A new way to interpret charts

The Chart Score is a normalized score out of 100 points that can be used to compare the traction of tracks. We normalize our score to let the user see how the track is performing globally. If a track gets the #1 spot for the chart in all countries, then that track would get a score of 100.

Apple Music and iTunes charts that include separate genres will have a aggregated score. Tracks or Albums that perform well across multiple genres may exceed a score of 100 in those charts.

Score(track, country) / Max score possible (for a track in all countries) with 100 being the highest.

How it works

The Chartmetric score is built on the premise of rank position to indicate popularity and traffic generated by each track. For example, on Spotify and Apple Music, Stream count is the basis of chart ranking.

High chart ranks will very likely command high revenue, or high stream count. After analysis by our team, we found that this relationship can be represented by a weighted natural log function, as shown below. Blue line indicates the stream count for each chart position (x-axis), and red line is the natural log function.

Hence, here's the formula we use to calculate the score:

Here's the explanation:

First, our formula takes the product of the natural log of the rank position and co-efficient a to produce a score that reflects the relative stream count of a given track at a given time due to chart entry.
Next, to take into account scale of chart by country, we factor in country-based digital revenue data from IFPI (the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) . This parameter adjusts the relative stream count of a track with respect to the chart's country size.
By taking the sum of all scores for each chart entry and plotting it at different time intervals, we are able to accurately demonstrate the traction of a track over time.
We then divide the score by the max score possible for a track in all countries. This way, any score for a specific chart can be compared globally.