  Since the creation of the Billboard Hot 100 music chart in 1958, the chart
has been a window into the music consumption of Americans. Which songs succeed
on the chart is decided by consumption volumes, which can be affected by
consumer music taste, and other factors such as advertisement budgets, airplay
time, the specifics of ranking algorithms, and more. Since its introduction,
the chart has documented music consumerism through eras of globalization,
economic growth, and the emergence of new technologies for music listening. In
recent years, musicians and other hitmakers have voiced their worry that the
music world is changing: Many claim that it is getting harder to make a hit but
until now, the claims have not been backed using chart data. Here we show that
the dynamics of the Billboard Hot 100 chart have changed significantly since
the chart's founding in 1958, and in particular in the past 15 years. Whereas
most songs spend less time on the chart now than songs did in the past, we show
that top-1 songs have tripled their chart lifetime since the 1960s, the
highest-ranked songs maintain their positions for far longer than previously,
and the lowest-ranked songs are replaced more frequently than ever. At the same
time, who occupies the chart has also changed over the years: In recent years,
fewer new artists make it into the chart and more positions are occupied by
established hit makers. Finally, investigating how song chart trajectories have
changed over time, we show that historical song trajectories cluster into clear
trajectory archetypes characteristic of the time period they were part of. The
results are interesting in the context of collective attention: Whereas recent
studies have documented that other cultural products such as books, news, and
movies fade in popularity quicker in recent years, music hits seem to last
longer now than in the past.
