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billboard hot 100 explained

The Billboard Hot 100 is often discussed as though it were a measurement of popularity. It is better understood as a weighted index whose formula reflects deliberate judgements about which kinds of listening count for how much. Almost every chart controversy of the last decade dissolves once you know what those weights are.

• Streaming, split into paid subscription streams, ad-supported streams and programmed listening, each weighted differently — paid streams count for substantially more than free ones.
• Sales, covering digital downloads and physical formats, which have declined in overall share but remain highly concentrated in dedicated fanbases.
• Radio airplay, measured as audience impressions rather than spin count, which weights a large-market station far above a small one.