One reader expressed concern that our hybrid charts will become a "popularity contest" where only the biggest hits will now have a chance to reach No. 1. We sure hope so.

http://www.billboard.com/column/char...ce=most_recent

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He is flaming an all out war amongst all fan bases be it country, rap, rock, pop, rap, r&b....

Does he not realize that music is music and we all have our favorites, but now it's a slap to the face of any music fan.

That is all I have to say.

change the title to "Billboard flamebait?" for more views

Can someone update me? What changes did they make?

http://atrl.net/?t=283615
http://atrl.net/?t=283645
these threads basically explain it

The whole point of the changes was to be better able to show what songs are popular with consumers, so yes, it is a "popularity contest." The higher it charts, the more popular it is (and vice versa)... And the Digital/ Airplay/ Streaming charts will tell you what format(s) it's most popular on.

I understand the changes they've made, even though I don't completely agree.

Lol someone's mad at the backlash.

''This is our chart, we decide what genre a song is'' still has me ROFL.

The fact that any random popstar can make a country album and can instantly become the #1 female country artist shows these charts are not based on what the country audience might like, you know, the people the genre should be based on.

Oh, okay. Well, yeah it IS Billboard's chart and they can do what they want with it. I kind of see the point in what they did, and I think its a good tool to see these new positions, but now they just need to make better cases of what "genre" a song really is.

Country Singers though are "family" always has...

Could you imagine if Dolly, Tammy, and Loretta fanbases or Waylon, Willie, and Johnny Cash fans arguing who was the best. You won't cause they were friends and they made great music too.

Country music is not about popularity, it's about the music and the songs.

But I will give in the new country is now about who can write the best "truck, hotgirl song"...

Could you imagine the backlash if Shania had this rule when she was placing 11 songs on the country charts in 3 years...Noone else would of had a chance to get #1..Even though she didn''t get all #1's.

Only issues I have:
It's now the "official chart" even though the official country countdowns use Mediabase.
The Airplay chart should still be the official chart.
The new chart should only be used to say who has the most downloads and streams.

He never says what the percentages are for airplay, stream, and downloading.

And he still thinks that Country Stars can and will change their sound to sell out for this new rule.

Mess