The Max Chart

The Max Chart
The Max Chart is a personal chart by Mike B. (known on Pulse as The Max or a variation of that display name). The chart has always been a personal chart based on the current musical tastes of The Max using current singles, and later, all relatively current songs as the basis for the chart.

History
The Max Chart originated as a Top 30 in March 1998 under the name My Stars 30. It was limited to singles only and geared toward the current pop music climate, relying heavily on Pop charts such as Casey Kasem's American Top 40 and Radio & Records' CHR/Pop chart, and pop radio that included a lot of CanCon. Within a year, it expanded to a Top 40 format and by the middle of 2000, a full Top 100. In late 1999, its name changed to the MSMO Chart (My Stars Music Online) in reference to an online personal chart partnership with Rob64. By the end of 2000, its name was change one final time to The Max 100.

Hiatus
In June of 2005, The Max 100 went on hiatus. Due to recent busy changes for The Max, the weekly chart consistently fell behind for a number of weeks before it was decided to be retired. After a period of five months and the feeling that the chart was needed to keep up with going trends in music, the chart was reinstated as a Top 20. This lasted six weeks before going into a second hiatus and being reborn as the original top 100 format for a few weeks that allowed, for the first time, album tracks. This freedom was removed upon the final return of the top 100 format in February 2006. The six weeks as a Top 20 still count toward official artist-peak/week tallies but the remaining lost weeks were never made up for which has left a void for a significant portion of chart history.

Yearend chart policies
From 1998 until 2001, the yearend chart was tabulated using the inverse point method. Where #1 was worth 100 points, #2 was 99 points and so on. Due to songs with lengthy chart-runs having abnormally high year-end positions over songs with higher peak positions, this was changed for 2002 using a more complex formula that valued higher peaks. The original inverse point method was reinstated for 2003 after deciding that songs with higher positions, even if only for a short while, ended too high.

In 2004, all point-methods were abolished for a much more liberal process. The Max decided to do it "magazine-style" and appoint songs based on their overall impact. For the first time, weekly chart position played no role on the positions for the year end chart. And for the first time, album tracks were eligible to appear on The Max charts. Each year from 2004 onward, the yearend chart appears as a Top 50.

Additional charts
During the course of The Max Charts there have been many side-charts to apply to different ideas of the time. In the early 2000s, in addition to the Top 100 there were Top 10 format charts based on songs' positions in the Top 100 and the genre of music they were. The formats included Top 10s for Adult Contemparary, Rock/Alternative, Country, Hip-Hop/Rap and R&B/Urban.

In 2003, there was a Top 10 CD-Singles chart due to a rise in CD-single availability. This chart lasted for just over two years. It was brought back again in 2008 following a rise in digital singles. This time, the chart was a Top 20 format and focused mainly on digital singles with eligibility for CD-singles, digital music videos and most recently vinyl singles, when available.

Since 1999, there has always been an Album Chart in some form. It started as a Top 10 before extending to a Top 30, Top 50, down to Top 40, Top 20, Top 10, Top 30 and since 2009 a Top 50. Due to the discrepancy in the number of positions, only the weeks a record spends in the Top 10 is considered to be of any value. The album chart has, in the past, included cassettes and CDs while now focuses mainly on CDs with Digital Albums and Vinyls included when available.

In addition to the album chart, since 2009 there has also been a Top 10 Catalogue Album chart. Records are eligible for this if 100 weeks has passed since first appearing on the main Album Chart.

The sister chart to The Max 100 is Michael's Top 40. A chart that has been in existence since 1995. It was based on songs owned by The Max on CD, cassette and more recently, legal digital files and vinyls. It follows a similar format to Mediabase's CHR/Pop where The Max 100 would be more similar to Billboard's Hot 100.