Pop Airplay

"US pop" and "Pop Songs" redirect here. For US population, see Demographics of the United States. For other uses, see Pop Song.

Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the United States. The rankings are based on radio airplay detections as measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (Nielsen BDS), a subsidiary of the U.S.' leading marketing research company. Consumer researchers, Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron), refers to the format as contemporary hit radio (CHR). The current number-one song on the chart is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren.^[1]

History

The chart debuted in Billboard Magazine in its issued date October 3, 1992, with the introduction of two Top 40 airplay charts, Mainstream and Rhythm-Crossover. Both Top 40 charts measured "actual monitored airplay" from data compiled by Broadcast Data Systems (BDS). The Top 40/Mainstream chart was compiled from airplay on radio stations playing a wide variety of music, while the Top 40/Rhythm-Crossover chart was made up from airplay on stations playing more dance and R&B music.^[2] Both charts were "born of then-new BDS electronic monitoring technology" as a more objective and precise way of measuring airplay on radio stations. This data was also used as the airplay component for Hot 100 tabulations.^[2] American Top 40 with Shadoe Stevens used this chart for their show from January 1993 to January 1995.

Top 40/Mainstream was published in the print edition of Billboard from its debut in October 1992 through May 1995, when both Top 40 charts were moved exclusively to Airplay Monitor, a secondary chart publication by Billboard. They returned to the print edition in the August 2, 2003, issue.^[3] The first number-one song on the chart was "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men.^[4]

Chart criteria

There are forty positions on this chart. Songs are ranked based on its total number of spins per week. This is calculated by electronically monitoring Mainstream Top 40 radio stations across the U.S. 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

Songs receiving the greatest growth receive a "bullet", although there are tracks that also get bullets if the loss in detections doesn't exceed the percentage of downtime from a monitored station. "Airpower" awards are issued to songs that appear on the top 20 of both the airplay and audience chart for the first time, while the "greatest gainer" award is given to song with the largest increase in detections. A song with six or more spins in its first week is awarded an "airplay add". If two songs are tied in spins in the same week, the one with the biggest increase that week ranks higher.

Since the introduction of the chart until 2005, songs below No. 20 were moved to recurrent after 26 weeks on the chart. Beginning the chart week of December 3, 2005, songs below No. 20 were moved to recurrent after 20 weeks on the chart. Since the chart dated December 4, 2010, songs below No. 15 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks on the chart.

Whereas the Pop Airplay and Pop 100 Airplay charts both measured the airplay of songs played on Mainstream stations playing pop-oriented music, the Pop 100 Airplay (like the Hot 100 Airplay) measured airplay based on statistical impressions, while the Top 40 Mainstream chart used the number of total detections.

Source:^[5]

All-time achievements

In 2012, for the 20th anniversary of the chart, Billboard compiled a ranking of the 100 best-performing songs on the chart over the 20 years, along with the best-performing artists. "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls ranked as the #1 song on that list.^[6][7] In 2017, Billboard revised the rankings, including the methodologies for how they are calculated. "Another Night" by Real McCoy was the new #1 song, while the previous #1 song, "Iris", dropped to #8. Rihanna ranked as the top artist on both all-time charts.^[8] Shown below are the top 10 songs and the top 10 artists from the most recent chart.

Top 10 Pop Songs of all time (1992–2017)

Rank	Single	Year released	Artist(s)	Peak and duration
1.	"Another Night"	1994	Real McCoy	#1 for 6 weeks
2.	"Smooth"	1999	Santana featuring Rob Thomas	#1 for 8 weeks
3.	"Hanging by a Moment"	2000	Lifehouse	#2 for 12 weeks
4.	"Apologize"	2007	Timbaland featuring OneRepublic	#1 for 8 weeks
5.	"How You Remind Me"	2001	Nickelback	#1 for 10 weeks
6.	"Here Without You"	2003	3 Doors Down	#1 for 6 weeks
7.	"Don't Speak"	1996	No Doubt	#1 for 10 weeks
8.	"Iris"	1998	Goo Goo Dolls	#1 for 4 weeks
9.	"Closer"	2016	The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey	#1 for 11 weeks
10.	"I Love You Always Forever"	1996	Donna Lewis	#1 for 11 weeks

Source:^[9]

Top 10 Pop Songs artists of all time (1992–2017)

Rank	Artist
1.	Rihanna
2.	Pink
3.	Maroon 5
4.	Katy Perry
5.	Justin Timberlake
6.	Britney Spears
7.	Taylor Swift
8.	Kelly Clarkson
9.	Mariah Carey
10.	Bruno Mars

Source:^[10]

Song records

Most weeks at number one

Number of weeks	Artist	Song	Year(s)	Source
14	Ace of Base	"The Sign"	1994	[11]
13	The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber	"Stay"	2021	[12]
11	Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men	"One Sweet Day"	1995–96	[11]
	Donna Lewis	"I Love You Always Forever"	1996	[11]
	Natalie Imbruglia	"Torn"	1998	[11]
	Nelly featuring Tim McGraw	"Over and Over"	2004–05	[11]
	The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey	"Closer"	2016	[11]
10	Dionne Farris	"I Know"	1995	[11]
	No Doubt	"Don't Speak"	1996–97	[11]
	Céline Dion	"My Heart Will Go On"	1998	[11]
	'N Sync	"Bye Bye Bye"	2000	[11]
	Nickelback	"How You Remind Me"	2001–02	[11]
	Mariah Carey	"We Belong Together"	2005	[11]
	Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell	"Blurred Lines"	2013	[11]
	Post Malone	"Circles"	2019–20	[11]
	Miley Cyrus	"Flowers"	2023	[13]
	Taylor Swift	"Cruel Summer"		[14]

Most weeks in the top 10

Number of weeks	Artist	Song	Year(s)	Source
45	Rema and Selena Gomez	"Calm Down"	2023–24	[15]
41	Harry Styles	"As It Was"	2022–23
	Benson Boone	"Beautiful Things"	2024–25
40	The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber	"Stay"	2021–22
	Hozier	"Too Sweet"	2024–25
39	The Weeknd	"Blinding Lights"	2020
36	Sabrina Carpenter	"Espresso"	2024–25
	Shaboozey	"A Bar Song (Tipsy)"	2024–25
35	Post Malone	"Circles"	2019–20	[16]
33	The Weeknd	"Die for You"	2022–23
32	Harry Styles	"Adore You"	2020
	Lil Nas X	"Thats What I Want"	2021–22
	Taylor Swift	"Cruel Summer"	2023–24

Most weeks on the chart

Number of weeks	Artist	Song	Year*	Source
71	Rema and Selena Gomez	"Calm Down"	2024	[17]
63	Harry Styles	"As It Was"	2023	[18]
60	The Weeknd	"Blinding Lights"	2021	[19]
	Benson Boone	"Beautiful Things"	2025	[20]
54	Glass Animals	"Heat Waves"	2022	[19]
51	Hozier	"Too Sweet"	2025	[21]
50	The Weeknd	"Die for You"	2023	[22]
	Billie Eilish	"Birds of a Feather"	2025	[23]
49	Myles Smith	"Stargazing"		[24]
48	The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber	"Stay"	2022	[19]

*Year when the songs ended their respective chart runs.

Prior to 2018, the song with the most weeks on the chart was "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain, which spent 41 weeks on the chart in 1998. This record run held for almost two decades, but has been surpassed many times since then. Radio stations having more data points, such as streaming, to increase their accuracy at measuring what radio listeners want to hear, have made longer runs more commonplace.^[25]

Mariah Carey and Taylor Swift have the highest debut at number 12 with "Dreamlover" and "Shake It Off" respectively.

Highest debut

Debut Position	Artist	Song	Debut Date	Source
No. 12	Mariah Carey	"Dreamlover"	August 14, 1993	[26]
	Taylor Swift	"Shake It Off"	September 6, 2014	[27]
No. 13	Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar	"Bad Blood"	June 6, 2015	[28]
	Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone	"Fortnight"	May 4, 2024	[29]
No. 14	Lady Gaga	"Born This Way"	February 26, 2011	[26]
	Justin Timberlake featuring Jay-Z	"Suit & Tie"	February 2, 2013	[30]
No. 16	Madonna	"Frozen"	March 7, 1998	[26]
	Britney Spears	"Hold It Against Me"	January 29, 2011	[26]
	Miley Cyrus	"Flowers"	January 28, 2023	[31]
	NSYNC	"Better Place"	October 14, 2023	[32]
	Dua Lipa	"Houdini"	November 25, 2023	[33]

Shortest climbs to number one

Week reached number one	Artist	Song	Date reached number one	Source
4th week	Whitney Houston	"I Will Always Love You"	December 12, 1992	[34]
	Mariah Carey	"Dreamlover"	September 4, 1993	[35]
	The Rembrandts	"I'll Be There for You"	June 17, 1995	[36]
	Nelly featuring Tim McGraw	"Over and Over"	November 6, 2004	[37]
5th week	Janet Jackson	"That's the Way Love Goes"	May 29, 1993	[38]
	Ace of Base	"All That She Wants"	October 30, 1993	[39]
	All-4-One	"I Swear"	May 28, 1994	[40]
	Boyz II Men	"I'll Make Love to You"	September 10, 1994	[41]
	Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men	"One Sweet Day"	December 9, 1995	[42]
	Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar	"Bad Blood"	July 4, 2015	[43]
	Adele	"Hello"	December 5, 2015	[44]
	Justin Timberlake	"Can't Stop the Feeling!"	June 18, 2016	[45]
	Miley Cyrus	"Flowers"	March 4, 2023	[46]

Longest climbs to number one

Week reached number one	Artist	Song	Date reached number one	Source
37th week	Lewis Capaldi	"Before You Go"	September 26, 2020	[47]
32nd week	Glass Animals	"Heat Waves"	January 29, 2022	[48]
31st week	Benny Blanco, Halsey and Khalid	"Eastside"	March 2, 2019	[49]
28th week	Trevor Daniel	"Falling"	July 25, 2020	[50]
	Rema and Selena Gomez	"Calm Down"	May 13, 2023	[51]
27th week	Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby	"Levitating"	June 19, 2021	[52]
26th week	Alessia Cara	"Here"	February 6, 2016	[53]
25th week	CeeLo Green	"Forget You"	April 16, 2011	[53]
	Demi Lovato	"Give Your Heart a Break"	September 15, 2012	[53]
24th week	Alessia Cara	"Scars to Your Beautiful"	February 4, 2017	[54]
	Khalid and Normani	"Love Lies"	September 22, 2018	[55]
	The Weeknd	"Die for You"	February 11, 2023	[56]
	Sabrina Carpenter	"Feather"	April 6, 2024	[57]
		"Bed Chem"	March 29, 2025	[58]

Shortest climbs to top 10

Week reached top 10	Artist	Song	Date reached top 10	Source
2nd week	Janet Jackson	"That's the Way Love Goes"	May 8, 1993	[59]
	Mariah Carey	"Dreamlover"	August 21, 1993	[60]
	The Rembrandts	"I'll Be There for You"	June 3, 1995	[61]
	Madonna	"Frozen"	March 14, 1998	[62]
	NSYNC	"Pop"	June 9, 2001	[63]
	Eminem	"Just Lose It"	October 16, 2004	[64]
	Britney Spears	"Hold It Against Me"	February 5, 2011	[65]
	Lady Gaga	"Born This Way"	March 5, 2011	[66]
	Taylor Swift	"Shake It Off"	September 13, 2014	[67]
	Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar	"Bad Blood"	June 13, 2015	[68]
	Justin Timberlake	"Can't Stop the Feeling!"	May 28, 2016	[69]
	Taylor Swift	"Look What You Made Me Do"	September 16, 2017	[70]
	Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie	"Me!"	May 11, 2019	[71]
	Ed Sheeran	"Bad Habits"	July 10, 2021	[72]
3rd week	48 songs

Longest climbs to the top 10

Week reached top 10	Artist	Song	Date reached top 10	Source
35th week	Lauv	"I Like Me Better"	June 23, 2018	[25]
31st week	Edwin McCain	"I'll Be"	October 17, 1998	[25]
27th week	Max featuring Gnash	"Lights Down Low"	February 3, 2018	[25]
	Lewis Capaldi	"Before You Go"	July 18, 2020	[73]
	AJR	"Bang!"	December 12, 2020	[74]
25th week	MKTO	"Classic"	July 12, 2014	[25]
	Daya	"Sit Still, Look Pretty"	October 15, 2016	[25]
	Jon Bellion	"All Time Low"	March 11, 2017	[25]
	Madison Beer	"Make You Mine"	September 7, 2024	[75]
24th week	Saweetie featuring Doja Cat	"Best Friend"	July 3, 2021	[76]

Artist records

See also: List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart

Taylor Swift holds the record for most number-one singles with 13, spanning over 15 years between her first and last hit.^[77]

With 47 weeks at number-one, Katy Perry holds the record for having spent the most weeks at the summit.^[78]

Most number-one singles

Number of singles	Artist	Source
13	Taylor Swift	[77]
11	Rihanna	[79]
	Katy Perry	[79]
	Maroon 5	[79]
	Bruno Mars	[80]
10	Justin Bieber	[79]
	Ariana Grande	[81]
9	Pink	[79]
8	Justin Timberlake	[82]
	Doja Cat	[83]
	Lady Gaga	[84]

Most cumulative weeks at number one

Number of weeks	Artist	Source
47	Katy Perry	[78]
45	Mariah Carey	[85]
43	Taylor Swift	[14]
39	Maroon 5	[86]
38	Justin Bieber	[87]
37	Bruno Mars	[88]
32	Pink	[89]
	Rihanna	[89]
30	Ariana Grande	[90]
29	Ace of Base	[89]

Most top 10 singles

Number of singles	Artist	Source
30	Rihanna	[91]
25	Taylor Swift	[14]
23	Ariana Grande	[90]
22	Maroon 5	[86]
20	Justin Bieber	[87]
19	Pink	[91]
	Justin Timberlake	[92]
	Bruno Mars	[88]
18	The Weeknd	[22]
17	Mariah Carey	[93]
	Katy Perry	[78]

Most chart entries

Number of entries	Artist	Source
51	Rihanna	[94]
47	Nicki Minaj	[95]
45	Taylor Swift	[14]
41	Justin Bieber	[87]
	Drake	[96]
	Chris Brown	[97]
40	Pitbull	[98]
37	Britney Spears	[99]
	Ariana Grande	[90]
34	Justin Timberlake	[92]

Simultaneously occupying the top two positions

• Mariah Carey: December 9, 1995

1. "One Sweet Day" (with Boyz II Men)
2. "Fantasy"

• OutKast: January 31 - February 7, 2004

1. "Hey Ya!"
2. "The Way You Move" (featuring Sleepy Brown)

• Pharrell Williams: July 27 - August 3, 2013

1. "Blurred Lines" (Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell)
2. "Get Lucky" (Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams)

• Iggy Azalea: June 28 - July 12, 2014

1. "Fancy" (featuring Charli XCX)
2. "Problem" (Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea)

• Halsey: February 23 - March 9, 2019

1. "Without Me"
2. "Eastside" (with Benny Blanco and Khalid)

• Ariana Grande: February 20, 2021

1. "34+35"
2. "Positions"

• Olivia Rodrigo: August 7–28, 2021

1. "Good 4 U"
2. "Deja Vu"

• Doja Cat: October 15–22, 2022

1. "I Like You (A Happier Song)" (Post Malone featuring Doja Cat)
2. "Vegas"

• Bruno Mars: February 8 - March 8, 2025

1. "Apt." (Rosé and Bruno Mars)
2. "Die with a Smile" (Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars)

Source:^{[100][101][102][103]}

Simultaneously three or more songs in the top 10

• Ariana Grande: May 15–22, 2021
  • "Positions"
  • "34+35"
  • "POV"
• Doja Cat: October 23–30, 2021
  • "Kiss Me More" (featuring SZA)
  • "You Right" (with The Weeknd)
  • "Need to Know"
• Harry Styles: October 15–29, 2022
  • "As It Was"
  • "Late Night Talking"
  • "Music for a Sushi Restaurant"
• Sabrina Carpenter: November 2–9, 2024
  • "Espresso"
  • "Please Please Please"
  • "Taste"

Source:^{[104][105][106][107]}

Self-replacement at number one

• Mariah Carey — "Fantasy" → "One Sweet Day" (Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men) (December 9, 1995)
• OutKast — "Hey Ya!" → "The Way You Move" (OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown) (February 14, 2004)
• Iggy Azalea — "Fancy" (Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX) → "Problem" (Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea) (July 12, 2014) †
• Halsey — "Without Me" → "Eastside" (Benny Blanco, Halsey and Khalid) (March 2, 2019)
• Ariana Grande — "Positions" → "34+35" (February 13, 2021) ††
• Doja Cat — "I Like You (A Happier Song)" (Post Malone featuring Doja Cat) → "Vegas" (October 22, 2022)
• Bruno Mars — "APT." (Rosé and Bruno Mars) → "Die with a Smile" (Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars) (March 8, 2025)

† Iggy Azalea is the only act in Mainstream Top 40 history to replace herself at number one with her first two chart entries.

†† Ariana Grande became the first artist to succeed herself at number one as the only act credited on both tracks.

Source:^[108][109]

Additional artist achievements

Lady Gaga is the only musical artist in history to have her first six singles all reach the number-one position on this chart.

• Lady Gaga is the only artist to have her first six singles reach No. 1.^[110]
• JoJo became the youngest (13) solo artist to have a number-one single on the chart with "Leave (Get Out)".^[111]
• Rihanna is the youngest (22) artist to attain at least seven No. 1 singles on the chart.^[112]
• Justin Bieber became the youngest (26) male artist to attain at least seven No. 1 singles on the chart with "Intentions" (featuring Quavo).^[112]
• Kate Bush broke the record for the oldest song to have ever charted on the Mainstream Top 40 chart with "Running Up That Hill", originally released in 1985. It charted in 2022 after its use in the fourth season of Stranger Things. The previous record holder was Empire of the Sun, whose song "Walking on a Dream", originally released in 2008, charted in 2016 after its use in a Honda commercial.

Album records

Most number-one singles from an album

Number of Singles	Artist	Album	Year (s)	Source
6	Katy Perry	Teenage Dream	2010-12	[113]
5	Taylor Swift	1989	2014-15	[113]
4	Justin Timberlake	FutureSex/LoveSounds	2006-07	[113]
	Lady Gaga	The Fame	2009	[113]
	Sabrina Carpenter	Short n' Sweet	2024-25	[113]
3	Ace of Base	The Sign	1993-94	[113]
	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1996	[113]
	Avril Lavigne	Let Go	2002-03	[113]
	Maroon 5	Overexposed	2012-13	[113]
	Justin Bieber	Purpose	2015-16	[113]
	Selena Gomez	Revival	2015-16	[113]
	Dua Lipa	Future Nostalgia	2020-21	[113]
	Lil Nas X	Montero	2021-22	[113]
	Doja Cat	Planet Her	2021-22	[113]