Billboard Hot Singles Chart

The Billboard Hot Singles Chart is the music industry standard record chart globally for songs, published weekly by Billboard on their website and within Billboard Magazine. Chart rankings are based on digital sales, radio airplay, online streaming and trending popularity worldwide.

The weekly tracking period was initially Saturday-to-Saturday but was later changed to Sunday-to-Sunday in 2021. Global releases are currently expected to be released on Fridays. The Billboard Hot Singles Chart is published on Sunday evening.

The first number one song of the Billboard Hot Singles Chart was "#sideEFFECTS" by Rihanna featuring Kendrick Lamar.

## History

In 2013, the Billboard Charts were launched with two charts; a singles chart and an albums chart. That singles chart would later be renamed into the Hot Singles Chart the following year, and revitalised with a new formula. Throughout the years, the formula and rules for the Hot Singles Chart would be adjusted to be more representative of the music industry. Currently, the Hot Singles Chart uses data from four minor charts in its calculation. These charts are:

* Digital Songs Chart; ranking the songs of the week by the digital sales they achieve.
* Radio Songs Chart; measuring the radio airplay and impressions of songs weekly.
* Streaming Songs Chart; ranking the online streams of the weekly song releases.
* Trending Songs Chart; measuring the online trending popularity of new song releases.

## Compilation

### Current Methodology

`(Digital Songs * 30%) + (Radio Songs * 30%) + (Streaming Songs * 30%) + (Trending Songs * 10%)`

### Former Methodologies

#### Season 1 (2013)

The Season 1 formula for the Hot Singles Chart is unknown, but was criticised for its seemingly random calculation. At this time, no minor charts existed. In 2016, the Season 1 charts were re-calculated using the Season 5 formula.

#### Seasons 2-6 (2014-2017)

`(Digital Songs * 40%) + (Radio Songs * 40%) + (Streaming Songs * 20%)`

During Seasons 2 to 4, the Billboard Charts were calculated using a chart position-based formula, rather than a points-based formula. In 2016, these were re-calculated using the points-based formula introduced in Season 5.

#### Seasons 7-8 (2018-2019)

`(Digital Songs * 20%) + (Radio Songs * 40%) + (Streaming Songs * 40%)`

#### Season 9 (2021)

`(Digital Songs * 30%) + (Radio Songs * 20%) + (Streaming Songs * 30%) + (Trending Songs * 20%)`

#### Season 10 (2022)

`(Digital Songs * 25%) + (Radio Songs * 25%) + (Streaming Songs * 30%) + (Trending Songs * 20%)`

#### Season 11a (2023)

`(Digital Songs * 25%) + (Radio Songs * 25%) + (Streaming Songs * 25%) + (Trending Songs * 25%)`

## Policy Changes

The methods and policies by which this data is obtained and compiled have changed many times throughout the chart's history.

### Remixes

In 2015, the ability to track remixed singles was officially added to the Hot Singles Chart. These remixes would chart for one extra chart week, and would allow songs to keep the same level of interest and popularity as the week before. Since their inception, remix releases have become an industry standard for any artist wanting truly successful hits.

### Rolling Charts

In 2017, a new feature was added to all Billboard Charts. This new feature was rolling charts. Rolling charts would allow any song that had not yet finished its full chart run, to chart in a future season until its chart run was finished. In addition, artists could no longer get eliminated from #PopIndustry, therefore meaning their releases would not be removed from the charts ahead of time.

### Promotional Singles

In 2021, Billboard allowed a new release type to chart. A promotional single could be released alongside an official single, and would count as its own standalone single with half of the chart points it would normally attain. Promotional singles could be released once weekly, and could not be remixed. This change was instantly adopted by many of the industry's most successful artists.

## Chart Records

### List of record labels with the most #1 singles

 Capitol Records
 RCA Records
 Atlantic Records
 Roc Nation
 Republic Records
 Mercury Records
 Universal Music Group

### List of record labels with the most weeks at #1

 Capitol Records
 RCA Records
 Atlantic Records
 Roc Nation
 Republic Records
 Mercury Records
 Universal Music Group