Hot 100 under fire for radio payola

[banjosnap 357]

To the pro-radio MILITIA who say radio & streaming is similar due to playlisting, I have a very simple question for you.

When did you last skip a song on radio?

Here's another:

When did you last repeat a song on radio?

The answer is never.

For radio to have an impact at all is WILD. it's a platform probe to manipulation. The playlists are wildly outdated & it's weighting on bb100 is insane.

If we MUST count radio, give them their own chart. In the uk we have the "big top 40" which is radio & the "official chart" which is sales & streams. Sales & streams is the official measure of popularity, which is what a chart should be. The chart is not a measure of how many times a radio network makes their shows put a song in heavy rotation.

Abracadabra, for example, would peak between 7-10 in a non-radio BBH100 (according to chatgpt) and DWAS would be number 1 on January 4th. 

In a world where radio doesn’t factor into the Hot 100 for anyone, “Disease” would:

Peak in the Top 5–7, likely around #6

Hold a Top 10 presence for ~4–5 weeks

Maintain a 12‑week run on the chart—significantly longer than in reality.

 

So....

[Mirrion Rizzons 10,895]

4 hours ago, JRCF29 said:

Unpopular opinion on this thread, I see, but radio still counts for something. A majority of Americans still listen to AM/FM radio.

Yeah but radio is passive listening, so actively streaming a song and going out your way should be weighted significantly higher than what a record label has paid a radio station to play 

[AsleepOnTheCeiling 6,282]

6 hours ago, SEANGT said:

radio mattering at all is insane in 2025, it only gets worse the longer they keep the formula like this. 

Majority of Americans, especially those over 35, still use radio for music on a weekly basis

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/nielsen-the-record-audio-listening-trends/

3 hours ago, JustJames said:

There’s so much wrong with the title of this thread and sentiment of pop music stans. Billboard doesn’t own any channel of music consumption, including FM radio, so why would they be “under fire” for people’s issues with radio, even IF there’s payola at play (which there’s no evidence of)? If there is, that’s between the label/ A&R and station accepting the bribe.

But, there’s nothing wrong with having multiple means of promoting a song. Everyone knows streaming is influenced by bots and playlists, so how is only counting streams any fairer? Playlist curators are the equivalent of radio programmers. Just like streaming platforms use audience data to determine continued placement, radios use callout scores, requests, etc., to decide on increasing/ decreasing spins.

The fact a song can chart because a few markets respond well on Radio should be celebrated- the US has a wide range of taste in music, and just like local artists chart on their respective countries’ Charts, the Hot 100 should reflect that. There’s opportunity for manipulation and corruption across every channel and platform, but that’s always been the case.

BB is still responsible for creating an algorithm that will hold true to the listening patterns of Americans in order to capture the popularity of a song any given week. Payola impacts that. It's like saying "why are we holding researchers accountable for their research findings when they don't OWN any of the subjects of their study even though they knew the data of their study was skewed". 

1 hour ago, Sugar Baby said:

How is Radio so relevant in 2025? 
who the **** is still using that ****? 

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/nielsen-the-record-audio-listening-trends/

18 minutes ago, banjosnap said:

To the pro-radio MILITIA who say radio & streaming is similar due to playlisting, I have a very simple question for you.

When did you last skip a song on radio?

Here's another:

When did you last repeat a song on radio?

The answer is never.

For radio to have an impact at all is WILD. it's a platform probe to manipulation. The playlists are wildly outdated & it's weighting on bb100 is insane.

If we MUST count radio, give them their own chart. In the uk we have the "big top 40" which is radio & the "official chart" which is sales & streams. Sales & streams is the official measure of popularity, which is what a chart should be. The chart is not a measure of how many times a radio network makes their shows put a song in heavy rotation.

Abracadabra, for example, would peak between 7-10 in a non-radio BBH100 (according to chatgpt) and DWAS would be number 1 on January 4th. 

In a world where radio doesn’t factor into the Hot 100 for anyone, “Disease” would:

Peak in the Top 5–7, likely around #6

Hold a Top 10 presence for ~4–5 weeks

Maintain a 12‑week run on the chart—significantly longer than in reality.

 

So....

It's similar to playlisting when you consider the free versions of streaming, where you can't skip or rewind but a few times an hour/day. Which is still a popular way of consuming music. Streaming also has it's loopholes and so does purchasing music outright. I can understand weakening the strength of a radio play, but everyone here is downplaying the impact of radio. 

[HIM820 1,840]

I don't think people fully realize that the charts would still be stagnant if streaming was weighted differently. They just haven't been able to recreate a formula that mimics what radio and sales used to be. 

It's sad because so many popular songs have been shut out of the top 10... looking at you abra and sports car. The delayed radio adds were to blame. 

Edited July 15 by HIM820

[SEANGT 5,259]

6 hours ago, AsleepOnTheCeiling said:

Majority of Americans, especially those over 35, still use radio for music on a weekly basis

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/nielsen-the-record-audio-listening-trends/

BB is still responsible for creating an algorithm that will hold true to the listening patterns of Americans in order to capture the popularity of a song any given week. Payola impacts that. It's like saying "why are we holding researchers accountable for their research findings when they don't OWN any of the subjects of their study even though they knew the data of their study was skewed". 

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/nielsen-the-record-audio-listening-trends/

It's similar to playlisting when you consider the free versions of streaming, where you can't skip or rewind but a few times an hour/day. Which is still a popular way of consuming music. Streaming also has it's loopholes and so does purchasing music outright. I can understand weakening the strength of a radio play, but everyone here is downplaying the impact of radio. 

okay this is crazy. I've never even tried to use the radio in my car and I only ever see my friends use their phones with streaming  I feel like I'm going insane with these statistics. What is happening

[banjosnap 357]

17 hours ago, AsleepOnTheCeiling said:

Majority of Americans, especially those over 35, still use radio for music on a weekly basis

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/nielsen-the-record-audio-listening-trends/

BB is still responsible for creating an algorithm that will hold true to the listening patterns of Americans in order to capture the popularity of a song any given week. Payola impacts that. It's like saying "why are we holding researchers accountable for their research findings when they don't OWN any of the subjects of their study even though they knew the data of their study was skewed". 

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/nielsen-the-record-audio-listening-trends/

It's similar to playlisting when you consider the free versions of streaming, where you can't skip or rewind but a few times an hour/day. Which is still a popular way of consuming music. Streaming also has it's loopholes and so does purchasing music outright. I can understand weakening the strength of a radio play, but everyone here is downplaying the impact of radio. 

If radio is high & sales/streams don't reflect the same, then is there even a way to "downplay" radio?

 

[andy232000 11,364]

21 hours ago, JustJames said:

There’s opportunity for manipulation and corruption across every channel and platform, but that’s always been the case.

Radio is highly more corrupt and less easy to control in comparison though. At least physical sales have multiple rules and streaming has filtered streams for that reason. You can´t monitor nor control labels who will pay millions to radio under the table.