210 explainers 8 sections 12 Creative Commons photographs

Famous Chart · What Australia is watching, ranked.

Every chart is
a set of choices.

Famous Chart explains how songs, films, shows and creators get ranked: what is counted, how it is weighted, and why two charts built from the same numbers can still disagree.

Watch the library race Browse 210 explainers
Explainers
210
Sections
8
Invented rankings
0
Five signals a chart might count. The column heights are decoration, not data.

Signature piece

The library, raced.

The 210 explainers are added one at a time in A to Z title order, and the eight sections race to the top. Change what is measured and the order changes. That is the whole point of a chart.

210 of 210 added

  1. 1Chart history27
  2. 2How charts work27
  3. 3Award season26
  4. 4Genres and movements26
  5. 5Methodology notes26
  6. 6One hit wonders explained26
  7. 7Reading the numbers26
  8. 8Streaming era26

Not a popularity chart. It counts what Famous Chart has published, measured at 200 words a minute. No outside data is used.

Sortable

The table, by section.

Every column is counted from the library itself. Press a column heading to re-rank the sections by it: the leader changes with the measure.

Famous Chart library sections, with counts taken from the published explainers. Sorted by words, highest first.
No.
1How charts work274,72517515721224
2Chart history274,56216915221123
3One hit wonders explained264,42817015718322
4Reading the numbers264,39316915019222
5Genres and movements264,37016815218822
6Streaming era264,35316715018522
7Methodology notes264,35116715118122
8Award season264,29616515018321

Sorted by words, highest first.

Four kinds of chart

What gets charted, and how.

The same question, asked four ways: what exactly is being counted?

Try it

Change the weights, change the chart.

Three made up entries, each strong in a different signal. Slide the weights and watch the order change. Nothing about the entries moved: only the rule did.

Illustrative only. The entries and their index scores (out of 100) are invented to show how weighting works. They are not real titles or real data.

  1. 1Entry A A steady radio favouriteSales 40 · Streams 45 · Airplay 920
  2. 2Entry B A streaming surgeSales 30 · Streams 95 · Airplay 350
  3. 3Entry C A big sales debutSales 90 · Streams 50 · Airplay 400

Read the method

06 · Chart history

From shop counters to live feeds.

Charts began as reports from record shops and radio stations, moved onto printed paper, then onto digital feeds that refresh constantly. Every move changed what could be counted, and so what could top a chart.

All chart history

Start reading

One from every section.

A lead explainer, then one starting point for each of the eight sections, in library order.

Madonna vinyl (cropped)

Photo: Madonna vinyl (cropped) by Des Byrne (CC BY 2.0), via Openverse

How charts work · 183 words

Why Some Charts Use Logarithmic Scales

Most charts quietly assume that equal steps on the axis mean equal distances in the underlying reality, but some data grows so quickly that a standard axis squashes the small early values into an unreadable clump near the bottom. A logarithmic scale solves that problem by spacing values according to their ratio rather than their raw numerical difference.

  1. 01Award seasonHow Award Nominations Differ From Chart Rankings157 words
  2. 02Chart historyHow Sales Charts Began With Retailer Reports164 words
  3. 03Genres and movementsHow Genre Charts Draw Their Boundaries164 words
  4. 04How charts workHow Bar Charts Turn Numbers Into Shapes212 words
  5. 05Methodology notesWhy Methodology Transparency Builds Trust in a Chart155 words
  6. 06One hit wonders explainedWhat Actually Defines a One Hit Wonder161 words
  7. 07Reading the numbersHow to Read a Chart Without Overreading It166 words
  8. 08Streaming eraHow Streams Get Converted Into Chart Units160 words