Rolling Stone is launching new music industry charts in the United States to rival the long-established Billboard 200 and Hot 100.
The data for Billboard’s charts is provided by Nielsen Music under a long-standing and exclusive relationship between the two parties.
The Rolling Stone Charts will be powered by music analytics service Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and will launch publicly on Monday, May 13.
Rolling Stone says that its charts are customized for specific content verticals, incorporating digital and physical sales, and on-demand streaming activity.
The introduction of the new charts follows the strategic investment in BuzzAngle Music made last July by Penske Media Corporation (PMC), owner of Variety and Rolling Stone.
PMC announced in January it had bought a 49% stake in Rolling Stone, after purchasing an initial 51% stake in 2017, giving the company full control of the storied publishing brand.
The new charts include the Rolling Stone Top 100 Songs, a daily chart that ranks the most consumed songs of the week by audience demand and the Rolling Stone Top 200 Albums, a weekly chart that ranks the most consumed albums of the week by audience demand, comprised of physical and digital album sales, song sales, on-demand audio + video streams.
Other charts to be launched include the Rolling Stone Artist 500, the Rolling Stone Trending 25 (a weekly chart that ranks the fastest-growing songs of the week) and Rolling Stone Breakthrough 25, a weekly chart that ranks the artists who have charted for the first time.
Alpha Data says that its methodology allows for more than 10 trillion combinations of individualized reports for albums, songs, artists, labels and distributors.
The company’s analytics will continue to be used on a B2B level by the likes of record labels in the US, as reported by Vanity Fair on Tuesday (May 7).
“What’s imperative and exciting about our new Rolling Stone Charts is that it will present a transparent, granular and real-time quantification to accurately reflect listeners’ evolving interests and give insight into worldwide trends.”
Jay Penske, PMC
Jay Penske, the founder, Chairman and CEO of PMC said: “PMC’s strategy is to constantly evolve our brands and products across media platforms.
“What’s imperative and exciting about our new Rolling Stone Charts is that it will present a transparent, granular and real-time quantification to accurately reflect listeners’ evolving interests and give insight into worldwide trends.”Music Business Worldwide
