Hallett's Top 20
What is Hallett's Top 20?
Every Monday, Hallett's Top 20 is where I will share my current top 20 favorite songs, simply based on my own personal opinions. These will span over all genres and all kinds of artists, and it will be constantly changing. It's pretty self-explanatory, so I don't think I need to say anything else here.
What qualifies a song for Hallett's Top 20?
Factors like the artist, length, genre, and relevance cannot count for or against a song being on the top 20. The only real deciding factor (other than obviously personal preference) is time. To keep this list as current and fair as possible, no songs that were either released over a year ago or charted on Hits 1 over a year ago are eligible. This applies for both debuts and continuously charting songs, so if a song is still on the countdown up until the end of the one-year cutoff time, it must be purged.
What are countdown extras?
- Almost There extra: any current song that's particularly close to making the list ("bubbling under") - placed at the beginning of the countdown before #20
- Underground extra: a relatively unknown song that deserves more attention - placed between #16 and #15
- Rising extra: a song that is becoming a major hit that I am a huge fan of - placed between #11 and #10
- Throwback extra: any of my all-time favorite songs from outside of the one-year cutoff range that I'm highlighting (even if they don't necessarily seem like "old" songs) - placed between #6 and #5
- Extra extra: these will not be included every week, but on some occasions I will append an additional extra, like an unreleased extra or a holiday extra - placed between #2 and #1
What is Almost There?
Alongside Hallett's Top 20, there will be a ten-song collection of current songs that aren't quite in my top 20 yet but are bubbling under. These are usually songs that I think of as great, but believe my opinion on them is particularly subject to change. Depending on my decisions and personal preferences, they could either drop out after a while and get purged, they could leave Almost There but be held onto in the abyss, or they could eventually "graduate" to being on the top 20.
What qualifies a song for Almost There?
The factors for Almost There are the same as the Top 20. As long as it's a song I really like and it meets the time cutoff of one year, it can enter. Nothing else to say here.
Abyss and Recurrence
What is the abyss?
The abyss is a commonly used term among the radio blogging community, but I do think it's a bit of a misleading term. It's not as intimidating as it sounds: in this case, it just means when a song is in neither Hallett's Top 20 nor Almost There, but is getting regular airplay. It's a way of "holding on to" a song in case it ever debuts or re-enters either chart.
What is recurrence?
Recurrent songs are similar to abyss songs: a recurrent is also a song that is in neither Hallett's Top 20 nor Almost There but gets regular airplay. However, this is usually when it will not debut or re-enter later.
What differentiates the two terms?
Although by some definitions you could argue that these are interchangeable terms, my way of differentiating "abyss" from "recurrence" is that the abyss is used for when a song could enter/re-enter Hallett's Top 20 or Almost There, and recurrence is used when a song is getting played after it will not enter/re-enter Hallett's Top 20 or Almost There. If it sounds confusing, I have more specific details below.
What qualifies a song for the abyss?
A song can be in the abyss if it is within the one-year time cutoff, and meets at least one of these criteria (not necessarily all):
- Was in Hallett's Top 20 for less than thirteen weeks, but is still getting spins in case it re-enters later
- Dropped out of Almost There after any number of weeks, but is still getting spins in case it reaches Hallett's Top 20 later
- Never made Hallett's Top 20 or Almost There, but is getting "curiosity spins" in case it enters either one later
What qualifies a song for recurrence?
A song can be recurrent if it meets at least one of these criteria (again, not necessarily all):
- Was in Hallett's Top 20 for at least thirteen weeks and therefore is unlikely to re-enter, but is still getting spins
- Is ineligible to debut or re-enter Hallett's Top 20 or Almost There due to being outside of the one-year time cutoff, but is still getting spins
Year-End
Details about year-end charts and specials on Hallett's Hits are still TBD.
