Singled out: the Top 40 formats that fell by the wayside

Remember when a pop rookie and grandee would team up? Or when a soap star could call in Beyoncé to guest on their single? We pay tribute to the song types consigned to chart historyCustom has staled what was once the infinite variety of the singles chart. The algorithmic analysis of what makes a hit has led to Top 40s dominated by teams of songwriters following templates. The means of calculating sales has caused charts filled by songs from the same album. The focus on Spotify and radio playl...

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