Billboard revamps R&B/Hip-Hop and Country charts
MusicAny Billboard chart-watcher was in for a shock this morning as the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart & The County Songs charts have been revamped, and a new chart has been introduced as well. It truly is a must see.
Get all the details here:
In a nutshell, R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Rap Songs, and County Songs charts were based upon airplay. Now, that is not the case. All of them will include streaming and digital downloads data, having the same format as the main Hot 100 chart.
So what does this mean? Now crossover acts have way higher chances of charting on their main charts. The Taylor Swifts, Beyonces, Rihannas, Nicki Minajs, Ushers, etc can enjoyed buoyed success as pop and (insert genre of choice) crossovers.
This is why, Rihanna’s “Diamonds” shot up from #66 to #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart this week. An untraditional R&B song which is not played much on urban radio, but the heavy digital and streaming as an “R&B” song has pushed it to the top. This is also why Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, an unconventional country song, that isn’t that big on country radio but a big seller, is #1 on the County Songs chart.
Billboard has now also instituted a R&B Songs chart, so core R&B artists can get their proper shine that they don’t get on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. To be honest, I don’t see why the R&B Songs chart wasn’t created back with the Rap Songs chart was. Now it is fairer (even though Rihanna topped the R&B Songs chart as well). That is the major problem with this. It does instituted poppier songs to chart higher than real urban music. So this may be a problem.
As far as airplay goes, songs will be charted from airplay on ALL monitored stations. So if “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” or “Diamonds” are played on pop radio, it goes toward their R&B or Country airplay, properly rewarding crossover tracks.
I’m kind of in the middle of the road. Crossover gets benefit, which is could, but it also kind of puts down real urban music.
