Into It: A Vulture Podcast with Sam Sanders · Vulture & New York Magazine

How to Game the Billboard Hot 100

September 19, 2023·40 min·3 clips

People do not really care about the song. It is representative of the silent majority.

The episode opens with Sanders noting the Hot 100 feels off: a seven-year-old Weeknd song hit number one via TikTok, and Oliver Anthony topped the chart through conservative activist purchases. They explain the chart mechanics and identify three gaming strategies: political activism (pundits telling followers to buy songs), fandom coordination (K-pop fans using VPNs and multiple credit cards, compared by Billboard to PACs), and limited physical editions (New Jeans releasing 14 versions of a 12-minute EP, Taylor Swift creating four vinyl versions forming a clock). Billboard changed rules in 2022 to count only one download per week in response. The episode ends with a split verdict: Rihanna no longer trusts the chart while Charlie argues Billboard is doing its best to track changing habits.

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