The methods and policies by which this data is obtained and compiled have changed many times throughout the chart's history. Although the advent of a singles music chart spawned chart historians and chart-watchers and greatly affected
pop culture and produced countless bits of trivia, the main purpose of the Hot 100 is to aid those within the music industry: to reflect the popularity of the "product" (the singles, the albums, etc.) and to track the trends of the buying public.
Billboard has (many times) changed its methodology and policies to give the most precise and accurate reflection of what is popular. A very basic example of this is the ratio between sales and airplay. During the Hot 100's early history, singles were the primary way people bought music. At times, when singles sales were robust, more weight was given to a song's retail points than to its radio airplay.
Double-sided singles Billboard has also changed its Hot 100 policy regarding "two-sided singles" several times. The pre-Hot 100 chart "Best Sellers in Stores" listed popular A- and B-sides together, with the side that was played most often (based on its other charts) listed first. One of these was
Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" / "Hound Dog". During the Presley singles' chart run, top billing was switched back and forth between the two sides several times. But on the concurrent "Most Played in Juke Boxes", "Most Played by Jockeys" and the "Top 100", the two songs were listed separately, as was true of all songs. With the initiation of the Hot 100 in 1958, A- and B-sides charted separately, as they had on the former Top 100. Starting with the Hot 100 chart for the week ending November 29, 1969, this rule was altered; if both sides received significant airplay, they were listed together. This became a moot point by 1972, as most major record labels solidified a trend they had begun in the 1960s by putting the same song on both sides of the singles they sent to radio. More complex issues began to arise as the typical A- and B-side format of singles gave way to 12-inch singles and maxi-singles, many of which contained more than one B-side. Further problems arose when, in several cases, a B-side would eventually overtake the A-side in popularity, thus prompting record labels to release a new single, featuring the former B-side as the A-side, along with a "new" B-side. The inclusion of album cuts on the Hot 100 put the double-sided hit issues to rest permanently.
Album cuts As many Hot 100 chart policies have been modified over the years, one rule remained constant for over four decades: songs were not eligible to enter the Hot 100 unless they were available to purchase as a single. This was discontinued on December 5, 1998, when the Hot 100 changed from being a "singles" chart to a "songs" chart. During this period, accusations began to fly of
chart manipulation as labels would hold off on releasing a single until airplay was at its absolute peak, thus prompting a top ten or, in some cases, a number-one debut. In many cases, a label would delete a single from its catalog after only one week, allowing the song to enter the Hot 100, make a high debut, and then slowly decline in position as the one-time retail single sold out. It was during this period that several popular mainstream hits never charted on the Hot 100 or charted well after their airplay had declined. During the period that they were not released as singles, the songs were not eligible to chart. Many of these songs dominated the
Hot 100 Airplay chart for extended periods of time: • 1995
The Rembrandts: "
I'll Be There for You" (number one for eight weeks) • 1996
No Doubt: "
Don't Speak" (number one for 16 weeks) • 1997
Sugar Ray featuring
Super Cat: "
Fly" (number one for six weeks) • 1997
Will Smith: "
Men in Black" (number one for four weeks) • 1997
The Cardigans: "
Lovefool" (number two for eight weeks) • 1998
Natalie Imbruglia: "
Torn" (number one for 11 weeks) • 1998
Goo Goo Dolls: "
Iris" (number one for 18 weeks) As debate and conflicts occurred more and more often,
Billboard finally answered the requests of music industry artists and insiders to include airplay-only songs (or "album cuts") in the Hot 100, while the retail component was reduced from 40% to 25%.
EPs Extended play (EP) releases were listed by
Billboard on the Hot 100 and in pre-Hot 100 charts (Top 100) until the mid-to-late 1960s. With the growing popularity of albums, it was decided to move EPs (which typically contain four to six tracks) from the Hot 100 to the
Billboard 200, where they are included to this day.
Digital downloads, online streaming, and bundles Since February 12, 2005, the
Billboard Hot 100 tracks paid digital downloads from such internet services as
iTunes,
Musicmatch, and
Rhapsody.
Billboard initially started tracking downloads in 2003 with the
Hot Digital Tracks chart. However, these downloads did not count towards the Hot 100, and that chart (as opposed to
Hot Digital Songs) counted each version of a song separately. This was the first major overhaul of the Hot 100's chart formula since December 1998. The change in methodology has shaken up the chart considerably, with some songs debuting solely on the strength of robust online sales and others making drastic leaps. In recent years, several songs have achieved 80-to-90 position jumps in a single week after their digital components were made available on online music stores. Since 2006, the record for the largest single-week upward movement has been broken nine times. In the issue dated August 11, 2007,
Billboard began incorporating weekly data from
streaming media and on-demand services into the Hot 100. The first two major companies to provide their statistics to Nielsen BDS every week were
AOL Music and
Yahoo! Music. On March 24, 2012, Billboard premiered its On-Demand Songs chart, which ranks web radio streams from services such as
Spotify, as well as on-demand audio titles. Its data was then incorporated into the equation that compiles the Hot 100, and this was expanded to a broader
Streaming Songs chart in January 2013. In February 2013, U.S. views for a song on
YouTube were added to the Hot 100 formula. "
Harlem Shake" was the first song to reach number one after the changes were made. In July 2020,
Billboard announced that it would no longer allow physical/digital bundles to be reported as digital sales. This refers to songs purchased alongside
merchandise, either from an artist's website or through another vendor. The magazine stated that this was a tactic generally used by certain artists to boost their chart positions. Instead, such physical releases are now only counted when they are shipped to the consumer, rendering the tactic "ineffectual".
Remixes A growing trend early in the first decade of the 21st century was to issue a song as a "remix" that was so different in structure and lyrical content from its original version that it was essentially a whole new song. Under normal circumstances, airplay points from a song's album version, "radio" mix, or
dance music remix, etc., were all combined and factored into the song's performance on the Hot 100, as the structure, lyrics, and melody remained intact. Criticisms began when songs were completely re-recorded to the point that they no longer resembled their original recordings. The first such example of this scenario is
Jennifer Lopez's "
I'm Real". Originally entering the Hot 100 in its album version, a "remix" featuring rapper
Ja Rule was issued during its chart run. This new version proved to be more popular than the album version, and the track was propelled to number one. To address this issue,
Billboard now separates airplay points for a song's original version and its remix, if the remix is deemed a "new song". Since administering this new chart rule, several songs have charted twice, normally credited as "Part 1" and "Part 2". The remix rule is still in place.
Recurrents Billboard, in an effort to allow the chart to remain as current as possible and to give representation to new and developing artists and tracks, has (since 1991) removed titles that have reached certain criteria regarding their current rank and number of weeks on the chart. Recurrent criteria have been modified several times, and (from 2015 up until October 25, 2025), a song was permanently moved to "recurrent status" if it had spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100 and fallen below position number 50. Additionally, descending songs were removed from the chart if ranking below number 25 after 52 weeks. Exceptions were made to re-releases and sudden resurgence in popularity of tracks that had taken a very long time to gain mainstream success. These rare cases are still handled on a case-by-case basis and ultimately determined by
Billboards chart managers and staff. Older songs were allowed to re-enter the Hot 100 provided they charted higher than number 50. Christmas songs in particular started to become a regular presence on the Hot 100 each December since the relaxation of recurrent rules in 2015, culminating in
Mariah Carey's 1994 recording "
All I Want for Christmas Is You" reaching No. 1 on the chart in December 2019. Stricter changes were made to the recurrent rules; however, effective with the chart dated October 25, 2025, the start of the 2026 chart year for
Billboard. While songs that fall below the top 50 with at least 20 weeks still go recurrent, if they are not making any gains in points,
Billboard instituted new tiers for recurrency for the top 25 and top 50, introducing ones for the top 10 and top 5. Songs that fall below the top 25 and have at least 26 weeks (previously 52 weeks) go recurrent; those that fall below the top 10 with at least 52 weeks, as well as those that fall below the top five with at least 78 weeks, under the new rule, also go recurrent. Songs that are still gaining below those markers will be eligible to remain on the Hot 100 on a case-by-case basis. Plus, holiday songs will qualify to return above No. 50 regardless of total chart weeks and will then be subject to the rules noted above upon their descent. The same applies for newly-surging non-holiday catalog songs, with those without significant chart history eligible to debut at any rank, as considered individually.
Adjustment of tracking week Billboard altered its tracking week for sales, streaming, and radio airplay to conform to a new Global Release Date, which now falls on Fridays in all major-market territories (United States product was formerly released on Tuesdays before June 2015). This modified tracking schedule took effect on the issue dated July 25, 2015. == Year-end charts ==