The Nerdiest Conundrum

So, I've been thinking about something.

For more than two years, I've done my podcast based on the Alternative Songs chart, a chart based only on airplay. I chose it because it most closely resembled the songs I grew up hearing on the radio (which adds up).

But in 2009, a chart started on Billboard called Hot Rock Songs, which, for a couple of years also measured airplay, but starting in October of 2012, it also started measuring sales and streaming data, which means that it, unlike the Alternative Songs chart, the Hot Rock Songs chart is....influenceable. One of the things that I've worried about from the start was that the Alternative Songs chart was largely influenced by playlists that big corporations like Clear Channel dictate and that it didn't necessarily reflect the tastes/trends of the public.

So here's the conundrum: Do I switch formats? It feels like we have a good thing going with the Alternative Songs chart, but the Hot Rock Songs chart has more of the data I want to be reporting on. Also, the Hot Rock Songs chart, it appears, has a wider range of musical styles, actually more in line with the way the Alternative Songs chart started in the 80's when it was the Hot Modern Rock Songs chart.

I think what I'm going to do is watch the HRS chart until the end of the year. See what I WOULD be playing if I switched. And then, if I decide that it's a more attractive chart to do a podcast on, I'll start doing podcasts based on it after the Artists of the Year Countdown.

Any thoughts/ideas that anyone has regarding this admittedly silly conundrum would be appreciated!