Billboard has such a huge impact on the perception of music today. With the “Hot 100” having the most influence, making this list can be groundbreaking for any artist! As we get deeper into the digital era, where the consumption of music is drastically changing, Billboard is also reevaluating the way it calculates the hottest weekly songs in the country.

We’ve gathered some data on how exactly Billboard is restructuring their commonly misperceived ranking system and put together tips for getting your music on Billboard Charts!

What makes a song “Hot”?

With streaming recently becoming the forefront for music consumption, Billboard now collectively bases their charts on key fan interactions with music, including album sales, downloads, track downloads, radio airplay, and touring, as well as streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Vevo, YouTube, Spotify, and other popular online destinations for music. YouTube and Instagram dance videos, the radio station played, the time played there, and yes, even social media memes are all calculated along with streams, radio airplay, and touring to configure the Hot 100.

The addition of these new parameters helps an independent artist’s chances of landing on the Hot 100 and/or other Billboard charts who may have a decent social media following and engagement with their fans but lack the industry connections to play the politics of the radio.

What do I need to do?

To get credit for airplay (radio), a very important factor on the journey to Billboard, an artist has to be registered in Nielsen’s BDS system.

The Nielsen Music system looks for an audio fingerprint, i.e. a characteristic that differentiates a song from all of the other ones that it tracks, and electronically monitors radio stations in more than 140 markets across the United States.

Click here to register your work in the Nielsen BDS system.

What’s Next?

After registering with Nielsen, the next step is the most important one: CREATION.

Research what type of music travels in-and-out of the Hot 100, think about the “it” factor for the particular record, and search through your catalog for any music that may convey the same feeling/message. You can also create new material that is unique and original but rightfully so has an “it” factor that makes it popular just as the ones that came before it.

We hope these tips helped. Feel free to connect with us if you have any questions. See you at the top!