Washington Post reports that for the first time Billboard magazine will include songs purchased and downloaded online into its weekly calculation of the "Billboard Hot 100".
The Hot 100 list was historically calculated from a combination of airplay and retail single sales, but in the late 90s with the decreasing availability of singles, radio play become the primary factor.
The new change provides more direct consumer influence on the rankings and has already seen their effects. According to the article:
Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" made the top five more because of its popularity online than radio airplay, said Silvio Pietroluongo, Hot 100 chart manager.
Similarly, 50 Cent's new single "Candy Shop" will jump from No. 30 to No. 8 next week because it is the most popular downloaded song, he said.
Monday October 19, 2026 9:37 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today sent out invites for an experience in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 28, and the "Pro and tell" tagline on the invitation likely means that the rumored MacBook models with touch-enabled OLED displays will stick with MacBook Pro branding instead of the once-rumored "MacBook Ultra" name.
The long-rumored "iPhone Ultra" ended up being named iPhone Duo, so speculation that Apple...
Tuesday October 20, 2026 11:12 am PDT by Juli Clover
With just three days to go until the iPhone Duo is released, Apple is getting ready for the launch. Behind the scenes, the App Store now has screenshots of Apple's built-in apps running on the Duo. We've seen some apps in marketing materials, but images of the ones we haven't seen give us an idea of what it will be like using the iPhone Duo day to day.
Many apps are shown in landscape...
Some Apple retail employees have been told to warn customers against visiting to purchase an iPhone Duo without a pre-order on Friday, October 23.
Apple Store employees told MacRumors that they have been advised that there will likely be no iPhone Duo stock available for walk-in purchases on launch day. Staff have been instructed to discourage customers without pre-orders from coming in...
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
