iTunes Popularity: Top 5 songs and popularity bar

[longball11]

I am a picky man nowadays. When I am thinking about buying a new song from an album that may have just released, I only buy the song if it is listed in top 5.
Now, my question is, all the new albums that come out, specifically for the rock category, the songs on that new album, never make the top 5. It's always the old songs. Sometimes they will hit the top 5 then drop off.
Sometimes the singles for that new album will gain popularity when it has been out for a couple of days while the songs on that same album were the top when it came out then the popularity of the song drained and the original single gains it.
I don't know if it's just how flawed iTunes is, the poor music ability of everyone has these days (hip hop, pop: yea some are good but the top ones are lame) or just promotion of a specific song.

 

[seb-opp]

Now, my question is, all the new albums that come out, specifically for the rock category, the songs on that new album, never make the top 5. It's always the old songs. Sometimes they will hit the top 5 then drop off.

I'm not saying I know how iTunes calculates it, but I think its safe to assume that whenever a new single comes out people don't rush out to buy it on the first day. It takes some time for the momentum of sales to reach their peak. I can remember last year when in the UK chart the Black Eyed Peas had 2 songs in the top 20, their older single was at 1 or 2 while the new one took several days to climb up the chart.

But old singles still have momentum in sales even if a new one comes out. At the end of the day, when it comes to music newer doesn't mean better, so Im intrigued as to why it seems to be an issue for you?


Also, thinking about it further, I do remember seeing some odd results with the popularity bar, but because we don't know how exactly its calculated, it could take into consideration lifetime sales, or if an old single suddenly gets a surge in sales. this could be the reason for what you are seeing on the top 5?

 

[longball11]

I'm not saying I know how iTunes calculates it, but I think its safe to assume that whenever a new single comes out people don't rush out to buy it on the first day. It takes some time for the momentum of sales to reach their peak. I can remember last year when in the UK chart the Black Eyed Peas had 2 songs in the top 20, their older single was at 1 or 2 while the new one took several days to climb up the chart.

But old singles still have momentum in sales even if a new one comes out. At the end of the day, when it comes to music newer doesn't mean better, so Im intrigued as to why it seems to be an issue for you?


Also, thinking about it further, I do remember seeing some odd results with the popularity bar, but because we don't know how exactly its calculated, it could take into consideration lifetime sales, or if an old single suddenly gets a surge in sales. this could be the reason for what you are seeing on the top 5?

Because I am picky about buying songs. Usually now, when a new album comes out, I only buy the best and/or most popular song.