BB New Chart Format - What do you think?

Billboard once again changed the appearance of their
charts. They added pop-up videos about the songs and ways
to share information on social media. And they have a
picture for all artists. Doesn't appear that any of the
charts are behind a paywall, so you can see the full chart
without a subscription. The took out the "Imprint | Label"
"Producer, (Songwriter)" information as well as the chart
position two weeks ago.

Check it out - is it better or worse?

Maybe this is why I haven't looked at a Hot 100 chart in 20 years. -Bill.

Billboard's websites - from the very, very beginning - have sucked.

Every single thing Scanner points out is correct.

As much as I love the charts & often their articles, the company is a mess.

My magazines have arrived irregularly for 20 years.
Just TRY to get a straight answer on anything from their Subscription dept.

I can't stress enough that for $300 a year, we should not get those intrusive
pop-ups every 5 seconds.

When I first subscribed to Billboard over 15 years ago, I
received both the print edition and online access. The
print magazine was already somewhat useless then since
they did not publish all charts and many were truncated.
(That's why I ultimately subscribed - to get the full
charts.) It also did not help that I would receive my
print copy about a week after it was published. The next
week's charts were already available a few days online by
the time my magazine would arrive!

Looks like they corrected the free chart access. I need
to be logged in now to access all charts which is what I
am paying for! Now if I could only find the search
function again. Unless I know the specific chart and
date, I have not found any other way to do any research
on the site now. The site right now seems to be a work
in progress. They should not have launched the update
until all these issues we are finding were resolved.
But, this is Billboard. Considering how flawed this site
has been all these years, I should not be surprised. I
suppose as long as the ads are working and bringing in
the revenues, they don't seem to care whether the site's
true content functions.

Edited by Scanner

these tech people always foul things up!

The BB website has always been too busy for my tastes. I would love to see a much simpler design.

I use the Opera browser, which eliminates the annoying pop-ups.

Nothing will ever beat the print issues from the past. Every week was chock full of charts, reviews, record ads,
radio news, etc. I'm afraid those days are gone for good.

I can't believe Billboard no longer publishes its flagship
charts in full anymore. I have wondered before why they
continue to publish a print edition due to the timeliness
of the information online versus when it can be distributed
in print. Now, I would ask "Why bother?" if they don't
even consider it worthwhile to publish the complete Hot 100
or Billboard 200. Guess this also means there is one less
Record Research book to be published. You can't reprint
the Hot 100 charts when Billboard is not even publishing
them in full or every week in print!

Brian W. wrote: I don't know, all I know is I'm really upset that Elton's "Cold Heart" stalled at number 11 for the past two weeks. I really wanted him to have another top ten.

I agree with you Brian. I think merging the lyrics of 3 songs, the melody of Sacrifice, Rocket Man and Kiss The Bride! Very creative and catchy. It would be cool if he could get a top 10 this decade. The xmas hits you are right will probably push all the tracks down. Last week was probably the best chance.

Though the Adele album bomb is now over. So who knows!

Edited by PopArchivist

Guess this also means there is one less Record Research book to be published. You can't reprint the Hot 100 charts when Billboard is not even publishing them in full or every week in print!

In theory, even though Record Research couldn't reprint a
full Hot 100 in a case like that, they could do the same
kind of format that
they do for their Top 10 charts book, using their own
graphics and just extend it to 100 positions. That's
basically what they've been
doing for the 90's and 00's Hot 100 chart books since
Soundscan came in 1991 and charts for the last week of
the year resumed for the
first time in about 15 years.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the graphics Billboard
has used for the Hot 100 since they changed it in 2001.
The print became smaller
and harder to read and all the extra information they
crammed into the page seemed unnecessary to me. And the
recent format of having
the Top 10 printed on the bottom of one page and the rest
of the chart spread out over the next two pages was
overkill. Frankly, I'd
much rather have Record Research's design on a Hot 100
chart book for the past and current decade.

Edited by thecdguy

Billboard lost its focus when it ceased being just a
trade publication and broadened itself into an
entertainment magazine and website. The updated graphics
were always just busy and added no informational value to
the news or charts that should have remained Billboard's
primary purpose. They also make the charts harder to
read - why are the bullets so far away from the chart
position? I also dislike the new arrows showing whether
a song has risen, fallen or remained in place from the
prior week. These are not bullets and do not indicate
whether a song's performance improved or declined from
the previous week. A true chart watcher would know the
difference, but a casual reader could be misled
otherwise.

Like too many other periodicals, there is really no need
to publish a print edition anymore as there is
significantly more and more timely content online. If
there is one feature I truly miss from back when, it is
the Singles and Albums reviews. It was such a resource
knowing when a song was officially released as a single
as opposed to now when you can't readily tell whether a
song is truly being promoted or not.