"We're rewriting the top of the charts for the new music business," says Eric Garland of BigChampagne in a New York Times piece by Ben Sisario (7/22/10). Eric has launched the Ultimate Chart, a new pop-music chart that challenges the Billboard Hot 100 by factoring in not only sales and airplay, "but also online streams and an array of social-networking services," such as "YouTube, MySpace, Last.fm, Twitter and Facebook." Billboard does include streaming reports from AOL and Yahoo, but the Ultimate Chart's sample is broader.

The resulting charts are quite different. While both put Katy Perry and Eminem in the number one and two spots for the week ending July 13 -- albeit in flipped order -- Ultimate's number-three song -- by Shakira -- is number 39 on Billboard. Ultimate's biggest winner is Justin Bieber's "Baby," which it ranks at number 5, exactly where it peaked on Billboard -- last February! Apparently the song is still popular on social networks even if it isn't selling or getting as much airplay. The extra attention suggests a different, and valuable, kind of equity.

"We need to be informed and have insight into all forms of data that isn't being tracked by any one entity," says Tom Corson of the RCA Music Group. "It's reflective of the disruption and fragmentation in this business." It remains to be seen whether the Ultimate Chart can top Billboard, which has been around since the 1950s. But it "taps into a common frustration in the music industry about how success can be measured at a time when streaming, ring tones and licensing for television commercials may have a bigger effect on the bottom line than record sales do."