Billboard Hot Country Songs
The Hot Country Songs of Billboard magazine, considered the most important single - charts for the genre country music . The singles sold in the record stores included in the chart are automatically recorded by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems . The cash registers are connected to the central computer via the Internet. Since 1998, it is no longer necessary for a song to be released as a single. Playing on the radio is sufficient for inclusion in the charts.
The corresponding Billboard hit parade for country albums is called Billboard Top Country Albums . The Country National Airplay charts, published once a week by the industry magazine R&R, are the second most important hit parade for individual country pieces.
history
The term country as a genre name first appeared in the 1940s. Before that, terms like hillbilly , folk music or simply old time music were common. Accordingly, the Billboard magazine has kept lists under changing names, with the first sales of corresponding sheet music being recorded in 1913, and later the popularity of jukebox singles in the Most Played Folk Records Charts . From 1942 on there was the Western and Race Charts for a short time , with the term “ race” referring to the music of the African American . However, this term was perceived as racist and quickly abandoned.
On January 8, 1944, Billboard Magazine published a list of the most popular country songs. Since at this time only the pieces selected most frequently in the jukeboxes were listed, the list was initially called Most Played Juke Box Folk Records . In 1947 the folk was replaced by hillbilly . In June 1949, the term Country & Western appeared for the first time in the name Folk (Country & Western) Records in the three categories Best Selling Retail , Most Played Juke Box and Most Played By Folk Disk Jockeys .
With the October 20, 1958 issue, they finally began to publish a 30-position hit parade based on a combination of record sales and radio airplay under the name Hot C&W Sides . The term was abandoned in 1962 and replaced by Hot Country Singles . In 1990 the list was renamed Hot Country Singles & Tracks and in 2005 Hot Country Songs .
Determination of the hit parade
The songs played in the radio stations included are automatically registered via RDS . Since January 2005, the playing of country songs on the radio has been weighted according to the number of listeners to the station and the time. A title that is played at a small station at two o'clock in the morning, for example, receives fewer points than a title that is broadcast in the early evening by a national broadcaster. Before that, financially strong record companies could buy nightly broadcasting space from smaller broadcasters for little money and thereby push their current songs upwards.
The hit parade currently comprising 50 items is created once a week from the data obtained (as of December 2018).
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/about_us/bbhistory.jsp ( Memento from December 13, 2005 in the Internet Archive )