Alternative Airplay

Alternative Songs (formerly Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs. The chart was introduced as a companion to the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and its creation was prompted by the explosion of alternative music on American radio in the late 1980s.

The chart is based solely on radio airplay and is a component chart of the Hot 100. As of 2008, approximately 80 radio stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.^[1] Songs are ranked by a calculation of the total number of spins per week with its "audience impression", which is based upon exact times of airplay and each station's Arbitron listener data.

Many rock artists do not release commercial singles in the U.S. Several popular songs which were not released as commercial singles did not qualify for the Hot 100 before December 1998, but performed very well on Modern Rock Tracks.

During the first several years of Modern Rock Tracks, the chart featured music that did not receive commercial radio airplay anywhere but on Modern Rock radio stations, of which there were few. This included many electronic and post-punk artists. Gradually, as alternative rock became more "mainstream" (particularly spearheaded by the grunge explosion in the early 1990s), the Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts began featuring more of the same songs. Today, the Alternative Songs chart (Modern Rock) favors more alternative rock, indie rock, and punk rock bands while the Mainstream Rock Songs favor more hard rock and heavy metal.

The chart was renamed Alternative Songs beginning with the June 20, 2009 issue after Billboard fully absorbed Radio & Records, whose similar chart was called "Alternative" instead of "Modern Rock".^[2]

The first number-one song on Modern Rock Tracks was "Peek-a-Boo" by Siouxsie and the Banshees. The current number-one song, for the issue dated February 20, 2010, is "1901" by Phoenix.^[3]

Records

Artists with the most number-one songs:

Red Hot Chili Peppers (11)

Green Day (9)

U2 (8) (tie)

Linkin Park (8) (tie)

Foo Fighters (7)

R.E.M. (6)

Artists with the most top-five songs:

Green Day (17)

Foo Fighters (13) (tie)

Linkin Park (13) (tie)

U2 (13) (tie)

Red Hot Chili Peppers (11)

Artists with the most cumulative weeks at number one:

Red Hot Chili Peppers (81)

Linkin Park (61)

Foo Fighters (53)

Green Day (50)

R.E.M. (31) (tie)

U2 (31) (tie)

Three songs have debuted at number one on this chart:

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" by R.E.M. (1994)

"Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006)

"What I've Done" by Linkin Park (2007)

No single act has replaced themselves at number one on Modern Rock Tracks, although when "All My Life" by Foo Fighters replaced "You Know You're Right" by Nirvana on November 23, 2002, this gave back-to-back chart-toppers to musician Dave Grohl.
Dave Grohl has made the top of this chart with a record four different bands: Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, and Nine Inch Nails.
The longest amount of time a song has spent on the chart is 94 weeks, achieved by "The Kill" by 30 Seconds to Mars^[4]^[5]^{[dead link]}
Linkin Park's 2003 album Meteora has generated the most number-one Modern Rock hits with five.
Red Hot Chili Peppers' album Californication and Linkin Park's album Meteora have generated songs with the highest total number of weeks spent at number one, each with thirty weeks total.
The longest time a song had taken to reach #1 on the Alternative Songs chart was "1901" by Phoenix which reached #1 on the chart dated February 20, 2010 - 31 weeks after the song debuted on the chart^[6].
Linkin Park was the top Alternative Songs artist of the decade and had four top Alternative Tracks of the decade.
Headstrong by Trapt was the most played alternative single of the 2000s on modern rock radio.^[7]
Four songs released on an independent record label have reached #1 on this chart: "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring, "What It's Like" by Everlast, "Panic Switch" by Silversun Pickups and "1901" by Phoenix^[8].
It is also worth noting that of the 129 Hot 100 number ones of the 2000s, only 11 charted on the Alternative Songs.^[9]
20 songs have spent ten weeks or longer at number one. These are: