Billboard Changes Its Charts To Emphasize New Music

I think if you asked just about anybody, they’ll tell you that music is in a rut. Not music in general, but popular music aimed at the Billboard charts. Long the arbiter what is a hit, the problem the last few years is that there have been too few of them, as some hits have stuck around way longer than in the past. There are many reasons for this, but regardless, the company knew something had to be done to get some fresh blood, so it’s instituted a new qualification aimed at removing songs that have been on the charts too long.

According to an article by NPR, “Billboard has revised its system of removing songs from the Hot 100 singles chart once they’ve gotten too old to qualify as contemporary hits. The measure, intended to shorten the amount of time successful songs spend on the Hot 100, knocks 10 tracks off this week’s chart — including (Teddy) Swims’ “Lose Control,” which spent more than two years on the Hot 100 — and in the process cements a record that could take a decade to surpass.”

The Problem Is Streaming

It turns out that Billboard has had this problem during the streaming era where the streaming services use algorithms that feed people songs they’ve already played. Not only that, modern radio tends to keep popular songs on playlisted longer than ever to keep people listening to familiar material.

As a result, songs like The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” (90 weeks on the Hot 100), Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” (91 weeks) and Swims’ “Lose Control” (112 weeks) stay on the chart for way longer than in the past.

More from NPR – “Until this week, Billboard employed a system that seemed reasonable enough: Songs were pulled from the Hot 100 if they’d dropped below No. 25 after 52 weeks, or below No. 50 after 20 weeks. That generally prevented the chart’s lower reaches from getting crowded with stubborn-but-declining hits — endlessly charting smashes like Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen)” and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” finally dropped off the chart in recent months thanks to this system — but didn’t have an answer for songs that just weren’t descending far enough or quickly enough.

Effective this week, the thresholds have moved dramatically, in ways that will reshape the charts in the months and years to come. Now, if a song drops below No. 5 after 78 weeks — a year and a half! — it’s gone. (Consider that “Lose Control” sat at No. 6 before The Life of a Showgirl came along.) If a song drops below No. 10 after 52 weeks, it’s gone. If it drops below No. 25 after 26 weeks? Bzzzt. And if it drops below No. 50 after 20 weeks? That’s a wrap.”

We certainly live in an odd era, where there’s more music than ever before, yet there are fewer hits than ever. Thank the algorithm of your favorite streaming service, as it’s tuned to give you what you want, over and over again.