the basis
of airplay alone without a commercial release.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. These
chart results are published online at billboard .com or
on their billboard
magazine.
Billboard offers charts to:
Billboards
Albums:
• THE BILLBOARD 200
• TOP INDEPENDENT ALBUMS
• TOP INTERNET ALBUM SALES
• TOP SOUNDTRACKS
• TOP R&B/Hip-Hop ALBUMS
• TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS
• HEATSEEKERS
• TOP CLASSICAL
• TOP CLASSICAL CROSSOVER
• TOP LATIN ALBUMS
• LATIN POP
• REGIONAL MEXICAN
• TROPICAL/SALSA
• TOP BLUES ALBUMS
• TOP CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN
• TOP CONTEMPORARY JAZZ ALBUMS
• TOP GOSPEL ALBUMS
• TOP ELECTRONIC ALBUMS
• TOP JAZZ ALBUMS
• TOP KID AUDIO
• TOP NEW AGE ALBUMS
• TOP REGGAE ALBUMS
• TOP WORLD MUSIC ALBUMS
• TOP CANADIAN ALBUMS
Billboards
Singles:
• THE BILLBOARD HOT 100
• HOT R&B/Hip-Hop SINGLES & TRACKS
• HOT RAP SINGLES
• HOT COUNTRY SINGLES & TRACKS
• MAINSTREAM ROCK TRACKS
• MODERN ROCK TRACKS
• ADULT CONTEMPORARY
• HOT DANCE MUSIC/CLUB PLAY
• HOT DANCE MUSIC/MAXI-SINGLES SALES
• HOT LATIN TRACKS
• LATIN POP AIRPLAY
• LATIN REGIONAL MEXICAN AIRPLAY
• LATIN TROPICAL/SALSA AIRPLAY
• TOP 40 TRACKS
• RHYTHMIC TOP 40
• TOP 40 ADULT
• TOP 40 ADULT RECURRENTS
• TOP 40 MAINSTREAM
• CANADIAN SINGLES CHART
As
of the Hot 100 chart dated February 12, 2005, Billboard
introduced the Pop 100 Chart and the Pop 100 Airplay Chart.
The two charts track mass-appeal mainstream hits. See
Hot Digital Songs. Also the Billboard Hot 100 now tracks
paid digital downloads from such websites as iTunes,
Napster,
Musicmatch,
Rhapsody
etc. With paid digital downloads added to the airplay-sales
formula of the Hot 100, many songs benefited on the charts
from the change. Also because of the digital download
sales, the Hot 100 now shows many singles on the chart
with gold and platinum bullets. This is the first major
overhaul of the Hot 100's chart formula since December
1998. The charts offer the top10, top20, top40, top100
and top200.
Longest run at number one
Arguably, the most notable Hot 100 record is the longest
consecutive week run at #1. The record changed hands three
times during the Hot 100 era. Elvis Presley set the record
at 11 weeks with "Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel",
in 1956. That was the record for 36 years, until 1992
when Boyz II Men held #1 for 13 weeks with "End of
the Road". Then just 2 weeks after that run ended,
Whitney Houston broke the record yet again with "I
Will Always Love You" (her rendition of the Dolly
Parton hit). It stayed at #1 for 14 weeks during late
1992 and early 1993 and made 1993 the first year where
Billboard did not get its very first new #1 until March.
Boyz II Men then equalled Whitney Houston's record when
their single "I'll Make Love To You" spent 14
weeks at number one from August to November 1994, but
did not fully regain their briefly-held record. They did
however regain the record, admittedly with a collaborative
single, again in late 1995 and early 1996 when Mariah
Carey and Boyz II Men retained #1 for 16 weeks with "One
Sweet Day"; this record holds to the present. One
of Billboard's biggest predictions as to a song that could
possibly break the record was a 1998 duet between two
people who have held the record: Mariah Carey and Whitney
Houston. The song, "When You Believe", from
the Prince Of Egypt soundtrack, was a relative flop, peaking
only at #15 on the Hot 100. In the near future, it seems
implausible that the 16 week streak will be broken; many
songs have held onto the #1 position for 10+ weeks within
the past few years, but--no matter how massive they've
been--they haven't been able to spend more than twelve
weeks (Santana's "Smooth", Eminem's "Lose
Yourself", "Usher's "Yeah!") at the
top since "One Sweet Day".
Biggest gain to #1
Another notable record is the biggest gain to #1 in Hot
100 history. This record has only changed hands twice
since the Hot 100 implementation. Up until December 5,
1998, The Beatles held that record with "Can't Buy
Me Love". The record was set on April 4, 1964, the
exact same week when The Beatles had the entire top 5
of the Hot 100 occupied. The record was broken 34 years
later when "I'm Your Angel", a popular duet
between superstars R. Kelly and Céline Dion, jumped
from 46-1. In 2002, the record was again broken by American
Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, who posted a massive 52-1
gain with her song "A Moment Like This". This
is an example of how strong commercially released singles
sometimes are compared to airplay-only songs: both "A
Moment Like This" and "I'm Your Angel"
broke the record during a time (1998 to present) when
songs could chart based only on the strength of their
radio airplay. This is different from pre-1998, when songs
could only place on the Hot 100 if they were singles that
were commercially buyable in stores.
The airplay and sales combined into a
formula that Billboard used to determine the weekly song
ranking. This makes the Beatles' record even more impressive
because a very large increase in both weekly sales and
weekly radio airplay likely fueled the jump to number
one; as opposed to the more recent record-holders, whose
songs had been charting based only on strong radio airplay
and then received a large jump due only to very strong
first-week single sales. Shady tactics have caused Billboard
to alter their Hot 100 formula several times over the
past six years, placing less and less of an emphasis on
sales points and more of an emphasis on airplay points.
The result is that the songs that place highly on the
Hot 100 chart are now more likely than ever to be the
same ones that are heard most often on the radio. Some
people would argue that this has caused American radio
playlists to become stagnant and boring and is also responsible
for having depleted the American CD singles market.
These are the five biggest gains to #1
in Hot 100 history:
52–1 - Kelly Clarkson "A Moment
Like This" October 5, 2002
46–1 - R. Kelly and Céline Dion "I'm
Your Angel" December 5, 1998
27–1 - The Beatles "Can't Buy Me Love"
April 4, 1964
24–1 - Usher "U Remind Me" July 7, 2001
23–1 - Brandy and Monica "The Boy Is Mine"
June 6, 1998
#1 debuts
Yet another notable record is the first debuting of a
single on the Hot 100 at the #1 position. To date, only
twelve singles have ever debuted at #1 on the chart; but
Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" holds
the record for being the first. It debuted at #1 on the
Hot 100 chart dated September 2, 1995, due to the single
having been released and selling copiously during a time
when radio airplay had already had a chance to grow. It
spent one week at #1, as its sales declined rapidly during
the following week. The other eleven songs that have debuted
at number one were, in order:
Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" (Sept
30, 1995)
Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" (Nov
25, 1995)
Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day"
(Dec 2, 1995)
P. Diddy & Faith Evans' "I'll Be Missing You"
(June 14, 1997)
Mariah Carey's "Honey" (Sept 13, 1997)
Elton John's "Candle In The Wind 1997"/"Something
About The Way You Look Tonight" (Oct 11, 1997)
Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" (Feb
28, 1998)
Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" (Sept
5, 1998)
Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" (Nov 14,
1998)
Clay Aiken's "This Is The Night" (June 28, 2003)
Fantasia Barrino's "I Believe" (July 10, 2004)
Like "You Are Not Alone" the
above songs, with the exception of the two most recent
ones, managed their number one debuts by employing waiting
to release the commercial single till the airplay levels
were already substantially high. As can be seen, the December
1998 modification to the chart, which allowed album cuts
to chart prior to the release of a commercial single,
all but ended number one Hot 100 debuts. Aiken and Barrino
each managed to debut at number one with radio airplay
that was too insignificant to cause their singles to chart.
The fact that they still achieved number one debuts, with
minimal airplay, on a chart that weights radio airplay
far more heavily than sales, in a market where buyable
singles are hardly popular anymore, is testament to the
commercial popularity of Aiken and Barrino.
Most #1 singles
The record for most #1's by a group belongs to The Beatles,
who have had twenty on the US Charts. The record for a
female soloist is sixteen, held by Mariah Carey; Elvis
Presley holds the record for a male soloist with eighteen.
Most consecutive #1 singles
Whitney Houston holds the record for consecutive #1's:
she had seven in 1987, demolishing the previous record
held by The Beatles. In the middle of Houston's run of
seven consecutive number one singles, she released one
song that did not even make it onto the Hot 100 chart;
however, her record stands at 7 when worded as "most
consecutive #1 peaking Hot 100 singles", since the
non-charting single never peaked anywhere lower than #1
(it didn't peak at all) on the Hot 100. When overall consecutive
#1 singles are considered, regardless of if they made
it onto the Hot 100 or not, the Beatles' record of 6 holds.
Most successful debut
The most successful debut also belongs to Mariah Carey,
whose first five singles reached #1. The previous record
was four, achieved by The Jackson 5 in 1970. On the UK
charts, which were based solely on sales when the record
was broken, the best debut is seven #1s, by Westlife.
The record for most top 10's from one's debut belongs
to Kylie Minogue. Her first eleven singles reached the
top 10.
Notable artist records on the
Top 100
Janet Jackson, Madonna, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles
hold a majority of the other important Billboard records.
For example, the four acts are the four with the most
top five, top ten, and top twenty Hot 100 songs in Billboard
history. Mariah Carey is the only artist to have a #1
single every year for the decade of the 90s. The October
11, 2003 chart week marked the first time since its inception
that the Billboard Top 10 artists were exclusively black
individuals or groups with a majority of black members.
The R&B group The Isley Brothers hold a record for
being the only act to have had Top 40 hits on the Hot
100 in six consecutive decades: the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s,
1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
Nielsen SoundScan
Nowadays, sales performance of singles are tracked by
Nielsen SoundScan, and radio airplay performance of singles
is tracked by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. Since Nielsen
Soundscan's implementation in May 1991, it was reported
that people like most songs longer than previously suspected
(thus double-digit consecutive week runs at #1). Because
of the double-digit consecutive weeks runs at #1, the
amount of #1's for a year have dropped considerably. The
four years Billboard posted the least amount of #1's in
Hot 100 history were 2002 (7 #1 hits), 1996 (8 #1 hits),
1994 and 1997 (9 #1 hits).
Limitations
The limitations of the Hot 100 have increased in importance
over time. Since the Hot 100 is based on singles sales,
as singles have themselves become a less common form of
song release, the Hot 100's data has represented a narrowing
segment of sales. Further, the history of popular music
shows nearly as many remarkable failures to chart as it
does important charting positions. Some critics have argued
that the emphasis on a limited number of singles has distorted
record industry development efforts, and there are nearly
as many critics of the Hot 100 as there are supporters.
