Top40 Genre?

Question

On Internet radio stations theres a genre called Top40,

What exactly is it?

Answer 1

Better question: what was it?

This goes back to the old days when AM was ruling the airwaves. A couple of radio geniuses were in a bar and noticed that people kept plugging their quarters in the jukebox, but mostly played the same 30-50 songs. They called it at mid-point: 40. One of the guys was Todd Storz who had a station in Omaha. He aired this new format they had in mind (anything that might get back some business from this new television thing) and went on the air with the 40 most popular songs of the week.

All day and all night, 24 hours a day with very little DJ interaction they'd play those songs over and again. they understood (as most radio people didn't) that the main reason people listened was for the music. That they wanted to hear their favorites during the odd times they tuned in.  And they didnt want a lot of chatter.

These new Top-40 stations would change their playlist once a week when "Billboard" came out.

Short version of a long story.

Top-40 referred to the 40 most purchased records weekly as compiled and reported by "Billboard Magazine."

-a guy named duh