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BuzzJack Music Forum _ Personal Charts _ Personal charts: an appreciation

Posted by: HiyaLuv Sep 10 2020, 08:39 PM

Been wanting to start a thread like this for a while. Apologies if it's not allowed here.

Anyway, 20 months in I'm absolutely loving this personal chart business. It has sent my new music engagement into the stratosphere, enabled me to differentiate between what I actually like and what I'm trying to like and even given me several surprise #1s. I base my chart on my past 30 days of last.fm stats and I've been loving new music even more since I started this shortly after my 36th birthday. I can't imagine ever wanting to knock it on the head.

So, just thought I'd start a discussion about this whole concept, ask you how you compile yours and how much of a role it's playing in your life etc. I must admit I do check my last.fm stats several times a week to see how things are developing (my equivalent of checking the Chart Update/midweeks) and it's so much fun to see the songs moving up and down. I know it's not real but a lot of the best things in life aren't - soaps, films, novels, computer games etc. I try not to manipulate/'game' it and let everything happen organically.

It's also great to check other people's charts to see whose music taste is the closest to mine and to look at the Multichart to see the overall consensus and if any of my lesser-known choices have snuck in. The Multichart is interesting as it looks a bit like I imagine the official singles chart would be if streaming wasn't a thing (the Official Sales Chart is not that as many hugely popular acts don't do well on it due the way their fans consume music in 2020). Which is ironic as my musical life is now built around streaming. Scouring the New Music Friday/Radio 1 playlists every week to add contenders to my new music playlist that feeds into my Top 40 is so much fun and it's also rather entertaining when a long-runner just won't go away because I'm still enjoying it so much two months down the line (we're not talking Dance Monkey-esque runs though). It's great to see people like Kylie flying high in my own personal top ten as well as the Multichart, I'm sure she'd still be able to get top 20s at least in old money.

Another fantastic thing about having a top 40 is that it ensures I have my very own mainly-killer-little-filler 'today's top bangers' playlist when I just need a couple of hours of big familiar current anthems to go about my business to! Sometimes the odd rather crappy/underwhelming thing sneaks in at #36 for one week by default after quietly generating enough streams but I can live with that.

Anyway - personal charts: aren't they wonderful? Go!

Posted by: Steve201 Sep 10 2020, 10:04 PM

They are wonderful I mean Carousels by a band like Doves would never chart in the official chart but in my own chart this great slice of a mix of indie and massive attack chill out hit the number one spot for 3 weeks I was loving it.

I usually add new songs on new music Fridays and create my charts based on the old Monday - Sunday format which mixes up the songs played and the peaks. I usually pick three songs per week to focus on (which is like an impact date for me) and play them first each day on my on the go and let the rest shuffle except for on a Thursday when I play the impact song then play the songs I plan to remove that evening when they've had their time or been overplayed/peaked. I then do the same on new music Friday mornings by playing the new songs I have added.


Posted by: Jade Sep 10 2020, 10:19 PM

I love creating a personal chart too! My first one was way back in 2011 so it's a hobby I've continued (on and off) since I was 13. The first incarnation of my personal chart was in YouTube video form, back when they were way less strict about using music in videos, then those fizzled out and I brought them to BuzzJack in text form in 2013. But I became complacent with them very quickly. It got to the point when I only posted two charts in 2017 kink.gif but then in summer 2018 I found myself in the awkward position of finishing Uni and trying to find a job. So I decided that I'd bring my personal chart back for good as I had all this sudden free time. I was still slacking a bit though. So one of my new year's resolutions this year was to try my best to stick to a chart every single week and that has been going well so far *.* they're fantastic for keeping track of the music you're loving. I have a 2020 playlist that all the new entries from each week go straight into so I can keep listening to them all throughout the year. My personal chart archive allows me to pinpoint what I was loving in past years too! Long live the personal chart *.*

I have never deviated from the top 40 format and don't think I ever will! It has always been weekly too. Well, supposed to, but often had breaks as mentioned blush.gif the day of the week has changed over the years! At the moment it's *supposed* to be every Thursday, that's what I aim for, but I've slightly fallen behind. Working full-time, hobbies such as filming YouTube videos, an exercise regime and being social sometimes takes up a lot of time, so it's difficult to stay bang on schedule. But, I try my hardest to get new music listening in around all of that (sources are usually: track of the week thread on here, iTunes/Spotify threads, other personal charts, New Music Friday UK, BJSC + Release Radar playlist) - it's always satisfying to post a new personal chart and listen to my 2020 playlist with some added fresh songs in it.

I'm a last.fm fanatic too and am still waiting for them to bring back the embed feature where you can show off what you've been listening to in your signature on here.

Basically I'm obsessive when it comes to music and numbers and don't see that ever stopping.

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