5 Links to Consider | August 21, 2024

A round-up of this week's compelling and considered clicks, compiled from The Absolute Sound's veteran staff of experts and reviewers.

1. Does The #1 Song Even Matter Anymore?

   So many of my fellow chart geeks complain how it’s futile making comparisons between how today’s hits perform on the Hot 100 compared to yesterday’s classics:

   • When The Beatles famously owned all top five slots on the Hot 100 in 1964, we believed it would never happen again. Now, Drake does it all the time (assuming Kendrick Lamar doesn’t kill his career.)

   • In 1983, Michael Jackson’s Thriller spawned a record seven Top 10 singles. Each one remains familiar and beloved. Today, Taylor Swift drops an album and takes over the top of the Hot 100 with every track—including deep cuts even Swifties won’t remember. 

   Ultimately, these anecdotes tie back to—wait for it—streaming. More specifically, how streaming has slashed the longstanding link between songs with the biggest consumption and the songs with the biggest cultural impact.

   

   With their Hot 100 chart, Billboard’s goal has always been to create a ranked list of total music consumption in the U.S. That music…