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jebsib
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Joined: 06 April 2006
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Posts: 173
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| Posted: 22 May 2014 at 5:55am | IP Logged
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EdisonLite, I think there are far more chart nuts these days; The internet has
unified them.
Wednesdays are explosive on many different chart message board forum
sites. That's the day BB releases preliminary Hot 100 info.
The thing that I find interesting, though, is that it seems to have become a
very gay-centric pastime. Just general observation from several keys sites
(including Billboard's - when it still let users log win and post): Discussions
focus on diva wars, and tend to dry up when rock and country acts dominate.
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Paul Haney
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| Posted: 22 May 2014 at 6:06am | IP Logged
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jebsib wrote:
Paul, do you still research peak positions of the Hot 100 Airplay chart? The
last time I recall seeing that data was as supplementary info for each
applicable post-1984 title in the 2002 Top Pop Singles book. What with the
varying and confusing ways they get songs on to the Hot 100 these days, the
raw airplay stats might be interesting to include.
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Nope. Had to give that up about 10 years ago when we had some serious staff cut-backs. In addition to working on the new books (the Cash Box and Record World books have been especially labor-intensive), I also have to keep up with the major weekly charts as well as several other duties around the office, including printing off internet orders, helping to answer the phone, filing, etc. Only so many hours in the day.
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jebsib
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| Posted: 22 May 2014 at 6:25am | IP Logged
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Gotcha. Oh well.... like you said, only so much time in a day.
Again, thank you SO Much for all your awesome work over the years;
you and your team have brought so much pleasure to so many people.
Here's to many more years!
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torcan
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Joined: 23 June 2006
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 23 May 2014 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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Paul Haney wrote:
...but seriously, I don't know how many younger folks even follow the charts anymore. I'm 48 years-old and I always felt like I was on the younger-end of the chart fanatic spectrum. I hope I'm wrong and that there's a new generation of chart watchers coming up, but I don't see a ton of evidence to support it (at least not in the numbers that grew-up in the heyday of Top 40 radio). |
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Do you think that's because the charts just aren't that interesting anymore? Songs are spending forever on the charts and many weeks go by where there's little movement in the top 10. Plus, album cuts can chart high and drop off a week or so later, so it's not as if a new 45 was speeding towards the top 10 that would be the next big hit.
What even is a single these days anyway? You can't buy them except for download, and I have no interest in that.
Plus, for most of us older folks on here (51), most of today's music is crap. There are a few needles in the haystack, but I can count on one hand the number of current CDs or LPs I buy in a given year. Most of what I get are older songs on 45 from record shows and online retailers.
Having said that, I still look at Billboard's Hot 100 online every week to keep up with what's on top. I stopped subscribing over 10 years ago.
It was more fun following the charts during the '70s and '80s.
The last Top Pop Singles book I bought was the 1999 edition, but I'm thinking of updating soon. I liked the Cashbox book!
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aaronk
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| Posted: 23 May 2014 at 1:21pm | IP Logged
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torcan wrote:
| Do you think that's because the charts just aren't that interesting anymore? ... Plus, for most of us older folks on here (51), most of today's music is crap. |
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I can certainly understand that "older folks" would not find today's charts interesting, because they don't like the songs on the chart. I'm still interested in the charts, though, and I still listen to a lot of current music. (It's my job, but I also enjoy the music that is out today.)
I still wonder if allmusic.com, Wikipedia, popradiotop20.com, etc., were not available (or not free), would the younger generations be more interested in Whitburn books?
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Aaron Kannowski
Uptown Sound
91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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aaronk
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| Posted: 23 May 2014 at 1:29pm | IP Logged
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Paul Haney wrote:
| Well Aaron, I certainly hope that our current customer base has a lot of years left in them yet! |
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Ha! Yes, I do, too! But it doesn't make your job any easier to sell books, because your current consumer base, as you stated, has no interest in newer charts. How many times can you re-hash or update the old charts to make a profitable book? Surely, that's the reason you've turned to researching Cash Box and Record World, but before long, you'll likely run out of non-Billboard, pre-1990s material to publish. Then what?
Oh, and I agree with others who have said that I LOVE what you and Record Research are doing to publish all of the chart information. For guys like us, your books are the music equivalent of the Bible.
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Aaron Kannowski
Uptown Sound
91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Paul Haney
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| Posted: 23 May 2014 at 1:41pm | IP Logged
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Very interesting discussion here. Joel has told me several times that when he first started following the charts, he thought he was the only one really interested. When he published the first Record Research book he really had no idea how many other chart fanatics were actually out there and he was pleasantly surprised when orders started coming in from all over the world.
I know when I was growing up a few of my friends were somewhat interested, but I was the only one that was actually listening to AT40 every week, compiling my own chart stats and checking out back issues of Billboard at my local library. Even when I got into radio during college, there were very few of us that would actually sit down and discuss the charts.
I do check out some of the current chart discussion sites, but it seems like the same core group posting each and every week.
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aaronk
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| Posted: 23 May 2014 at 2:20pm | IP Logged
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Paul Haney wrote:
I do check out some of the current chart
discussion sites, but it seems like the same core group posting each
and every week. |
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Boy, that sounds a lot like this discussion site :)
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Aaron Kannowski
Uptown Sound
91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Top 40 Music on Compact Disc : Chat Board
Topic: billboard book of top 40 hits 10th
