THE TOP 100 POP MUSIC STARS 1890-2006

Listed below are the all-time top 100 pop music stars, based on their performance in the pop music charts.

Each artist's performance for each music hit for the period 1890-1954 is measured as follows:

#1 position - 50 points plus 5 points for each week at #1.

#2 position - 49 points plus 3 points for each week at #2.

#3 position - 48 points plus 1 bonus point.

#4-30 positions - from 47 down to 21 points.

Each week on the charts is valued at 1 point.

Throughout this period, the industry gradually expanded, and an increasing number of artists competed for the same few spots at the top of the charts. Artists from the early years had less competition and thus more opportunity to score at the top of the charts. However, over the years the depth of the charts grew from the top 3 positions to the top 30. Thus, artists from the later period picked up more points due to the depth of the charts, which compensated for the increased competition.

In order to provide a consistent growth in chart depth for this period, the measurement has been adjusted as follows:

1890s - 3 positions.

1900s - 5 positions.

1910s - 10 positions.

1920s - 15 positions.

1930s - 20 positions.

1940s - 25 positions.

1950s - 30 positions.

In  the mid 1950s, the industry underwent a massive expansion. The advent of rock and roll music brought in hundreds of new artists and dozens of new record labels, fueled by millions of teenagers with money to spend on records.  This substantially reduced the potential of an artist to have the number of hits that artists of previous years experienced, as this multitude of new performers competed for the same few spots at the top of the charts. Thus, an adjustment needed to be made to the rating system.

Each artist's performance for each music hit for the period 1955-1991 is measured as follows:

#1 position - 100 points plus 10 points for each week at #1.

#2 position - 99 points plus 6 points for each week at #2.

#3 position - 98 points plus 2 bonus points.

#4-50 positions - from 97 down to 51 points.

Each week on the charts is valued at 1 point.

From 1934-1958 Billboard published several different charts with different results. The reference works used for this study reported the best performance for each hit from the several charts. This resulted in the performance for this period being over-weighted. The figures for this period have thus been adjusted to simulate just one chart.

In 1955 the chart depth increased to 100 positions. However, chart depth measurement for this period has been gradually increased to simulate the chart depth growth of previous decades. The measurement for this period is as follows:

1950s - 30 positions.

1960s - 35 positions.

1970s - 40 positions.

1980s - 45 positions.

1990s - 50 positions

In 1992 the pop charts were modified with the result that the length of time a music hit remained on the charts was substantially increased. This reduced the number of hits that charted over time and another adjustment needed to be made to the rating system.

Each artist's performance for each music hit for the period 1992-2006 is measured as follows:

#1 position - 150 points plus 15 points for each week at #1.

#2 position - 149 points plus 9 points for each week at #2.

#3 position - 148 points plus 3 bonus points.

#4-55 positions - from 147 down to 96 points.

Each week on the charts is valued at 1 point.

The chart depth measurement for this period is as follows:

1990s - 50 positions.

2000s - 55 positions.

In all cases where a music hit features more than one artist, the points are distributed evenly amongst the participants.

Sources for chart data:

Pop Memories 1890-1954 by Joel Whitburn

Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn

Click the following link for other top 100 list:

THE TOP 100 POP MUSIC HITS 

    THE POP MUSIC HALL OF FAME    

Contact Me: CRFordMusic@aol.com 

© Copyright: Charles R. Ford, 2004