PeopleBase FAQ
by Nick Wiltgen, former PeopleBase Chart Manager

NOTE: I am no longer the PeopleBase Chart Manager. I have turned that responsibility over to Bryan Armstrong. Please see the new PeopleBase website and the R&R Online message boards for the latest information. (Updated 5 March 2002)

Q. What is the PeopleBase Chart?

A. The PeopleBase Chart is a compilation of individual "playlists" sent in by members of the Radio & Records online message boards. These "playlists" are tallied to create a composite chart reflecting the most popular songs among the reporting panel. The first PeopleBase Chart was published June 21, 2001.

Q. What is a "playlist"?

A. A "playlist" is a list of no more than 30 songs with point values assigned to them. The point values must total 1,000 or less, and a maximum of 99 points are allowed for any individual song. These limits may vary for new reporters. For a complete explanation of the requirements for a playlist, see Section 4 of the official rules.

Q. How do I become a reporter?

A. Just send your playlist to [email protected] and include your exact R&R screen name. As long as you keep reporting, I'll keep including your playlist in the totals! You may freeze your playlist when necessary. However, if I don't hear from you for more than two weeks, you'll be dropped from the panel. See the official rules for more details.

Q. How should I format my playlist?

A. You should send it as a plain-text e-mail. No file attachments are accepted. You must include title and artist for each song. Your songs should be listed in numerical order from most points to least points. Starting the week of January 8-14, 2002, you must also list the point change from your previous playlist.

A few partial examples (using older songs) will illustrate:

Q. Can I send in a personal chart and let you assign the points?

A. For the first few weeks, the answer has been yes. Due to the unexpectedly high participation rate, though, that changed. Starting the week of July 10-16, 2001 everyone had to start assigning their own points. Plain charts ranked #1, #2, etc. are no longer accepted.

An easy way to do this is to just give each song one point more than the next song down your list. Or, use a spreadsheet program like Excel or MS Works to automatically add up your points for you.

Q. Do I have to tell you what songs I've added and dropped?

A. During the early stages of this chart, this was not a requirement. However, due to the increasing amount of data I have to enter, starting the week of July 10-16, 2001 (chart date July 17, 2001) you must indicate your adds and drops. Playlists without this information will not be counted. New reporters are exempt from this rule for their first week, as there is no sense in "adds" and "drops" if you have never submitted a playlist.

The reason for this is accuracy. Sometimes I miss a song or two as I go down your list, so giving your adds and drops is a way for me to double-check my work quickly.

Q. How do you compile the data?

A. I have a large Microsoft Works spreadsheet file with one row for each song, and one column for each reporter. There are also columns, obviously, to automatically calculate the number of total points and number of people reporting each song, along with the past few weeks' data and the numerical change in points and reporters.

Each week I re-save the file and change the file name to reflect the date of the new chart week. I highlight all the reporter columns and "un-bold" the fonts. Then for each playlist I receive, I literally type over the previous data and put the new data in bold print, so I can tell which data is new and which people haven't checked in yet. People who report a frozen playlist are put in blue bold print.

At the top of each reporter's column is his or her R&R screen name and the total number of points s/he's assigned to his/her playlist, calculated automatically by the spreadsheet. This ensures that nobody has gone over the 1,000-point limit.

After the chart week deadline has passed, as well as periodically during the week as playlists are received, I rank the songs by their point totals. (For details on tie-breaking see the official rules.) I then publish the information on Tuesdays or whenever I manage to finish the tabulations.

Q. Is there any way I can help speed up the process?

A. Yes! There certainly is. There are a few things you can do to help.

• Keep your playlist short. The fewer songs you have, the faster I can enter the data. Also, the fewer songs you have, the more points you can give them, thus giving yourself more power. Playlists between 20 and 25 songs tend to give you the benefits of high point values while still being able to promote a decent number of songs up the chart.
• Make sure your total adds to exactly 1,000 points. If your total is less than 1,000 points, it signals to me that I may have mis-typed some of your numbers, and that slows me down as I double-check your point values. Using less than your full total also reduces your own effectiveness at pushing your songs up the chart.
• List your point change or last week's point value. This is now mandatory! For each reporter I sort your last week's point values from most to least before typing over them with the new data.
• Avoid large numbers of obscure, low point value adds. Whenever a new song comes up that nobody's voted for before, I have to type it in. Whenever you add a song, I have to look it up so I can add a point value for it in your column. That takes time. Make it worth my time; don't add 20 songs with 1 point in the same week. With the reduction to a 30-song limit this will not be as much of a problem in the future.
• Make your playlist easy to read. Please, no HTML formatting or other fancy effects or weird spacing. One line of text per song, please.

Q. What strategies can I use to help my favorite songs up the chart?

A. There are several things you can do to promote your favorite songs.

• Keep your playlist short! As I said earlier, the fewer songs you have on your chart, the more points you can give each one. More points means a better chance that your songs will do well on the chart.
• Drop old songs quickly. If you see a song falling quickly on the PeopleBase chart and the major national charts, consider dropping it. You can use the points to push hotter, newer songs up the list (or onto the list from below the Top 50).
• Communicate with your fellow reporters. Over the history of this chart, communication between members has propelled several songs up the chart rather quickly. Promoting your favorite song(s) and letting others know you are pushing them up your playlist might encourage them to do the same, or might discourage them from dropping the songs in question.
• Avoid assigning small point values. Assigning low point values to large numbers of songs dilutes your effectiveness at influencing the chart. Consider focusing on fewer songs with more points for each one.
• Pay attention to the chart and reconsider your more obscure songs. You can plug away all you want at an obscure song that you happen to like, but if nobody else is supporting it, your points might be better spent elsewhere. Generally it takes at least three members to even have a chance at pushing a song into the lowest reaches of the Top 50.
• Consider NOT using your personal chart for PeopleBase. You may want to separate your personal chart from your PeopleBase playlist. Personal charts tend to move slowly, and you might not want to compromise the flow of your personal chart with strategies useful on the PeopleBase chart. Consider making a separate, shorter list of songs for the PeopleBase chart.

If you have any other questions, post to the R&R Message Boards.

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