I feel like almost everyday there is a different artist going “number 1” and saying they have a number one song or album all while not having the most streamed song or album for that week in that category. It’s just confusing to see so many number 1’s and not know who’s actually at the top per category.
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Billboard magazine makes a list of top selling songs by genre according to sales. Their Hot 100 list is a list of the best selling songs for each particular week. Some songs chart for multiple weeks at number 1, but every week there is a new list of songs. That makes a lot of number 1 singles.
Different companies and different platforms use different metrics and different ways of ranking so it’s entirely possible for someone to end up on a number one on one platform and lower on another originally there was only one music chart but now with the creation of streaming platforms like Apple Music or Spotify there is multiple different charts to which someone can hit number one on. Imagine scoring 100 on a test and your friend got 96 on there test that day but you didn’t take the same test, you weren’t even in the same class. comparing scores is completely nonsensical because they were different tests except for the fact that one of you could say well I got a 100 on your Snap story. That’s what’s going on here.
It might help to note that the music charts you are talking about would be slightly more actually titled as something along the lines of ‘the weekly music sales charts’.
Back in the days of physical media, every store reported their sales figures back to an official chart body, who would tally up the sales and release a chart of that weeks information to the public. To be number one in the charts is as simple as being the best selling single that week.
The purpose of the charts is basically a big pr and marketing exercise. It was turned into a weekly event that people would tune in and listen to, to see how well their favourite artists were selling, find out what music was popular. Artists gain some free marketing out of being able to reference past successes in the charts, and the record companies are easily able to track what is popular and tailor their output to suit.
In recent years the charts have taken a bit of a hit, firstly through the move to digital/streaming media and the confusion and delay in how this was to be incorporated, and also they move to streaming platforms leaving people less willing to be tuning in to a specific radio chart show at a set time, and more willing to just trust in the equivalent charts produces by Spotify and the other platforms, of their own streaming data directly.
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