The Gist Chris Dalla Riva: "Billboard's become a Christmas chart."
Dec 15, 2025
Chris Dalla Riva, a data journalist and author of Uncharted Territory, dives into fascinating topics around the Billboard Hot 100. He critiques how streaming has reshaped music charts, arguing it brings both accuracy and boredom. Dalla Riva also discusses the growing prevalence of Christmas songs in the Top 10 and unpacks the 'wilderness years' of the Hot 100. The power of playlists is highlighted, showing their influence on hits like Lorde's 'Royals.' Exploring the evolution of pop music through numbers, he reveals how chart trends reflect deeper industry shifts.
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Charts Now Measure Streaming Habits
- Billboard's Hot 100 now mostly measures streaming, shifting what counts as "popular."
- Chris Dalla Riva argues that holiday songs and passive listening skew the chart away from industry-useful signals.
Segment Seasonal Songs From Main Charts
- Remove holiday tracks from the main chart to keep it industry-useful.
- Chris Dalla Riva suggests relegating Christmas music to its own chart to avoid seasonal skew.
Ignorance Made Charts More Adventurous
- Lack of historical measurement made charts more varied and exploratory in earlier decades.
- Dalla Riva suggests that not knowing exact popularity sometimes led to more interesting musical directions.
