The Billboard Singles Top 50

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I started following it regularly at some point this year - it's got that ol' classic singles-climbing-up-instead-of-debuting-at-no1-and-dropping-off-in-a-matter-of-weeks thing, so it's fun to keep up and cheer for my fave songs of the moment. And it can also be a good place for downloading pop tips, tho' Billboard's specialist singles charts are usually better at it (and I SO wish there were less ballads in the latin chart, I ocassionaly randomly try out an entry hoping to unearth some Papichulo/Asereje-type carnival behemoth but it's always ballads ballads boring BALLADS!).

So here's my question for US ILX folks: can a single become a huge coast-to-coast omnipresent hit and not crack the Billboard top 50 for whatever reasons (format marketing perhaps)? I wonder this coz Blu Cantrell & Sean Paul's "Breathe" is just MASSIVE in Europe right now, and I can't remember seeing it on the Billboard chart which puzzles me, coz it's very catchy and it's got Sean Paul and it's got a shiny glossy video and to me it'd be kinda weird if it really flopped in USA. Ditto Pink's "Feel Good Time". So, enlighten me.

― Mind Taker, Saturday, 20 September 2003 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

sometimes songs that are big on MTV aren't played much on radio or released as actual singles.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 September 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

the 'breathe' video makes me feel queasy. i still cannot fathom how Radio 1 did not playlist the song tho.

― stevem (blueski), Saturday, 20 September 2003 19:12 (twenty-two years ago)

of course, the Billboard chart has very little to do with singles sales, such as they are (the current top-selling single in the US is apparently the Elvis "Rubberneckin'" remix, which is at #93 on the Hot 100 or something)

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Saturday, 20 September 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

the billboard singles chart = sales + airplay

― cinniblount (James Blount), Saturday, 20 September 2003 20:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Singles can be massive and not even make the charts at all (Coldplay's "Yellow" for example). That's why the Hot 100 is so meaningless.

Nobody in the U.S. buys singles anyway.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Saturday, 20 September 2003 21:55 (twenty-two years ago)

"yellow" made the charts

― cinniblount (James Blount), Saturday, 20 September 2003 22:04 (twenty-two years ago)

And how! (according to AMG's super-sweet Billboard listings)

2001 Yellow The Billboard Hot 100 No. 48
2001 Yellow Modern Rock Tracks No. 6
2001 Yellow Top 40 Adult Recurrents No. 19
2001 Yellow Top 40 Mainstream No. 22
2001 Yellow Top 40 Tracks No. 26
2001 Yellow Adult Top 40 No. 11

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 September 2003 22:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Yellow Top 40 Adult Recurrents

This just sounds like part of an ad for Depends.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 20 September 2003 23:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Hmmmmmmm

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Saturday, 20 September 2003 23:26 (twenty-two years ago)

first of all, the chart was reworked a while back so that a record doesn't have to be commercially released as a single in order to be considered for the hot 100.

second of all, the reliance on BDS and other automated systems to gauge airplay, as opposed to playlists reported by program directors, means that songs are hanging around much longer than they would have been, say, ten years ago -- many of these songs are ones that appeal much more to the dentist's-office end of the spectrum (matchbox twenty, uncle kracker, evanescence, and that three doors down song with the video supporting the troops have all been in the countdown for longer than half a year (three doors down has been in there for 45 weeks!! augh)), the songs that are played on the stations that are really proud about not playing rap and such.

looking at even half of the hot 100 makes it very obvious that the us and uk 'pro-pop' ideals are completely different animals. being 'pro-pop' over here to me is like saying 'hooray for stagnancy determined in large part by playing people 15-second snippets of songs over crappy phone connections!' (nb: i was part of a clear channel focus group for about four or five months earlier this year -- it was for their dance station arm, which meant i got to tell them that i 'never liked' every j lo single, and to play more old freestyle)

― maura (maura), Sunday, 21 September 2003 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

nine years pass...

I just looked at the Billboard top ten for the first time in months and holy christ, what a gigantic pile of shit

― Darth Icky (DJP), Monday, 11 March 2013 15:34 (thirteen years ago)

yup

I've finally resigned myself to the fact that this is the way things are gonna be for a while

― C: (crüt), Monday, 11 March 2013 15:48 (thirteen years ago)

yeah it had just occurred to me the other day how bad the top 10 has been so far this year, even just compared to at any point last year

― some dude, Monday, 11 March 2013 15:52 (thirteen years ago)

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