Billboard Top 100 Now Includes Downloads

[MacRumors]

Washington Post reports that for the first time Billboard magazine will include songs purchased and downloaded online into its weekly calculation of the "Billboard Hot 100".

The Hot 100 list was historically calculated from a combination of airplay and retail single sales, but in the late 90s with the decreasing availability of singles, radio play become the primary factor.

The new change provides more direct consumer influence on the rankings and has already seen their effects. According to the article:

Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" made the top five more because of its popularity online than radio airplay, said Silvio Pietroluongo, Hot 100 chart manager.

Similarly, 50 Cent's new single "Candy Shop" will jump from No. 30 to No. 8 next week because it is the most popular downloaded song, he said.

 

[ZildjianKX]

Freaking awesome... I'm sick of record companies paying off radio stations to play the same crap song over and over and making it #1...

Only problem is radio will still influence what is popular to download... 🙁

Edit - Maybe we'll get to the point where downloads will influence radio play.

 

[Daveway]

Its about time. I was starting to think Billboard was stuck in the Stone Age.

 

[arn]

Freaking awesome... I'm sick of record companies paying off radio stations to play the same crap song over and over and making it #1...

Only problem is radio will still influence what is popular to download... 🙁

Edit - Maybe we'll get to the point where downloads will influence radio play.

Well... more interesting is perhaps maybe website coverage will affect rankings.

arn

 

[Macaddicttt]

Does anyone know exactly how they calculate the Hot 100? How do you determine how much influence to give to single sales over radio play?

Hmm... Maybe I could ask my dad to find out for me. The company he works for is owned by the company that owns Billboard...

 

[billystlyes]

About time! It's not like with Radio Stations and their managers that they can pay off.

 

[2A Batterie]

this just speaks volume about how iTunes is affecting the industry.

 

[narco]

Yeah, finally a good way to calculate songs. It's sick how record companies pay radio station to play the song, then in turn get their song on a top spot on Billboard. Now if they want a top spot, they're going to have to pay iTMS.

Fishes,
narco.

 

[ZildjianKX]

Yeah, finally a good way to calculate songs. It's sick how record companies pay radio station to play the song, then in turn get their song on a top spot on Billboard. Now if they want a top spot, they're going to have to pay iTMS.

Fishes,
narco.

I hope they don't have to pay iTMS! I want it to be a democracy... then maybe we can get rid of some of this crap music out there.

 

[virividox]

they sure catch on slow

 

[runninmac]

Good that took long enough for them to find a better way

 

[jbembe]

Maybe now legitimate artists such as Beck who had the top downloaded album recently, will get the recognition they deserve. Out with the Simpson sisters, in with the talent!!!

 

[looklost]

itunes more about choice than people think

It's about time we stop letting a few companies dictating what popular music is.

 

[ifjake]

I hope they don't have to pay iTMS! I want it to be a democracy... then maybe we can get rid of some of this crap music out there.

well, crap music.... 50 cent just rose 22 places because of iTunes. ;-)

 

[Machead III]

I hope they don't have to pay iTMS! I want it to be a democracy... then maybe we can get rid of some of this crap music out there.

Agreed.

On a slightly philosophical note, let's all of us remember that Apples is historically based on quality rather than the mindless drone like quantities of the Windows gang, so let's not fall into their greedy monopolising ways. I always imagined, perhaps rather naively, that Apple was somehow more than that.

 

[mpw]

How long will it be before some record label does a deal with someone like napster to sell tracks in their latest signing at $0.09 to a)get their act to #1 b)increase that sites marketshare?

 

[ASP272]

Awesome! They should base it solely on iTunes downloads, too. That way, record companies would be dying to get their music onto iTunes Music Store so they can get their song to #1!

OK, it'll never happen, but it'd be awesome if it did. This should really benefit pay sites, though.

 

[wdlove]

This is good news since music downloads is such a large factor in the industry. Good news for Apple also. 😎

 

[itsa]

Freaking awesome... I'm sick of record companies paying off radio stations to play the same crap song over and over and making it #1...

Only problem is radio will still influence what is popular to download... 🙁

Edit - Maybe we'll get to the point where downloads will influence radio play.

You don't think Apple is getting paid off too?
People buy what they see... how many indy bands do you see on itunes? I know their there.. but you just don't see them.

 

[zim]

I thought that Apple clearly stated that they decide which or what gets the spot light on iTMS, I am sure this has changed somewhat because labels are able to offer up freebees.

I think that this is also great news, 1. makes the Billboards Top more relevant to the times and 2. puts pressure on labels to deliver the tunes to iTMS (as well as the others but I don't care about them).

 

[swissmann]

I never really understood the basis off of air time. Is that really what the public wants or is it what the radio stations want to/have been promoted to play. I think purchased songs is a much better indicator.

 

[rdowns]

This is good news since music downloads is such a large factor in the industry. Good news for Apple also. 😎

Music downloads are a miniscule percentage of music sales. IIRC, less than 2%.

 

[Macaddicttt]

Music downloads are a miniscule percentage of music sales. IIRC, less than 2%.

Yes, but we are talking about singles here. I believe online sales just passed CD single sales recently. Really, I'm surprised anyone at all still buys CD singles... 😱

 

[wdlove]

Yes, but we are talking about singles here. I believe online sales just passed CD single sales recently. Really, I'm surprised anyone at all still buys CD singles... 😱

I always thought that a CD offering came out as an Album. Or do you mean that there are multiple single songs and artists on one CD?

 

[Macaddicttt]

I always thought that a CD offering came out as an Album. Or do you mean that there are multiple single songs and artists on one CD?

I believe you can buy "singles" on CD that have two or three songs by the same artist. It's like the old vinyl singles that would have a B-side track along with the single.