Re: Re: Sometimes
STING2 said:
I don't think Vertigo was ever the most played song in the USA. It peaked on the HOT 100 at #31 and I think on the Airplay only chart for the HOT 100, it was around #30 for its peak. In my opinion, that is very little airplay for a top selling artist. But that is the fault of USA radio, not the fans or the band.
STING2,
You're right, Vertigo was never the most played song on Pop radio. I used to think that the BB Hot 100 was the ultimate measure of a song's success, but I'm not sure that is the case anymore, which is why I've been posting radio charts as well as BB charts for several weeks now. The Top 3 radio broadcast monitoring companies are mediabase, radio and records, inc., and mediaguide. Radio and Records has a very extensive list of all the radio stations it monitors in the U.S. Total radio play is divided up into anywhere from 12 to 15 formats, depending on the company. I'll use Mediabase as an example only. Here are their formats (and subformats). Next to each category I am listing the total plays for the current #1 song, which is calculated specifically for each format...plays are not cumulative for any category. "Hits" is obviously the largest radio format in the U.S., however.
AC (Adult Contemporary)
Mainstream: 2626 plays
Hot AC: 3896 plays
HIT (Mainstream Pop)
CHR/Pop: 9007 plays
CHR/Rhythmic: 7121 plays
ROCK
Rock: 884
Triple A: 630 plays
Active Rock: 1968 plays
Alternative: 2570 plays
URBAN
Urban: 3546 plays
Urban AC: 1703 plays
COUNTRY
Overall: 6802 plays
Now, at one time, Vertigo was number 1 on Adult Rock, or HAC, with 4077 plays. It was also in the Top 10 in 3 out of 4 Rock formats...#1 on 2 of them at one time. And, it was in the Top 40 on the Pop format, too. When all the plays were added up, it was close to being the most "played" song on radio. I didn't do a comparison, but it had well over 13,000 plays/week at the time, and I noticed that put it in the Top 5 or so with respect to radio play ONLY.
What I know about Billboard is that it calculates chart position for each of their formats by using sales and plays. Vertigo never got any credit for sales when it was peaking, but if it had, it would have probably hit #1 on more formats than just Modern Rock, and it would have been in the Top 10 or 15 on the BB Hot 100. Ironically, Vertigo has risen in airplay since the R&R HoF week (or tour start?), but it has climbed BB charts due to it's increase in downloads more than it's increase in plays on radio.
So, as you can see, even a Country song can be the most played song in the U.S. IF it "crosses over" to the "HIT" format and charts high there as well. Which brings me to BB. Does BB use cumulative airplay for all formats to determine the "Hot 100", or is it soley from the Mainstream radio play, HITS, or even weighted heavily towards this format? Regardless, U2 has a challenge on BB when they don't release a CD single or push a download single w/b-sides...they have to chart on airplay only. Vertigo would have been an exception but BB didn't count downloads until recently.
Another thing...Sometimes made a major comeback on the Global Singles chart last week, climbing six spots from 15 to 9 after it looked like the song had peaked at #10 and was on the way down. I really doubt that the BB charts in the U.S. caused the song to jump 6 spots...but I do think the radio play it's getting in N.A. played a big roll in it's comeback. I've pasted both chart keys below, and my major question still rests with Billboard's Hot 100 - Is that chart the cumulative plays of all Formats in the U.S., or is it mainly from "Pop radio"? At one time, the total number of plays for Vertigo on Radio and Records made it close to being the most played song in the U.S. Now, that still would not make it #1 on BB's Hot 100 because it got no credit for sales. However, it does mean that a song can be played more on radio than the Top 30 songs on BB's Hot 100 and still be at #31 on the BB chart.
As Sometimes rises on the charts, I'll try to do a better job of calculating airplay between it and the songs that are ahead of in on the Hot 100 to see what is really happening. I have a feeling that BB does a lot of estimating and extrapolation, while radio plays have a better chance for true accuracy. Just my opinion there.
If the BB Hot 100 or the BB Hot 100 Airplay chart uses the cumulative total airplay from all formats, then there is some inconsistency between BB's measurement of radio play and at least Records and Radio's measurement of radio play, if not all 3 airplay monitoring companies mentioned above.
Here are the keys to the two charts discussed above.
OFFICIAL GLOBAL TRACK CHART
THE MOST POPULAR TRACKS ACCORDING TO GLOBAL AIRPLAY, SINGLE-SALES DATA, PAID DOWNLOAD, AND VOTE. IMPORTANT SOURCES: IFPI, MUSIC CONTROL, NIELSEN SOUND SCAN & BROADCAST DATA SYSTEMS (USA, CANADA), ORICON & SOUND SCAN (JAPAN), OFFICIAL UK CHARTS COMPANY (UNITED KINGDOM), SNEP / IFOP (FRANCE), MEDIA CONTROL (GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND), ARIA (AUSTRALIA), AFYVE & MEDIA CONTROL (SPAIN), FIMI / AC NIELSEN (ITALY), HOT100 BR@SIL (BRAZIL), MEGA CHARTS BV (NETHERLANDS), GLF (SWEDEN), VERDENS GANG (NORWAY), AC NIELSEN (DENMARK, BELGIUM), YLE (FINLAND), RIANZ (NEW ZEALAND), AND OTHER.
COMPILED AND PROVIDED BY MEDIA TRAFFIC.
The Billboard Hot 100 Chart Key
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The most popular singles and tracks, according to radio audience impressions measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, sales data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, and playlists from select non-monitored radio stations.
Entries with gold backgrounds and italicized numbers for current position are singles with the greatest airplay and/or sales gains this week.
Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for net shipment of 100,000 paid downloads (Gold).
RIAA certification for net shipment of 200,000 paid downloads (Platinum), with additional 200,000 indicated by a number following the symbol.
Greatest Gainer/Sales and Greatest Gainer/Airplay are awarded, respectively, for the largest sales and airplay increases on the chart.
Airplay-only songs are not eligible for the Hot 100 until they reach the top 75 of the Hot 100 Airplay chart. Songs are removed from the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot 100 Airplay charts simultaneously if they have been on the Billboard Hot 100 for more than 20 weeks and rank below 50.
(Green Day is good, I know, but no one can touch U2...take this site with a grain of salt 
)
U2 Sometimes... 623 561 62 2.766 
