"Get to the Top": how to make music charts
Most of the radio stations, especially in the CHR format (we talked about the formats in more detail here ), practice creating charts, which are top-rated songs.
In this material we will talk about how the charts are made on radio stations and by what criteria the songs get into the top, as well as what they think about our music abroad .
Photo by Roberto Ventre CC
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There are many types of charts in the music industry: singles, albums, charts by genre and even as a single performer. The most sold, most often played on radio stations (or on music television), charts according to music magazines, the most downloaded songs on the Internet, and even ringtones charts are highlighted.
The first hit parade in 1936 was Billboard magazine, and nowadays some radio stations and magazines often refer to the charts of this edition (“In the first place, according to Billboard ....”). This is a weekly music edition, one of the most important aspects of which is the Billboard Hot 100 chart - this is a hundred of the best songs, which are completed regardless of the genre. In addition, the magazine publishes the Billboard 200 - this is a chart in which the best-selling albums fall. The hit parade of the publication in different years included domestic performers: Boris Grebenshchikov, Gorky Park, PPK, tATu and others.
The Vice publication in 2011 attempted in a comic form to explain how the top 50 is composed. According to them, to predict who will enter this hit parade is quite simple (information is relevant for 2011, respectively):
Photo by Mr. Leeds CC
To make a decent hit parade, it is not enough just to listen to the songs on the “like - don't like” principle, because it will be very subjective. In order to evaluate the rating of a song or album, special software and statistics are used.
For example, Nielsen SoundScan , which helps collect album sales data. The system tracks both store purchases and digital, collecting data from almost 40 thousand outlets. Data is collected from points in 19 countries: USA, Canada, Europe and Oceania.
Broadcast Data Systems tracks radio rotation. The system responds to the signal, which is encoded in the compositions themselves, and adds them to the statistics.
Nielsen Audio (or Arbitron) earns points depending on what time of day the song went on the air and how many audiences the radio station has.
Of course, not all radio stations (especially domestic ones) will use expensive software to compile their charts. For the most part, all the charts are made based on the votes of the listeners, especially since the “hot rotations” at the CHR stations are fairly easy to distribute in the top 20 or top 40 (depending on the airtime allocated for the hit parade) .
Previously, the vote was conducted by sending SMS-messages for a particular song. Now almost all radio stations are present on the Internet, and there is a vote on the sites and in the social. networks. Some stations make their lives easier by simply referring to the Billboard rating.
Russian pop music in the 21st century became popular in the west, and many performers hit the western charts. Thus, the group "VIA Gra" in 2004 hit the third spot in the national charts of Japan with the track "Stop! Stop! Stop! ”And also ranked sixth in Finland and twentieth in Norway.
A-Studio in 2006 took the sixth position in the charts of Britain, the 17th in Spain and the 33rd in the Netherlands with the song "SOS", written back in 2001. Later, in 2009, DJ Leonid Rudenko hit the British charts for 27th place with the single “Everybody”.
Incredibly, Verka Serdyuchka (Andrei Danilko) stirred the minds of the Finns: second place with the song “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”.
The 2008 Eurovision winner Dima Bilan is the 28th place in Sweden and 52nd in Germany with the song “Believe”.
Timati track “Welcome to St. Tropez "in the arrangement DJ Antoine did not conquer the British and Americans, but in Luxembourg, Romania and Poland took the first place, and in Switzerland won the second line.
The Serebro group, which participated in Eurovision with the English version of “Mama Luba, come on,” broke into the charts of Italy (sixth place), Spain (45th) and Belgium (48th). The song “Mama Lover” was recorded on the Italian label Ego. And their single “Mi-Mi-Mi” was sunk into the audience in the Netherlands: 8th place, and in Asian countries in general became a hit.
In this material we will talk about how the charts are made on radio stations and by what criteria the songs get into the top, as well as what they think about our music abroad .
Photo by Roberto Ventre CC')
Pioneers of charts
There are many types of charts in the music industry: singles, albums, charts by genre and even as a single performer. The most sold, most often played on radio stations (or on music television), charts according to music magazines, the most downloaded songs on the Internet, and even ringtones charts are highlighted.
The first hit parade in 1936 was Billboard magazine, and nowadays some radio stations and magazines often refer to the charts of this edition (“In the first place, according to Billboard ....”). This is a weekly music edition, one of the most important aspects of which is the Billboard Hot 100 chart - this is a hundred of the best songs, which are completed regardless of the genre. In addition, the magazine publishes the Billboard 200 - this is a chart in which the best-selling albums fall. The hit parade of the publication in different years included domestic performers: Boris Grebenshchikov, Gorky Park, PPK, tATu and others.
The Vice publication in 2011 attempted in a comic form to explain how the top 50 is composed. According to them, to predict who will enter this hit parade is quite simple (information is relevant for 2011, respectively):
- Places 50 - 43 : Nonsense You Never Heard
- 42-41 : Nonsense You Don't Even Want to Listen
- 40 : The band, which was founded by a former music journalist
- 39-35 : Albums recorded with the participation of Nikki Minaj
- ...
- 30 : Metronomy Group
- ...
- 21 : Someone who constantly, for no reason, repeats the word "swag" in the songs
- ...
- 8 : Member of the Odd Future group
- 7 : Someone else from Odd Future
- 6 : Dubstep or musician's electronic album about civil protests
- ...
- 4 : Album released in October, when the December hit parade was composed
- 3 : Glavred editor’s favorite group, everyone voted for it to curry favor with the leadership.
- 2 : An album that no one heard, but everyone heard that it is cool. Also, Pitchfork magazine praised the record.
- 1 : PJ Harvey (New Musical Express), PJ Harvey (Classic Rock), PJ Harvey (Mixmag), PJ Harvey (Fresh Produce Journal), PJ Harvey (Uncut)
Photo by Mr. Leeds CCHow do the charts really
To make a decent hit parade, it is not enough just to listen to the songs on the “like - don't like” principle, because it will be very subjective. In order to evaluate the rating of a song or album, special software and statistics are used.
For example, Nielsen SoundScan , which helps collect album sales data. The system tracks both store purchases and digital, collecting data from almost 40 thousand outlets. Data is collected from points in 19 countries: USA, Canada, Europe and Oceania.
Broadcast Data Systems tracks radio rotation. The system responds to the signal, which is encoded in the compositions themselves, and adds them to the statistics.
Nielsen Audio (or Arbitron) earns points depending on what time of day the song went on the air and how many audiences the radio station has.
Of course, not all radio stations (especially domestic ones) will use expensive software to compile their charts. For the most part, all the charts are made based on the votes of the listeners, especially since the “hot rotations” at the CHR stations are fairly easy to distribute in the top 20 or top 40 (depending on the airtime allocated for the hit parade) .
Previously, the vote was conducted by sending SMS-messages for a particular song. Now almost all radio stations are present on the Internet, and there is a vote on the sites and in the social. networks. Some stations make their lives easier by simply referring to the Billboard rating.
Bonus: "Our" abroad
Russian pop music in the 21st century became popular in the west, and many performers hit the western charts. Thus, the group "VIA Gra" in 2004 hit the third spot in the national charts of Japan with the track "Stop! Stop! Stop! ”And also ranked sixth in Finland and twentieth in Norway.
A-Studio in 2006 took the sixth position in the charts of Britain, the 17th in Spain and the 33rd in the Netherlands with the song "SOS", written back in 2001. Later, in 2009, DJ Leonid Rudenko hit the British charts for 27th place with the single “Everybody”.
Incredibly, Verka Serdyuchka (Andrei Danilko) stirred the minds of the Finns: second place with the song “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”.
The 2008 Eurovision winner Dima Bilan is the 28th place in Sweden and 52nd in Germany with the song “Believe”.
Timati track “Welcome to St. Tropez "in the arrangement DJ Antoine did not conquer the British and Americans, but in Luxembourg, Romania and Poland took the first place, and in Switzerland won the second line.
The Serebro group, which participated in Eurovision with the English version of “Mama Luba, come on,” broke into the charts of Italy (sixth place), Spain (45th) and Belgium (48th). The song “Mama Lover” was recorded on the Italian label Ego. And their single “Mi-Mi-Mi” was sunk into the audience in the Netherlands: 8th place, and in Asian countries in general became a hit.
Additional reading:
- 100 practical materials on the topic of sound, audio and not only
- 50 comparisons, reviews and manuals on the topic of sound and audio
- Tips for music lovers, "do it yourself" and audio technology
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/373589/
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