501 Top 40, 420 Adult Top 40, 2049 Country
Mar 19, 2004 14:15:38 GMT -5
Post by TheJakes on Mar 19, 2004 14:15:38 GMT -5
From Chart Beat at Billboard.com
Hi Fred,
I love your column and look forward to it each Friday. I've noticed there seem to be a lot of charts that are similar. Can you tell me the difference between Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40 and Top 40 Tracks, and how they all relate to the Hot 100?
Thanks for your help.
Greg Vagnini
Tallahassee, Fla.
Dear Greg,
I don't want this to sound like one of those stories where I talk about trudging through the snow to get to school (especially since I grew up in sunny Culver City, Calif.), but back in my day, we had top 40 radio and those radio stations that identified themselves as playing top 40 music played all kinds of music, from pop to country to R&B to whatever.
Those days are gone.
Today, stations play such a narrow field of music that just calling them "Top 40" stations doesn't accurately describe them. So they are identified by the specific kind of top 40 music they play, whether it be mainstream, adult or rhythmic.
As of February, there were 501 radio stations in the United States that were identified as playing Top 40 music, 420 that play Adult Top 40, 673 that play classic rock, 706 that play Adult Contemporary, 828 that play oldies and 2049 that play country.
Billboard publishes a number of charts that are airplay-based, and those charts report airplay on specific radio formats. That's why there is a Mainstream Top 40 chart, as well as charts for Adult Top 40 and Rhythmic Top 40.
Airplay data from all of the top 40 stations that are monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems is factored into the Hot 100, as well as airplay data from R&B and country stations.
Hi Fred,
I love your column and look forward to it each Friday. I've noticed there seem to be a lot of charts that are similar. Can you tell me the difference between Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40 and Top 40 Tracks, and how they all relate to the Hot 100?
Thanks for your help.
Greg Vagnini
Tallahassee, Fla.
Dear Greg,
I don't want this to sound like one of those stories where I talk about trudging through the snow to get to school (especially since I grew up in sunny Culver City, Calif.), but back in my day, we had top 40 radio and those radio stations that identified themselves as playing top 40 music played all kinds of music, from pop to country to R&B to whatever.
Those days are gone.
Today, stations play such a narrow field of music that just calling them "Top 40" stations doesn't accurately describe them. So they are identified by the specific kind of top 40 music they play, whether it be mainstream, adult or rhythmic.
As of February, there were 501 radio stations in the United States that were identified as playing Top 40 music, 420 that play Adult Top 40, 673 that play classic rock, 706 that play Adult Contemporary, 828 that play oldies and 2049 that play country.
Billboard publishes a number of charts that are airplay-based, and those charts report airplay on specific radio formats. That's why there is a Mainstream Top 40 chart, as well as charts for Adult Top 40 and Rhythmic Top 40.
Airplay data from all of the top 40 stations that are monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems is factored into the Hot 100, as well as airplay data from R&B and country stations.
