Top Forty
Encyclopedia
The Top Forty or Top 40 is a music industry shorthand for the currently most-popular songs in a particular genre. When used without qualification, it typically refers to the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music
songs of the previous week. Top 40 became the dominant radio format
of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Other lists of hit songs may include a different number of entries, such as a "Top 50" or "Top 100".
By the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the 45 rpm record would decrease in popularity and other means would be used to evaluate the popularity of new songs. As a result, chart runs for songs tend to be longer than they were in the 1960s and 70s.
Radio programs that highlight currently popular songs also refer to the "Top 40."
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
songs of the previous week. Top 40 became the dominant radio format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
History
The Top 40, or top forty, whether surveyed by a radio station or a publication, was a list of songs that shared only the common characteristic of being newly released. Its popularity coincided with the rapid changes in recording technology in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, the recording industry agreed upon a standard recording format for higher fidelity music, so any new record player could play any new record. Also in that year, new single records were released on 45 rpm records, and the Top 40 thereafter became a survey of the popularity of these records. Tape recording had become perfected, allowing artists more freedom as they composed songs, especially novelty songs.Other lists of hit songs may include a different number of entries, such as a "Top 50" or "Top 100".
By the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the 45 rpm record would decrease in popularity and other means would be used to evaluate the popularity of new songs. As a result, chart runs for songs tend to be longer than they were in the 1960s and 70s.
In contemporary publications
The current top songs are tracked by a variety of trade publications, such as:- Dutch Top 40Dutch Top 40The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...
, the DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
music chart. - Los 40 PrincipalesLos 40 PrincipalesLos 40 Principales is the main musical radio station in Spain with more than 4,000,000 listeners. The station was founded in 1966 and in 2006 the station celebrated its 40th anniversary...
, in Spain. - The Net 40The Net 40The Net 40 is a weekly Internet chart show which is broadcast live from the studio's of Sound Liverpool. The show is live each and every Sunday from 3pm until 6pm...
, a worldwide user generated Top 40 show. - Ö3 Austria Top 40Ö3 Austria Top 40Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...
, the official AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n music chart. - Pop Songs, a chart of current popular songs in the United States, compiled by Billboard NewspaperBillboard (magazine)Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
and its various predecessors - Radio & RecordsRadio & RecordsRadio & Records was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It originally started out as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006, up until its final issue in 2009.-History:The company was founded in 1973 and...
magazine, recently purchased by Billboard PublicationsBillboard (magazine)Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... - UK Top FortyUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, the British version of the same concept.
Radio programs that highlight currently popular songs also refer to the "Top 40."
Further reading
- Pete Battistini, "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem The 1970s", Authorhouse.com, January 31, 2005. ISBN 1-4184-1070-5
- Susan Douglas, Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination (New York: Times Books, 1999)
- Rob Durkee, American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century (New York: Schriner Books, 1999)
- Mark Fisher, Something in the Air: Radio, Rock, and the Revolution That Shaped a Generation (New York: Random House, 2007)
- Ben Fong-Torres, The Hits Just Keep On Coming: The History of Top 40 Radio (San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 1998)
- Elwood F. 'Woody' Goulart, [The Mystique and Mass Persuasion: Bill Drake & Gene Chenault’s Rock and Roll Radio Programming http://www.bossradioforever.com/html/ebook.html] (2006)
- David MacFarland, The Development of the Top 40 Radio Format (New York: Arno Press, 1979)