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<v Speaker 1>I want you to close your eyes and daydream with

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<v Speaker 1>me for a second. It's nineteen fifty five. You are

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<v Speaker 1>a clerk at a dusty record shop in downtown Detroit.

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<v Speaker 1>The phone rings. It's a guy from Billboard magazine. He's

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<v Speaker 1>got a clipboard and a pencil, and he's asking you

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<v Speaker 1>exactly how many forty five RPM copies of Bill Haley's

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<v Speaker 1>Rock around the Clock you sold this week. You look

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<v Speaker 1>at your handwritten ledger, give him a number, and that

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<v Speaker 1>becomes history. Now snap back to twenty twenty six. No

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<v Speaker 1>phone calls, no clipboards, just millions of lines of code

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<v Speaker 1>tracking every time someone hungs a song into their phone

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<v Speaker 1>or loops a fifteen second TikTok clip. Today on Crash

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<v Speaker 1>Course Pod, we're looking at the Bible of music. We're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about the history, the evolution, and the controversy of

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<v Speaker 1>the Billboard charts. How do we get from counting vinyls

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<v Speaker 1>to counting YouTube views? Well, sit back, get a snack,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're going to talk awe about it. So before

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<v Speaker 1>we get into the forties, we have to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>why it's even called Billboard. It was founded in eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>ninety four in Cincinnati by two guys named William Donaldson

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<v Speaker 1>and James Hannigan. Remember those names, Donaldson and Hannigan. And

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<v Speaker 1>get this. When Billboard was founded, it had nothing to

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<v Speaker 1>do with music. It was a trade journal for bill posters,

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<v Speaker 1>the guys who literally pasted advertisements on walls. They covered

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<v Speaker 1>outdoor advertising, which means they tracked circuses, carnivals, and traveling

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<v Speaker 1>vaudeville shows. If you were a lion tamer or a

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<v Speaker 1>clown in the nineteen hundreds, then Billboard was your trade paper,

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<v Speaker 1>so to say. It wasn't until the nineteen thirties that

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<v Speaker 1>they realized recorded music was the next big thing. They

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<v Speaker 1>launched their first music popularity chart in July nineteen forty.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is where it gets This is where it

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<v Speaker 1>get interesting for the history music head buffs. So in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty, vinyls weren't even a thing yet. They were

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<v Speaker 1>actually seventy eight rpm shellac records. They were heavy, brutal,

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<v Speaker 1>and they shatter like glass if you dropped them. Vinyl,

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<v Speaker 1>the LPs and forty fives we Love Today didn't hit

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<v Speaker 1>the market until late forties. Actually, the first number one

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<v Speaker 1>in July nineteen forty was Tommy Dorsey's I'll Never Smile again,

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<v Speaker 1>featuring a young Frank Sinatra, that topped the best selling

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<v Speaker 1>retail records charts. But back then one chart wasn't good enough.

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<v Speaker 1>In the forties, Billboard had a holy trinity of charts

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<v Speaker 1>which included sales, juke block juke box plays, and radio airplay.

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<v Speaker 1>To be a true legend, you had to top all three.

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<v Speaker 1>It was the original triple crown. Think about that. Though

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<v Speaker 1>the charts weren't about what you owned, they were about

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<v Speaker 1>what you were willing to put a nickel into at

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<v Speaker 1>a diner. It was the original streaming. Eventually they added

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<v Speaker 1>sheet music sales because, believe it or not, people used

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<v Speaker 1>to buy them notes to play songs at home more

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<v Speaker 1>than they bought the actual records. Then, by nineteen fifty

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<v Speaker 1>eight they consolidated everything into the hot one hundred we

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<v Speaker 1>know today. They combined sales and radio airplay for fifty years.

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<v Speaker 1>That was a gold standard. If you were on Billboard

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<v Speaker 1>number one, in that number one spot, you were the

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<v Speaker 1>biggest artist on the planet period. Now the pivot. Remember

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<v Speaker 1>the last episode in Room for Improvement where I mentioned

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<v Speaker 1>the two thousand and five two thousand and six window.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually that was the most chaotic time for Billboard. This

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<v Speaker 1>was the era of fifty cent owning the top five.

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<v Speaker 1>In spring of two thousand and five, he had Candy

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<v Speaker 1>Shop at number one, how We Do at number four,

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<v Speaker 1>and Disco in Fir at number five. He was the

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<v Speaker 1>first solo artist to do it. The only ones to

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<v Speaker 1>do it before him was the Beatles. But going back

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<v Speaker 1>to Billboard and number one, the system was breaking because

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<v Speaker 1>people had stopped buying CDs and started downloading songs on iTunes.

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<v Speaker 1>This created a crisis for Billboard. Let me ask you,

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<v Speaker 1>does a ninety nine sit download count as much as

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<v Speaker 1>a fifteen dollars album? Think about it? These are the

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<v Speaker 1>questions that Billboard had to sort out. Then came twenty thirteen,

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<v Speaker 1>the Harlem Shake year. Billboard started counting YouTube views, so

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly a viral meme could push a song to number one,

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<v Speaker 1>even if nobody was buying it. This changed the DNA

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<v Speaker 1>of music. Artists stopped making four minute stories and started

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<v Speaker 1>making fifteen second quote unquote moments designed to trend breaking news,

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<v Speaker 1>breaking new speaking of YouTube video or YouTube views. As

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<v Speaker 1>of January sixteenth, twenty twenty six, I believe that's the

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<v Speaker 1>date YouTube actually stopped providing data to Billboard. YouTube and

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<v Speaker 1>Billboard had a massive falling out because YouTube wanted free

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<v Speaker 1>streams to count as much as paid ones, and Billboard refused.

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<v Speaker 1>So right now in twenty twenty six, YouTube fuse do

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<v Speaker 1>not count towards Hot one hundred or Billboard two hundred.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's as of now February nineteenth, twenty twenty six.

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<v Speaker 1>Will it change, I'm sure, but that's the information that

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<v Speaker 1>has out as of now. Now Here's where or Here's

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<v Speaker 1>where gets me as a music at the weight in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty six, not all listens are created equal. Since

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<v Speaker 1>we're currently in February twenty twenty six, Billboard literally just

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<v Speaker 1>changed the rules a month ago, so on July seventeenth,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty six, they updated the math. So the new

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<v Speaker 1>rule is it now takes one thousand page streams to

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<v Speaker 1>equal one album seal and if you're on a free account,

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<v Speaker 1>it takes two thousand, five hundred streams. Compare that to

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<v Speaker 1>one person buying a physical vinyl record. One vinyl equals

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<v Speaker 1>one sale. And the biggest debate in the industry right

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<v Speaker 1>now is why does one person buying a physical vinyl

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<v Speaker 1>record count more than twelve hundred fifty or one thousand streams,

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<v Speaker 1>so it used to like the old way it went

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<v Speaker 1>was twelve, one, two and fifty streams that were paid

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<v Speaker 1>equals and albums. So now it's reduced down to one thousand.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's where I got twelve to fifty from. So

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<v Speaker 1>let's let's ask that question again, shall we? Why does

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<v Speaker 1>one person buying a physical vinyl record count more than

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<v Speaker 1>one thousand streams? It's a math problem, and Billboard is

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<v Speaker 1>trying to balance value versus volume. If someone spends thirty

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<v Speaker 1>dollars on a vinyl then they've essentially voted for that

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<v Speaker 1>artist with their wallet. If I just let a playlist

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<v Speaker 1>run while I'm asleep, am I really a fan? Or

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<v Speaker 1>am I data? Now? This brings us to the ultimate

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<v Speaker 1>question for Crash course Pot today. Is the chart a

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<v Speaker 1>measure of quality or popularity? Back in the day, the

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<v Speaker 1>charts were a barrier to entry. You had to be

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<v Speaker 1>good to get on the radio. Now, not so much.

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<v Speaker 1>The charts are a reflection of our attention spans. You

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<v Speaker 1>can game the system with bundles, twenty four hour loops

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<v Speaker 1>and TikTok challenges. Even bodying has become a thing, and

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<v Speaker 1>also playlists you know buying yourself onto the Spotify playlist.

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<v Speaker 1>Is the number one song actually the best song? Or

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<v Speaker 1>is it just the one the algorithm pushed the hardest. Personally,

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<v Speaker 1>I think we've lost a bit of the soul in

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<v Speaker 1>the pursuits of the stats. But as long as Billboard exists,

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<v Speaker 1>it's the only scoreboard We've got to be honest, this

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<v Speaker 1>is they're the ones keeping track of all of this.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's take a look at some Billboard heavy hitters, basically

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<v Speaker 1>some record breaking Billboard stats as of or for twenty

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<v Speaker 1>twenty six. Let's just keep it simple. So the record

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<v Speaker 1>category of most number one hits that goes to the

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<v Speaker 1>Beatles with twenty songs. Then we have most weeks at

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<v Speaker 1>number one. We have Mariah Carey All I Want for

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas is You with twenty two weeks. Then we have

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<v Speaker 1>most weeks at number one artists and that's Mariah Carey

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<v Speaker 1>with one hundred and one week's total. And then we

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<v Speaker 1>have most Billboard two hundred number one albums, and that

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<v Speaker 1>goes to the Beatles with nineteen albums. And then we

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<v Speaker 1>have longest charting album that goes to Pink Floyd The

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<v Speaker 1>Dark Side of the Moon nine hundred and ninety plus

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<v Speaker 1>week nine hundred and ninety plus weeks. So the landscape

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<v Speaker 1>has changed a lot, with streaming allowing some massive new

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<v Speaker 1>records to be set. Recently, we have the Taylor Swift takeover.

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<v Speaker 1>Taylor has been literally the first artist to ever occupy

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<v Speaker 1>the entire top ten of the Hot one hundred simultaneously,

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<v Speaker 1>and she's actually done it multiple times with her latest albums.

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<v Speaker 1>As of twenty twenty six, she holds the record for

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<v Speaker 1>the most cumulative weeks at number one for a solo

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<v Speaker 1>artist on the bill Board two hundred, surpassing ninety eight weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, we already talked about the Christmas Queen Mariah Carey.

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<v Speaker 1>Her All I Want for Christmas Is You is a

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<v Speaker 1>statistical anomaly. It hits number one almost every single year,

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<v Speaker 1>and in January twenty twenty six, it extended its record

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<v Speaker 1>as the longest running number one song ever at twenty

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<v Speaker 1>two weeks. Shout out to Mariah Carey. Now with global dominance,

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<v Speaker 1>newer names like Bad Bunny and burn a Boy are

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<v Speaker 1>shattering first ever records. Burna Boy recently became the first

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<v Speaker 1>African artist to have a song on the Hot one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred for six consecutive years. That's from twenty twenty one

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<v Speaker 1>to two, thy twenty six, five or six consecutive years.

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<v Speaker 1>But I think it's six consecutive years, counting twenty twenty one,

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<v Speaker 1>then twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four,

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty five and twenty twenty six, and before Mariah

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<v Speaker 1>Carey's holiday hit pulled Ahead Lil Nas ex Oldtown Road

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<v Speaker 1>and Shabouzi a bar song. Tipsy retired for the longest

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<v Speaker 1>running modern number one at nineteen weeks. So Billboard changes

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<v Speaker 1>how they count things over the years. As we discussed,

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<v Speaker 1>back in the day, you had to physically buy a

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<v Speaker 1>CD or wait for the radio to play a song.

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<v Speaker 1>But now our streaming habits are tracked in real time

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<v Speaker 1>and megastars like Taylor Swift can flood the charts the

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<v Speaker 1>second in album drops. Fun fact, the Beatles achieved their

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<v Speaker 1>twenty number one hits in just six years from nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty four to nineteen seventy. Most artists today take decades

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<v Speaker 1>to even get close to that, So shout out to

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<v Speaker 1>the Beatles. So next time you see your favorite artists

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<v Speaker 1>celebrating a number one debut, remember the Clerk in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>fifty five with the pencil, the tools. The tools I've changed,

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<v Speaker 1>but the hunger for the number one spot is still

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<v Speaker 1>the same. Catch us next week and we're gonna talk

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<v Speaker 1>about another person who built an Atlanta empire, and I'll

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<v Speaker 1>let that be a secret. In the meantime, check the

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<v Speaker 1>links below for more entertainment. Bye.