So let me first start off by saying that this website has absolutely nothing to do with Billboard - though occasionally I'll mention Billboard and give predictions for digital track sales through my Twitter feed as well as predict album sales. Other than that, I am not (and do not wish to be) affiliated with Billboard what so ever - I do, however, help create the weekly Top Hits Online chart (which is a huge honor). I'm not really sure how those ideas (that I was somehow related to Billboard) came to fruition, but maybe it's because Billboard (as well as Top Hits Online) inspired this entire website. You see, back in October 2011 I started getting into blogging. I created a now defunct blog, but quickly lost interest, because I couldn't really think of original music related posts that would be interesting to the average reader. I constantly found myself appalled at some of the number ones that Billboard would report and wished to recreate it somehow. Thus, the CDS Music Chart and its corresponding website and were born in April 2012 (I later went back and recreated a top 20 for every week of 2012 that I hadn't covered to make the Year End Top 100 more representative of my thoughts for the full year). But it wasn't like what you'll find in my more recent archives.
Initially, it was random (a bit off the top of my head) and was shockingly only 25 positions long (though it was expanded to 30, and then 40 and eventually 50). It was also first made through Excel and looked somewhat cheap. Now it is created through Word, looking more clean and becoming more readable. As the months flew by, I started growing in prominence and eventually multiplied my audience every month. Due to the growing positive word of mouth, I added several features including an annual events and extra bonus sections to the site. But then in December of my first year, I took a large viewership hit. It wasn't connecting anymore. I responded by creating a Twitter account in January 2013 (the next month) and continued to add more interesting features as well as try to bulk up the quality of my writing. Chart Highlights went from being shorter than 3 paragraphs total to being at least 1 paragraph for each song in the top 10. I added Album reviews, yearly awards and a whole lot more.
So what's my point?
As I continued to bulk up the site, I started laying down rules about how the Hot 50 would be created every week. Unfortunately, I kept these defined guidelines to myself, not realizing the confusion it would cause. So let me walk you through how each and every weekly Hot 50 is created.
There are several key components that make up the Hot 50 as well as rules about songs that can and can't chart. I've broken the components into some key categories below:
- Spins Through My iTunes Library
- Votes Collected From Blog Readers and Other Twitter Users That Follow Me
- Plays Through Regular Radio Stations
- Streaming/YouTube Components
- Eligibility
Now here's the breakdown:
Spins Through My iTunes Library
So as you guys are aware, the chief factor for formulating the entire chart is representing my favorite songs of each week. Due to this, I decided that positions on the chart are determined by how many points they score each week. So what counts as points? A whole bunch of things do. Since the chart is supposed to reflect my opinion (for the most part), the bulk of the points are earned by songs that I play through my iTunes library. Each week I resent my library, play my favorite tracks and at the end of the week, I multiply each track's final iTunes play count by 2 to weigh my plays as more points (to keep the Hot 50 classified as a "personal" chart).
Plays Through Regular Radio Station
This category is pretty straightforward. I, like most people, listen to the radio frequently. The only problem is that listeners have no idea which track will be played next. Occasionally they will play a track that I don't mind listening to, though I wouldn't have picked it if I got to decide what the radio played. Because of this, every track I listen to in full on the radio receives 1 point per play to its score. For example if I heard "A Sky Full of Stars" on the radio 8 times in 1 day, that would be an additional 8 points to its score.
Streaming/YouTube Components
Lots of times, music videos won't be released until a song has been out in release for about a month. Because of this, I added a YouTube component. If I watch a song's music video (and the song is currently charting), I will reward the track a one time 5 point increase. If I don't watch the video in release week, this feature expires, and the track doesn't get an increase. If a track doesn't have a video, if never receives extra points from this component.
Votes Collected From Blog Readers and Other Twitter Users That Follow Me
I believed that in order to keep people interested (and to make the entire blog more enjoyable), I needed to put into consideration what other people thought. I struggled with making this component work right until I stumbled upon Ranker. I plug in my Hot 50 compiled of all the components above, and give people the opportunity to tell me what their favorite tracks were. Since Ranker works as a "vote up/vote down" system, the top 10 most 'approved tracks' at the time that voting closes receive bonus points. #1 receives 10 extra chart points, #2 receives 9 extra chart points, #3 receives 8 extra chart points and so on. Tracks ranked #21-50 never receive bonus points, but tracks ranked #11-20 can receive bonus points if 500 unique voters place voters or if 10,000 overall votes are cast. This is what I call the 2x multiplier. If this 'multiplier' takes place, then the #1 ranked track receives 20 extra points instead (if you followed the pattern, you'll realize that #20 would end up with 1 extra point, the normal amount for the track ranked #10). In some cases, points collected from this particular component can be the sole reason as to why some tracks catapult up the chart.
Though 10 overall points from all categories is usually enough to chart, occasionally it won't be. If for some reason the #1 most approved track gets no points stemming from any other component, and 10 points isn't enough to crack the Hot 50, it will automatically enter the chart at #50.
Eligibility
This component decides if points given to a song are considered valid. There's a set list of rules each track needs to follow in order to chart. Each track that scores points must follow/meet these rules:
- Track must be recognized by artist as an official track (i.e. no unreleased tracks can chart; snippets can chart if longer than 1 minute and recognized by artist as a song)
- Must not be older than 2 years old (unless officially reissued). If a track debuts 1 year and 50 weeks after release, it can chart for a full run.
And there you have it. That's how the Hot 50 is decided.
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