BB New Chart Format - What do you think?
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9704
Printed Date: 12 June 2025 at 5:56pm
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Topic: BB New Chart Format - What do you think?
Posted By: Chartman
Subject: BB New Chart Format - What do you think?
Date Posted: 18 November 2021 at 10:16am
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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? |
Replies:
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 18 November 2021 at 1:50pm
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Blecch.
What good is the Hot 100 without producer, songwriter & label information? And I still hate bandwith-hogging pop-up videos. Andy |
Posted By: ChicagoBill
Date Posted: 18 November 2021 at 3:02pm
| Maybe this is why I haven't looked at a Hot 100 chart in 20 years. -Bill. |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 18 November 2021 at 9:42pm
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The intrusive pop-up ads have not been tamed. I can't
stand how often the screen moves or the content I am reading is suddenly covered by the relentless advertising on that site...even when viewing paid subscriber content. Even before this revamp, they should at least have given subscribers some relief from these ads. If I am viewing this site for free, these ads could be justified as the "cost" of the content. If I am a paying subscriber, I should not be subjected to this barrage. As for the updated site, what happened to the Artists section? The charts seem to be free to all at the moment. But, if I want to research an artist's up to date chart history, I should not need to look at every chart myself. This functionality frankly sucked on the previous iteration of this site. Frustrated, I once tried searching for Adele on the AC charts just to test whether this worked at all and received a "No Data Found" message! |
Posted By: jebsib
Date Posted: 19 November 2021 at 4:47am
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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. |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 19 November 2021 at 8:40am
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I just checked out the pop airplay chart, and I didn't get any popups of any sort. Then again, I use an adblocker so that might have taken care of
them. To me, the Hot 100 is a worthless chart today, so little seems to get any sort of airplay, at least on any stations I can receive. Seems to be very rap-heavy, a genre that's of little interest to me. Agree with Jebsib's comments on BB's website. Waay too much clutter. |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 19 November 2021 at 9:30am
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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. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 19 November 2021 at 2:51pm
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I don't believe the Hot 100 is behind a paywall but some
other chart links IO clicked on were. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 20 November 2021 at 6:27am
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these tech people always foul things up! ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: cmmmbase
Date Posted: 24 November 2021 at 5:36pm
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The magazine itself (starting with the 11/20/21 issue)
seems to now be publishing abbreviated charts for all their charts, not just some - aka the top 20 of the Hot 100, top 20 Billboard 200 (aka the album chart) etc. |
Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 25 November 2021 at 2:27am
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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. |
Posted By: jebsib
Date Posted: 25 November 2021 at 5:24am
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If this sticks, it will be the first time that the published Hot 100 is utterly
useless... Can't collect - or even get context from - a chart missing 80% of its data. |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 25 November 2021 at 7:30pm
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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! |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 01 December 2021 at 8:32pm
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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. And recurrent "All I Want for Christmas" will be top ten starting next week, pushing "Cold Heart" down again, so it's all over; there's no hope for "Cold Heart" to make the top ten now. Maybe his new Christmas single with Ed Sheeran... |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 01 December 2021 at 9:02pm
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! ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Brian W. wrote:Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 01 December 2021 at 9:04pm
You mean Paul actually getting your money's worth for what you purchase? What a novel concept! I used to subscribe to Billboard. Like Playboy did, its time to go digital. I would happily pay if the content was anywhere where it used to be. I used to LIVE off the chart beat chats etc. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: thecdguy
Date Posted: 02 December 2021 at 6:38am
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. ------------- Dan In Philly |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 03 December 2021 at 6:14am
I began to lose interest in BB back in the 90s. Yeah, the charts were still meaningful back then but it seemed that the articles/columns that were interesting got cut back and there were more "special sections" devoted to some label executive I'd never heard of. The last straw for me was a retrospective of Chicago's career, without one single mention of Peter Cetera! Yeah, I know he was on the outs with the remaining members, but to ignore the lead singer of a large percentage of their hits was inexcusable in my eyes. |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 03 December 2021 at 1:52pm
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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. |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 07 December 2021 at 1:50pm
"Cold Heart" would be #9 this week if it wasn't for the fricking Christmas songs! If the same chart rules applied as ten years ago, Elton would have another top ten. I really wish Billboard hadn't gotten rid of the recurrent rule. Where is the crying emoji on this site? |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 07 December 2021 at 9:58pm
Hope this helps Brian, accurate enough? ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: Chartman
Date Posted: 07 December 2021 at 10:27pm
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I remember reading in Forbes or the Wall Street Journal that Billboard’s
parent company is thinking about selling because they ain’t making enough money. |
Posted By: radiofan16
Date Posted: 08 December 2021 at 2:07am
It's far from over, as it's still gaining in airplay and holding steady in sales streaming. |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 08 December 2021 at 3:04am
| Thank you, Rich. |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 08 December 2021 at 10:17am
No problem. Took a bit but luckily I have dabbed in a bit of HTML and emoji conversation.... ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 08 December 2021 at 3:23pm
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Elton may return to the Top 10 if his Christmas duet with
Ed Sheeran takes off in the next few weeks. Back on topic...Considering how even subscribers are bombarded with advertising on Billboard's website, it's hard to believe they are not generating enough revenue from at least that. I can believe that subscriptions are not generating enough money. The relentless and intrusive advertising does not help. It's frustrating dealing with a website where the content is constantly moving or covered by yet another ad. But, the basic features of the site also need improvement. The Chart Search function which was already flawed before this recent overhaul is now AWOL. I have contacted Billboard about this multiple times and I am still awaiting a response. And there's another reason for low revenues - poor customer service! |
Posted By: jebsib
Date Posted: 10 December 2021 at 8:29am
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So in Billboard magazine there was a recent STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP box
which traditionally exposes how many copies are sold monthly or on average. And it looks like on average about 14,000 copies of each issue currently sell. With a $300/ year subscription price-point (I gather BB is no longer available at ANY retailer / newsstand)... They're not broke. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 10 December 2021 at 4:37pm
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That's only $4.2 million from subscribers, which isn't much considering they are a decent sized publication. That would barely cover the salaries of 50 employees. Clearly most of their revenue is from advertisers. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 10 December 2021 at 10:31pm
Yep. One visit there and you can see it. Not a user-friendly site at all those pop-ups are worth a lot more than you think. ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 11 December 2021 at 7:10am
Have you considered adding some sort of adblocker to your browser? I use Ghostery, and there were no ads on any page of BB's site that I visited.
Actually, that's not bad considering a subscription was that or maybe a bit higher 25 years ago. Can't speak for newsstands...other than a meager selection at Walmart, no one around here sells magazines anymore. Maybe in a city with a decent bookstore, but I'm out in the sticks. |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 10 January 2022 at 1:51pm
Whoo, Elton did it! Top ten, #7! I can hardly believe it. https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/adele-bruno-encanto-elton-john-dua-lipa-kodak-black-hot-100-1235017217/ - Adele Back Atop Hot 100, ‘Bruno,’ Elton John & Dua Lipa, Kodak Black Hit Top 10
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Posted By: thecdguy
Date Posted: 11 January 2022 at 5:57am
There's a Barnes & Noble Bookstore in a nearby mall that I go to once a week and they don't seem to be carrying Billboard anymore. I haven't seen it in their store for at least a few months, probably longer. ------------- Dan In Philly |