Adult Pop Airplay

The chart was first published in the March 16, 1996, issue of Billboard; however, historically, the chart's introduction was in October 1995, when it began as a test chart. The Adult Top 40 chart was formed following a split of the "Hot Adult Contemporary" chart due to the growing emergence of Adult Top 40 radio stations in the 1990s. These stations played a wider variety of artists and saw a faster turnover of songs compared to traditional adult contemporary radio. Songs by modern rock, dance, and R&B artists were mixed in with acts more closely associated with adult contemporary. According to Billboard, splitting the chart "better reflect[s] the music being played on adult contemporary and adult/top 40 stations." The first number-one song on the Adult Top 40, from the published chart of March 16, 1996, was "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. ==Chart criteria==

There are 40 positions on this chart. Songs are ranked based on its total number of spins per week. This is calculated by electronically monitoring Adult Top 40 radio stations across the U.S. 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. Songs receiving the greatest growth receive a "bullet", although there are tracks that also get bullets if the loss in detections doesn't exceed the percentage of downtime from a monitored station. "Airpower" awards are issued to songs that appear on the top 20 of both the airplay and audience chart for the first time, while the "greatest gainer" award is given to song with the largest increase in detections. A song with six or more spins in its first week is awarded an "airplay add". If two songs are tied in spins in the same week, the one with the biggest increase that week ranks higher. Recurrent rules ==All-time achievements==

In 2016, for the 20th anniversary of the chart, Billboard compiled a ranking of the 50 best-performing songs and artists on the chart over the 20 years. "Smooth" by Santana featuring Rob Thomas was ranked as the #1 song, while Maroon 5 was ranked as the #1 artist. Listed below are the top 10 songs and the top 10 artists. Top 10 Greatest of All Time Adult Pop Songs (1996–2016) Source: Top 10 Greatest of All Time Adult Pop Songs Artists (1996–2016) Source: ==Song records==

Most weeks at number one Most weeks on the chart • Year when the songs ended their respective chart runs. Highest debut Shortest climbs to number one Longest climbs to number one Shortest climbs to the top-ten Longest climbs to the top-ten ==Artist records==

Most number-one songs Most cumulative weeks at number one Most top-ten songs Most chart entries Additional artist achievements • Shawn Mendes is the first artist to have four songs hit number one on the chart before age 20. • Bruno Mars holds the record for longest break between number ones, with 9 years, 8 months and 3 weeks between Uptown Funk and Die with a Smile. ==See also==