Justin Bieber has NINE top 40 hits?

EdisonLite wrote: Then began the period where Billboard expanded the Hot 100 to include the rap stations, the hip hop stations, the country stations, and the AC stations, and not just the mainstream, pop, & CHR stations that used to comprise the Hot 100

I wonder how much weight is given to each format when counting airplay. Or is it based on impressions (which is based on ratings)? That would seem to be a more fair and accurate way to do it.

Out of curiosity, I just looked at the Hot 100's top 10. It doesn't seem to be drastically different from the Mediabase CHR chart, which is listed in parenthesis:

1. Bruno Mars "Just The Way You Are" (#4)
2. Eminem "Love The Way You Lie" (#5)
3. Rihanna "Only Girl" (#17)
4. Katy Perry "Teenage Dream" (#1)
5. Usher "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" (#6)
6. Taio Cruz "Dynamite" (#3)
7. Enrique Iglesias "I Like It" (#2)
8. Nelly "Just A Dream" (#9)
9. Flo Rida "Club Can't Handle Me" (#8)
10. Far East Movement "Like A G6" (#21)

Secondly, each week, the top 10 of the Hot 100 usually consists of approximately eight rap or hip hop or urban songs, yet sometimes these songs aren't nearly that popular on mainstream radio the week that they jump into the top 10 (then eventually, they are because they are top 10 hits in Billboard, so pop stations must jump on board and start playing them.)

I'm not so sure this is the case. The above chart has 7 pop/R&B songs, 3 rap songs, and 1 electronica song. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, the only song in the top 10 right now that is receiving (or has received) any significant airplay on urban stations is "Love The Way You Lie." The urban stations aren't even touching Nelly or Flo Rida (or Rihanna, for that matter). And that format is playing a different Usher single ("Hottie Tottie").

Also, at all the pop stations I worked for (starting in the mid '90s), I don't think very much weight was given to the Billboard Hot 100 when determining song popularity. Programmers placed much more emphasis on R&R.

Edited by aaronk

Admittedly, I don't follow the Hot 100 very closely, but all of the top 10 from this week have been in medium to heavy rotation on both local CHR stations here in Dallas. I don't listen to the radio all the time, but I probably catch about 2 to 3 hours of CHR radio per week.

Looking at the top 10 from this week, are there any that you aren't familiar with? Probably the least known of them would be "Like A G6," but Kiss-FM here is playing the crap out of it. Personally, I hate that song, but it gets stuck in my head.

torcan wrote: Years from now there'll be no way of knowing what was actually a single and what wasn't when looking at today's charts.

Great point! Although you could also argue that in the world of digital downloads everything is a "single," and that's how Billboard is looking at it. In the past, the consumer didn't have the option of picking and choosing which songs they purchased from an album. You either had to buy the whole thing, or you could by a single if it was released that way. If that option had been available, Hot 100 charts of the past probably would have looked a whole lot different. So, to some degree, it's not really Billboard's fault that the chart looks the way it does. The times have changed on how people consume music, and the chart is merely a reflection of that.

Also, in looking at this past decade's charts, things occurred which never would have occurred any other time - such as Taylor Swift debuting at No. 12 with a song one week, only to have it completely fall off the Hot 100 the next. Huh? I don't think it accurately represents the popularity of these songs.

Again, I suppose that depends on how you look at it. A song that has a high peak position one week and then disappears the next is never going to make the year-end chart. I suppose, in that regard, it's important to look at a song's entire chart run, rather than just it's peak position.

I don't really follow the charts much anymore, but this morning we were on our way somewhere and were listening to the Hot AC version of AT40. Ryan Seacrest mentioned that "Hey Soul Sister" by Train was entering it's 52nd week on the chart! I know the AC charts move slowly, but is this some sort of record (so to speak) of longevity?

Yeah, 52 weeks isn't even halfway to a record!

Savage Garden has the Top 2 for longevity on the Adult Contemporary charts with "I Knew I Loved You" (124 weeks) and "Truly Madly Deeply (123 weeks). There are several others that spent well over a year on that chart.

"Drift Away" by Uncle Kracker does have the record for most weeks at #1 (28 weeks).

Edited by Paul Haney