When it comes to the Billboard chart, there are a lot of factors that go into determining which songs make it to the top spot. In this article, we’re going to break down how the Billboard chart works so that you can have a better understanding of how your favorite songs make it to the top of the charts.
The Billboard chart is based on a point system that takes into account sales, radio airplay, and streaming data. Each week, these points are tallied up and the song with the most points is crowned the winner.
Sales are tracked by Nielsen SoundScan and include digital downloads, physical copies, and streaming equivalents. Radio airplay is tracked by Nielsen BDS and includes data from over 1,200 radio stations across the country. Streaming data is collected by BuzzAngle Music and includes data from over 150 different digital music services.
Points are awarded based on each of these three categories. For sales, a song gets one point for every 1,000 copies sold. For radio airplay, a song gets one point for every 100 plays on satellite radio and one point for every 1,500 plays on terrestrial radio. For streaming, a song gets one point for every 150 streams on digital music services like Spotify and Apple Music.
The number of points a song has in each category is added up to get its total score for the week. The song with the most points at the end of the week is crowned the winner of the Billboard chart.
The Different Types of Billboard Charts
There are several different types of Billboard charts, each measuring a different metric of success. The most well-known and widely-referenced chart is the Billboard Hot 100, which ranks the week’s most popular songs across all genres based on combined sales, radio play, and streaming activity. Other Billboard charts include the Billboard 200 (albums), Billboard Global 200 (overall songs), and various genre-specific charts such as the Hot Country Songs chart.
The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry’s premier metric for gauging the success of a song. It combines data from three key components: sales, radio airplay, and streaming activity. Sales data comes from both digital and physical formats, including downloads, CD singles, and vinyl singles. Radio airplay is tracked by Nielsen BDS and monitored via more than 1,000 radio stations across the country. Streaming activity is measured by combining data from all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and others.
The Billboard 200 ranks the week’s most popular albums across all genres based on combined sales, including digital and physical formats as well as streams. The Global 200 does the same thing but for overall songs rather than just albums. These two charts are widely considered to be the most important measures of success for artists in the United States.
Other popular Billboard charts include various genre-specific rankings such as the Hot Country Songs chart and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.