Welcome To Tunecaster, the online popular music encyclopedia.
If you like the pages you see here, please post a link at your blog or website
to your favorite Tunecaster pages. Online charts are updated through mid-2015.
Weekly Pop Top 30 Countdown (PT30).
The heart of Tunecaster is the Weekly Pop Top 30 Countdown (PT30).
This chart, with an emphasis on radio airplay, began August 3, 1974.
At that time, The Night Chicago Died by Paper Lace was number one,
and the chart was originally called the Weekly Top 20.
In 1979, the chart was expanded and a rock chart was added.
Pop and rock charts are updated through mid-2015.
Weekly Rock Top 30 Countdown (RT30).
Rock Top 30 was the first general rock songs chart anywhere.
This chart was created in 1979, and was then 20 positions.
In those days, "album rock" dominated, with a touch of "alternative."
Early charts reflect this.
As other formats became more popular, they were mixed in and weighted.
Today, the rock chart is a combined chart including all rock formats.
Alternative rock gets the most weight, as it is the most popular genre
for those who listen to current rock music.
It is our dream to see radio recombine the eclectic mix of rock songs.
Pop and Rock Chart Methodology.
Charts are based mostly on radio airplay, requests for play, streaming radio, and downloads.
To be included in the compilation, information must come from a primary content source such as a radio station or a streaming site, not from an aggregate or compiled source.
Sources must be specifically in the pop or rock genre.
While the exact formula was adjusted over time as conditions change, the methodology remained consistent: keep the focus on the hottest pop and rock music for those who specifically listen to pop and rock radio or internet radio. See for yourself. Find the periods where you listened to pop or rock radio, and look at those weekly charts. Are those the songs you remember?
Earlier Music Charts.
For pop charts before August 1974, available primary content sources were used to recreate, as closely as possible, a realistic archive of then-popular songs.
Artist Pages.
Artist pages include all pop and rock top 20 hits for artists,
and all other popular songs by the artist.
Some songs on these pages come from those charts or
the watchlists for them. Many come from what we heard on radio,
contemporary or classic.
Some songs come from thousands of other places including books,
official sites, download sites, catalogs, magazines,
other charts, trading sites, etc.
If a song by an artist received some kind of promotion or public notice,
it is included.
Album tracks, b-sides, obscure, or non-promoted songs
are not included unless they register some sort of popularity
(such as notable radio play or downloads)
or are of some particular interest
(such as original versions, covers or movie music).
Songs are ordered by when they were most popular.
Longer pages also offer alphabetical order.
Title Pages.
Title pages include songs that have the same titles,
songs with similar titles or hooklines,
same songs with different titles,
and songs related in some important way.
Rather than just let an SQL search handle these complex relationships,
title pages are designed to make sure that you find a song recording you are looking for,
and discover related recordings.
Tunecaster Harmony.
Comparing the relative popularity of songs over time can be a difficult task.
How do you weigh songs from a year where there are 200 top 20 songs with songs from a year where there are only 100? The answer is, in a word, mathematics.
Songs are compared to contemporary songs, assigned Harmony scores, then compared with songs from other time periods.
All songs receive as equal and objective treatment as possible.
The Harmony system is used for annual charts, decade charts, individual artist top hit lists, and anywhere that songs are compared over time.