Friday 23 December 2005

Why isn't "Christmas" present?

Hi Fred. I noticed that "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey is the No. 1 song on the digital download chart. My question pertains to the Hot 100. I always thought that the Hot 100 is a reflection of the combination of what radio is playing and what the public is buying.

I realize that the Mariah Carey song is more than 10 years old but, if the public is buying this song, more so than any others, shouldn't that be reflected on the Hot 100? Gary Nelson Canoga Park, Calif.

Dear Gary. The Billboard Hot 100 is designed to chart the most popular current hits in America, and that's why a song that's 11 years old, like Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You", is ineligible to appear on the survey. If older songs were allowed to chart, the Hot 100 could become clogged with non-current hits, leaving less room for new songs to enter the chart.

Exceptions are made for old hits that become current again. That's why "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen was allowed to return to the Hot 100 when it was included on the soundtrack of "Wayne's World" and reissued as a commercial single, and why the Four Seasons' "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)" encored on the Hot 100 when Curb Records issued a remix and promoted it as a current single.

Something I've said many times in this space is that the Billboard charts are meant to be useful tools for the record industry. What I haven't said as often, but is still true, is that the policies aren't set in a vacuum. Record companies and radio stations are aware of chart rules and their input is considered. If it served the industry to have older titles included on the Hot 100, they probably would be there.

The success of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" as a paid digital download is reflected on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, but you won't find this song or older holiday hits like Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" on the Hot 100.

(Billboard's Chart Beat)



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