American Top 40, Billboard, MTV, Rick Dees Weekly Top 40…there is no shortage of charts that rank music. But which one should you follow? The choice is really up to you.

While there is no tried and true test that says one is better than the other one, the American standard by which a song is judged is Billboard.  Billboard ranks songs based on sales and on airplay and then has a Hot 100 board which is a culmination of sales and airplay. Billboard divides music into genres, with some songs crossing from one to another. The Hot 100 debuted its first number one song in 1957 and continues to do so today. Additionally, Billboard is subdivided into segments such as the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Pop, Billboard Country, and other genres.

American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest is another immensely popular music chart. Originally hosted by Casey Kasem and counting down the top Billboard hits, American Top 40 now counts down songs with the most airplay and based on Mediabase. While American Top 40 is entertaining, it is not as definitive as Billboard in how it arrives at its ratings.

Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 is another chart countdown that has been around for a long time. Rick Dees originally hosted the American Top 40 before being replaced with Ryan Seacrest. This is another good chart, but still not as authoritative as Billboard.

There are literally hundreds of charts in the music world you can follow. MTV has charts for the best music video; genre specific charts exist for specific music. Deciding which chart to follow can seem daunting to say the least.

As stated before, Billboard has risen to the top of the pack as the respected source for ranking music. Performers are more anxious to be ranked on Billboard than any of the other charts, which only adds to its credibility.

There are music charts that cover music all over the world; charts that are based strictly on listener’s votes; charts that are based solely on airplay and some that are based solely on sales.

Deciding which chart is best for you to follow depends on why you are following the charts. If you are following the chart to see how well a song is performing commercially then you will want to follow a chart that ranks according to sales, such as Billboard. If you want to see how well a song performs in terms of radio play then you will want to follow a chart based on airplay such as Billboard or American Top 40.

Regardless of what chart you choose to follow, music and its ranking is all a matter of opinion. A song can be number one or number 100 and if you like it that is all that matters. Unless you have a monetary stake in the songs’ performance, choosing which chart to follow is much like choosing your music, it’s all a matter of personal taste.