Billboard Introduces Pop 100, Dramatic Evolution Of Hot 100

A change in one of Billboard's franchise charts, and the introduction of a new list, gives a louder voice to a constituency that the magazine has always valued: the music consumer.

Effective this week, sales from the Nielsen SoundScan-provided Hot Digital Songs count toward the formulation of The Billboard Hot 100, adding paid downloads to the mix that already includes retail sales and radio audiences of all popular music formats.

At the same time, Billboard will offer a new view of songs' popularity with the launch of the Pop 100 chart. Concurrently, the Hot Digital Songs chart is being expanded from 50 titles to 75.

Like the Hot 100, the new Pop 100 chart rates songs by combining audience impressions calculated by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems with the sales of digital tracks and physical singles, but the Pop 100's radio panel will be confined to mainstream top 40 stations.

"We have eagerly anticipated the moment when we could begin to integrate digital sales into the Hot 100 and it makes utter sense to factor that data into the new Pop 100, too," says Geoff Mayfield, Billboard director of charts. "It has been a priority for labels, and even some music fans, that we derive more utility from digital sales data, but could not merge those numbers with other sources until Nielsen SoundScan could efficiently consolidate the sales of a song's various digital versions. The recent launch of the Hot Digital Songs chart accomplished that goal (Billboard, Jan. 22) ."

"We are absolutely thrilled that the advent of digital downloads brings a viable sales component back to The Billboard Hot 100," says Hot 100 chart manager Silvio Pietroluongo, who will also oversee the new Pop 100. "While radio stations are programmed to reflect the wants of its listeners, there is no substitute to measure a song's true popularity than the purchase by a consumer. The combination of accurate airplay data with a strong sales base further secures the Hot 100's place as the definitive U.S. singles chart."

The Pop 100 is the brainchild of associate publisher Michael Ellis, who oversaw the Hot 100 from 1985-1993. The new list complements Billboard's chart menu by wedding the Hot 100's streams of sales data with the programming decisions from the format that?by its historic nature?must follow the desires of the mass audience: mainstream top 40. The first No. 1 on the Pop 100 is "1, 2 Step" by Zomba recording artist Ciara.

"The addition of the Pop 100 chart is big win for mass-appeal pop music," says Richard Palmese, executive VP of promotion for RCA Music Group. "Now we have a chart that complements the HOT 100 and spotlights those songs that enjoy significant airplay on Mainstream Top 40 stations with retail and digital sales. Bravo!"

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