It ranked the most played songs on United States radio stations, as reported by radio DJs and radio stations (20 to 25 positions). Most Played by Jockeys was Billboard 's original airplay chart.This chart ranked the biggest selling singles in retail stores, as reported by merchants surveyed throughout the country (20 to 50 positions). Best Sellers in Stores was the first Billboard chart, established in 1940.At the start of the rock era in 1955, there were three charts that measured songs by individual metrics: This chart ranked the most popular songs regardless of performer based on record and sheet sales, disk jockey, and jukebox performances as determined by Billboard 's weekly nationwide survey. īefore 1955, Billboard 's lead popularity chart was the Honor Roll of Hits, established in 1945. The chart's current number-one song is " Break My Soul" by Beyoncé. As of the issue for the week ending on August 20, 2022, the Billboard Hot 100 has had 1,140 different number one entries. The first number one song of the Billboard Hot 100 was " Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson, on August 4, 1958.
A new chart is compiled and officially released to the public by Billboard on Tuesdays but post-dated to the following Saturday. Radio airplay, which, unlike sales figures and streaming, is readily available on a real-time basis, is also tracked on a Friday to Thursday cycle effective with the chart dated J (previously Monday to Sunday and before July 2015, Wednesday to Tuesday ). This tracking period also applies to compiling online streaming data. The weekly tracking period for sales was initially Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but was changed to Friday to Thursday in July 2015. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in the United States. The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine.