How chart points are calculated
First place is worth 1000 and hundredth is worth 10, and the curve between them is not a straight line
The Global 100 is the sum of points from every chart published that week. The part nobody explains is how each position turns into points.
The main chart scale runs from 1000 down to 10. First place is worth 1000 points. Hundredth place is worth 10. In other words, the top of a chart is worth a hundred times its bottom.
The first three are handled separately
The top three positions carry fixed, hand set values:
- First place: 1000 points.
- Second place: 900 points.
- Third place: 850 points.
Look at the gap between the steps. From first to second you lose 100 points. From second to third, only 50.
That is deliberate. First place on a chart carries a different kind of decision from the rest: it is the song the person chose as the song of the week. The system pays a premium for that choice, and after third place the curve takes over.
From fourth place down it is a curve
After third, the points follow a decreasing curve until they reach 10 at hundredth place. It is not a straight line.
The practical difference is large. On a linear scale, every position lost would cost the same. On the curve, the first positions lost cost a lot and the last ones cost almost nothing.
Falling from fourth to eighth removes a meaningful number of points. Falling from eightieth to eighty fourth removes almost none. That is why movement at the bottom of a chart barely changes the final sum, while a swap in the top ten does.
What this means in practice
Two consequences are worth understanding, because they explain nearly every strange Global 100 result.
**A few intense fans beat many casual listeners.** Ten people who put the same song at number one add up to 10,000 points. A hundred people who placed it fiftieth add up to considerably less. It is the same mechanism that puts niche genres at the top.
**A bigger chart does not give you more power.** If you build a chart of 100 positions instead of 10, you are not handing out more points where they matter. The positions you added are worth little. What decides is what you put at the top, and that is the same for everybody.
The daily chart uses the same curve at a smaller scale
Alongside the main weekly chart there are daily charts. They use exactly the same curve shape, only on a scale from 100 down to 1: first place is worth 100, second 90, third 85, and so on.
The proportion is identical, the absolute weight is a tenth. That way a daily chart does not swallow the weekly one in the total.
Frequently asked questions
- If I publish two charts, do my points double?
- No. The scales are kept separate precisely so a secondary chart does not carry the same weight as the main one.
- Do points tie on the Global 100?
- They do, mostly at the bottom of the list where values are small and close together. Near the top it is rare, because the gaps are wide.
- Can a community change the scoring?
- It can, on its own chart. A community can define its own points table and cap how many positions from each member count. That applies inside the community only, not to the Global 100.
