"It's Brutal Out Here": Why Billboard Charts should put artists to a 3 song entry limit

Introduction

The Billboard Hot 100 was first introduced in August 4th 1958 , with “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson being the first number one song. Of course, popular music charts had been around, but nothing nearly of this magnitude to comprise of all genres and music. Yet, the ambitiousness that was the Billboard Hot 100 has now been given scrutiny in the modern age, with very few artists dominating the chart in the streaming era.

Streaming has played a big part of the Billboard Hot 100 ever since it was introduced in the charts in 2007. Back then, Billboard was only expecting it to account for only 5 percent of the chart at the time . Billboard has made adjustments in that time, including making paid streaming services weigh more into the calculation of the chart. However, with streaming now incorporating 84% of all U.S. retail sales according to the Recording Industry Association of America 2023 Year-End Review , streaming has played a larger part in the landscape of the music industy. But, unlike the saying, you can have too much of a good thing, especially if you are a massive artist. Enter: "Track Trouncing".

"Track Trouncing": The Bane of the Chart's Existence

What I deem the term of “Track Trouncing”, this occurs when an artist after a subsequent release dominates the Billboard chart for the week that that album is tracked. One such occurrence happened for the chart ending July 14, 2018 , with rapper Drake, who had accrued 27 songs on the Billboard chart at one time with his album "Scorpion”, and broke the record from most songs in the top ten with 7. And whose record did he break you may ask? Oh, just a band called The Beatles , who held the top 5 of 10 slots.

What made this even more shocking for Drake is that 21 of the Top 40 songs were by him, meaning that he controlled over half of the top consumption in the United States. For the 27 tracks for the next week, 3 had completely fallen off the chart, and of those 21 songs that were in the top 40, only 9 had remained there.

For even more pop superstars, Taylor Swift released her long-anticipated 7th album “Midnights”, where in the chart for November 5, 2022 , she had 13 of the 15 top slots, and 14 of the top 20. Not to mention, she easily surpassed Drake and took all 10 of the top slots on the chart that week.

Now, what happens when two big artists do this at the same time? Glad you asked, because not even two weeks later , Drake released “Her Loss”, a collaborative effort with 21 Savage. For that chart, songs that either featured or had Drake on lead and Taylor Swift accounted for 36% of all songs on the chart. Goodness knows what number Swift will make with the releasse of her double album of "The Tortured Poets Department", the 31-track behemoth that according to Variety, has gained over 300 million streams on Spotify , which will certainly bring the chart and any other artist to their knees.

In March 18, 2023 , when country superstar Morgan Wallen charted 36 songs on the Billboard charts with the release of his album "One Thing at a Time", it was a chart record for the most songs by an artist at one time. And he beat the previous record holder of 27. Oh wait, why is that number familiar? It's Drake's from "Scorpion" .

Some other recent efforts, such as Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” (22), SZA’s “SOS” (21), Beyoncé’s “COWBOY CARTER” (23), Y$'s (Ye and Ty Dolla $ign) "Vultures 1" (16), Ariana Grande’s “eternal sunshine” (13), and Future and Metro Boomin’s “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” (18) among others, have charted every eligible chart song from their album's ("eternal sunshine" had one not meeting chart criteria), but not to an extreme effect as some of these other examples.

This is not to say that popular artists shouldn’t deserve to be popular. However, the over saturation of such artists into the chart makes it less of an opportunity for independent or undiscovered artists, who may have been “Bubbling Under” as the Billboard term goes, to finally break out and have an entry. But with artists who may have an immense amount of songs on the chart, it can be hard for other artists and genres to break through.

Across the Pond: A Possible Chart Remedy

Now, with all that being said, what could the Billboard charts do to change their algorithm and make themselves better? What better place to look than our friends across the pond. The Official Charts in the UK had a similar incident when Ed Sheeran had dominated the charts after his smash hit album “Divide” was released in 2017, and 16 of his songs make it into the top 20 that week . Additionally, Sheeran charted 9 of the top 10 that week, losing out on the clean sweep thanks to Coldplay and The Chainsmokers "Something Just Like This" (Gosh, that make me feel old!)

To combat this from happening again, the chart implemented a rule in which artists could only have three of their songs debut in the chart at one time, essentially putting a cap on artists and not creating what was dubbed “the Ed Sheeran Effect” . According to The Guardian , this was done to "...support new talent progressing up the chart". This is a commons sense rule to ensure that in the world of streaming, artists are not over-represented, but that new ones get to emerge from those vacant spots.

And for popular artists, this does not mean that they wouldn’t be able to chart all of their songs, but this would make it a much more elongated process, as artists would need to keep three songs per week debuting, while hoping they would still be there.

Let us say in Morgan Wallen's case he debuted "One Thing at a Time" with no singles. If he managed to have all 36 of his songs on there, he would need to debut three each week and maintain that all prior songs would stay on there. That would mean he would need to keep going for 13 weeks for it to work. For Drake's "Scorpion", 9 weeks, and for Taylor Swift's "Tortured Poets Department", 11 weeks (10 weeks with a full three, the last with just 1). This would ensure a fair and equal distribution, where artists can still populate the chart, but do it with more opportunity for others. While there is no perfect remedy, it could be one that can be influential in the long run.

Conclusion

To put this all in perspective, the Billboard charts, while a revolution in it’s time, is in need of another major overhaul to ensure that those artists who are waiting under the surface aren’t shut out of their dreams by those who are already flying so high. Streaming is an immense part of the music landscape, but with artists who dominate the charts, the current era does not provide for artists to break out in the same ways they maybe once did, leaving one to wonder what has become of the charts since the streaming era. This remedy provides one that has already been implemented in other charts and been effective in providing new artists with their space to shine.