Almost everyone remembers his childhood hits. Entire generations have grown up with a common soundtrack. But with an increasingly fragmented media supply, those soundtracks seem to be becoming more and more individual. The Top 40 still counts down from 40 to one each week, but how well does the list still reflect the taste of Holland?

Experts agree that the current Top 40 list, which still advertises itself as “the one and only search list,” can no longer compare to the lists that began in the mid-1960s. Physical singles, a chart staple for years, are no longer sold. The current Top 40 is compiled based on broadcast (the number of times a song is played on the radio), streaming and trends in social media. The only question is what does that say about popularity.

“The charts are much more reliable than they were in the early years,” says Rob Esther. music head on radio station Qmusic, which airs the Top 40 every week. “It used to be that a number of record stores would be called to ask about popular songs, and that was the case.”

says Nils Alberts, editor-in-chief at VPROs 3for12. Social media did not exist yet and there were far fewer radio stations. As a result, broadcasters and radio DJs have had a huge impact. “They turned around, so they decided.”

According to Ester, the popularity of singles is better gauged these days: “In the past, we only knew how many times a song sold. We didn’t know if it was grayed out or immediately disappeared into the closet. Thanks to numbers from Spotify and streaming services like Youtube, now we also know how often that song actually gets played. So now we see what people like better.”

Alberts is skeptical of the latter: “Because of the big split, you can’t talk about global success. What’s big on TikTok or often played on YouTube isn’t necessarily high in the Top 40. An artist like Kendrick Lamar hasn’t had much Top 40 success, but has sold out the Ziggo Dome a few times with a laugh.”

According to him, it is also questionable what Spotify’s listening numbers mean: “If a song has been played a million times, is that a million unique listeners, or, say, 50,000 people who have played the song twenty times each? That makes a huge difference.”

Although not on a regular basis, Esther says, Qmusic occasionally gets insight into these numbers. This shows that, for example, hip-hop music in Dutch is often listened to by a small group of people.

Dutch hip-hop occupies a separate place in the music scene. Although the genre frequently appears on Spotify’s charts, these songs often perform poorly in tests among radio station listeners. That’s why they run less. “Also, because you need airplay to get a chart hit, sometimes these songs don’t even make it into the Top 40,” Esther says.

“You see it with a number like Guardian Angel by Marco Schuitmaker, which we released,” says Floris Janssen, director of the record label 8ball.” This is very popular and has been #1 in Dutch Spotify’s top 50 a number of times. But it wouldn’t reach that position in the Top 40. Just because radio stations don’t play it much.”

Angel Guardian is also popular on YouTube, and the official video for the song has already been viewed nearly six million times:

However, today’s charts are due precisely to a combination of streaming numbers and broadcast More reliable than ever, Esther says. “This is well thought out.” Qmusic also conducts regular research on listeners’ taste. “The results confirm that we are in the right place.”

Despite his reservations about making the roster, achieving No. 1 is still important, according to 8ball’s Floris Janssen. “For us as an industry, streaming is more important, but artists still consider the ‘traditional’ chart-topping number one goal to be the final step, a milestone.”

Moreover, it also has its value as a marketing tool: “Artists and record labels share it on their social media when their count is at 1, which in turn draws attention from, for example, RTL Boulevard And View news. This way you stay relevant for longer.”

In any case, “the power of lists is unparalleled,” Alberts asserts. “People love it. You can see that in the top 2000.” Jansen: “There is little more fun than discussing these kinds of lists with friends. That will always be the case. Lists are great.”