Has Anybody Noticed

[chebingeo]

That the Hot AC Chart is speeding up a little bit? The trends of older songs aren't lasing as long as they used to be. It's not much, but it's an improvement.

[ultramixmarv]

I'm hoping as the format keeps expanding that even more songs will be released to the format, with more hits and more variety and more exciting charts and hopefully every #1 song won't spend eternity there. I hope some more 80's bands put out some Hot AC stuff, like that new Bret Michaels ballad "All I Ever Needed". It's on All Access Cool New Music. It would work!!!

[smack]

I hope it's a new trend too. One of the hot AC stations has their top 5 at 5, where they play the top 5 songs of the week 1 day, albums another etc. It gets boring hearing the 5 same songs month after month after month. Take "smooth" for example...6 solid months at #1! This love is really dropping quick, but it had a quick replacement too. Just my 2cents
Smack

[No Brake$]

Hot AC is becoming the "new" Top 40 chart, as we have always said it has been year after year. Pop\Rock Recurrents are still lingering around a little too long, but lately it has been a bit different. Every quarter another station is added or changes their format to play a VH1 style playlist, including the POP and ALTERNATIVE smash hits as well. I mean, that's what Top 40 should be, the top songs from various formats, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, etc. I'm not sure what station it is, but Cleveland has a station that seems to have a head start on what Hot AC could look like in about 3 or 4 years from now. It would be great to be able to hear Usher, Sarah McLachlan, Franz Ferdinand, Alicia Keys, Keane, a mid 90's recurrent, and Kanye West all back to back. Also, Hot AC stations are getting very close to the same audience that POP is providing. In my opinion, half of the POP stations should become Hot AC and become the new Top 40, and the other half should head CHR\Rhythmic.

[ultramixmarv]

rkwo said:

Hot AC is becoming the "new" Top 40 chart, as we have always said it has been year after year. Pop\Rock Recurrents are still lingering around a little too long, but lately it has been a bit different. Every quarter another station is added or changes their format to play a VH1 style playlist, including the POP and ALTERNATIVE smash hits as well. I mean, that's what Top 40 should be, the top songs from various formats, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, etc. I'm not sure what station it is, but Cleveland has a station that seems to have a head start on what Hot AC could look like in about 3 or 4 years from now. It would be great to be able to hear Usher, Sarah McLachlan, Franz Ferdinand, Alicia Keys, Keane, a mid 90's recurrent, and Kanye West all back to back. Also, Hot AC stations are getting very close to the same audience that POP is providing. In my opinion, half of the POP stations should become Hot AC and become the new Top 40, and the other half should head CHR\Rhythmic.

You hit it right on the bullseye with that post. I've been into programming POP radio for years and CHR these days isn't POP, but HOT AC is and it's getting better everyday!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Michael1973]

I've noticed the improvements on the Hot AC chart as well.  Granted, songs still move at a snail's pace, but they're not lingering nearly as long as, say, 3-5 years ago.  Back then, top 5 peaking songs could last anywhere from 50-70 weeks.  Now, hardly any songs hit the full year mark.  For the most part, they go straight up and straight down without wavering up and down for months on end.  It's a good start, and we can only hope it continues to get better.

[Slinky]

rkwo said:

Hot AC is becoming the "new" Top 40 chart, as we have always said it has been year after year. Pop\Rock Recurrents are still lingering around a little too long, but lately it has been a bit different. Every quarter another station is added or changes their format to play a VH1 style playlist, including the POP and ALTERNATIVE smash hits as well. I mean, that's what Top 40 should be, the top songs from various formats, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, etc. I'm not sure what station it is, but Cleveland has a station that seems to have a head start on what Hot AC could look like in about 3 or 4 years from now. It would be great to be able to hear Usher, Sarah McLachlan, Franz Ferdinand, Alicia Keys, Keane, a mid 90's recurrent, and Kanye West all back to back. Also, Hot AC stations are getting very close to the same audience that POP is providing. In my opinion, half of the POP stations should become Hot AC and become the new Top 40, and the other half should head CHR\Rhythmic.

WWMX/Baltimore has headed in that direction a little bit (Usher, Britney, BEP all in rotation), but they are still very recurrent and gold heavy. WMWX/Philadelphia tried something similar not so long ago and failed miserably, because they were playing current dance songs like Roc Project into slow 80's hits from Journey. That's what annoys me most about the format: the burnt out golds and recurrents. While a faster-moving chart is good, I don't see major evolution happening until the format stops relying so much on the 80's and 90's. Until then, CHR will be the home of current hits, even if they do lean rhythmic.