How The Top 40 Are Determined

In the music recording industry, a song track's popularity is determined by the interest in the song as expressed by listener radio requests and song sales. The Top 40 is one of the music metrics that tracks the most popular songs within a current week, month or year. Top 40 play back became a dominant radio format during the 1960's and persisted until the 1980's. Today,Top 40 music is constantly available on internet radio.

You may be curious as to how the Top 40 hits are determined. What is the process and how does a song make it to the Top 40? We will offer you an explanation. Every week, the one hundred most listened to songs are placed into a chart by an organisation called Billboard. The Billboard chart is based on a national sample of top radio airplay and music sales. The Top 40 songs are then extracted from Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

Airplay is the first process in determining the songs to be included in the Top 40. Broadcast Data Systems (BDS), which is operated by Neilsen, calculates airplay for all songs. BDS makes use of digital pattern recognition technology to determine the airplay time of each song on music channels and radio stations throughout North America. This recognition process is run 24/7 and captures over 100 million songs annually; the data gathered is then used by Billboard in compiling weekly charts.

The second process used in determining the Top 40 songs is monitoring the sales of albums in music stores. To keep track of sales, Billboard utilizes Sound Scan, a system developed by Neilsen that is used to track music sales in North America. When an album is purchased, all bar code sales data is transferred to the Sound Scan system, which then compiles that data in their own database.

The methodology of Billboard in weighting the compiled data has changed over time. In the past, they were using 90% airplay and 10% sales to determine the top songs. Now, they use 80% airplay and 20% sales because of shifting trends in how many people listen to radio versus how many people actually purchase singles. You can search for the Top 40 via online radio.

The goal of most recording artists is to sell music, and for the music to sell it must get a lot of air time. If a song can make it to the Top 40, a huge increase in sales generally follows. Top 40 has been a measuring stick for album sales and the trend will likely continue.

Not making the Top 40 does not say that your success rate as an artist will be low. Not all musicians are after big sales after all. Some are content with the money they are making and the small spotlight that shines on them.

The Top 40 is a useful tool to determine which artists popularity are on the rise and which are stagnating.