PeopleBase
Chart Official Rules
NOTE: These
rules are subject to change. Notice of rule changes on this page
will be posted in the Personal Charts Forum on the Radio
& Records
Message Boards.
(1) Definitions
The following definitions apply for purposes of the PeopleBase Chart:
A. Chart Manager: The compiler of the chart (currently Bryan Armstrong, member name FreakyFlyBry.)
B. Chart Week: The time period during which Playlists are accepted for the upcoming chart publication date.
C. Member: A registered member of the Radio & Records Message Boards.
D. Member Name: The screen name of a member of the Radio & Records Message Boards.
E. Playlist: A list of songs submitted in a given Chart Week for inclusion in the PeopleBase Chart.
F. Reporter: A Radio & Records Message Boards member who submits a playlist or playlists to the PeopleBase Chart.
(2) Eligibility
Any registered member of the Radio & Records Message Boards is eligible to participate, subject to limitations described in sections 4(K) and 5(A). However, only one Member Name may participate per person.
(3) Chart Week
A. First Official Chart Week. The first official Chart Week shall begin Thursday, June 21, 2001, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), and shall end Monday, June 25, 2001, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The first official chart shall be published Tuesday, June 26, 2001.
B. Subsequent Chart Weeks. Thereafter, each Chart Week shall begin Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. EDT, and shall end Monday at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The official charts shall be published each Tuesday, or as soon as possible if the Chart Manager is unable to do so on Tuesday.
(4) Submission Guidelines
Each Chart Week, any registered Member of the Radio & Records Message Boards may submit, via plain-text e-mail, one Playlist consisting of any combination of songs as the Member may wish, subject to the following rules and limitations:
A. Point Values. All Playlists must contain a Point Value assigned to each song. As of the July 10-16, 2001 Chart Week, playlists without specific Point Values will not be accepted.
B. Limit on Total Points. Point Values assigned by the Member may not add to a sum greater than 1,000 points.
If a Member assigns a total greater than 1,000 points, the Chart Manager may at his discretion notify said Member of the problem. The Member may then submit a modified Playlist to correct the problem within the Chart Week. If there is not time to notify the Member, or if the Member does not respond, the Chart Manager shall have the right to truncate the Playlist, starting with the lowest point values, until the point total falls to 1,000 points or less.
C. Point Limit on Individual Songs. No song may be assigned a Point Value greater than 99 points. If a Member assigns a Point Value greater than 99 points to an individual song, the Chart Manager has the right to truncate the Point Value for the violating songs to 99 points.
D. Limit On Songs per Playlist. No more than 30 different songs may be included on a single Playlist. The Chart Manager has the right to disregard any songs in excess of this limit, starting with the lowest Point Values. (Modified September 4, 2001, to reduce the limit from 50 to 40; modified January 2, 2002, to reduce the limit from 40 to 30.)
E. Limit on Songs by One Artist. No more than four (4) different songs by the same artist may be included on a single Playlist. Additional songs will be disregarded, starting with the lowest Point Values.
F. Whole Numbers Only. Point Values may only consist of whole numbers, i.e., positive integers between 1 and 99, inclusive. Fractional votes will be rounded down to the nearest whole number. Point Values of zero and negative Point Values shall be disregarded.
Excessive use of fractional, negative, and/or zero point values may result in a Playlist being rejected. The Chart Manager may notify any Member of a Playlist of any rejection if time permits, and the Member may submit a corrected Playlist before the end of the Chart Week. However, if the offending chart is submitted less than 24 hours before the end of the Chart Week, the Member forfeits his or her right to this notification.
G. Re-mixes, etc. Re-mixes, radio edits, and any other variations on a song are considered the same song as the original version. No Member may assign more than 99 points to any combination of versions, re-mixes, edits, etc., of the same song. All versions, re-mixes, and edits of a song will count toward the same song's point total on the Chart.
Remakes and re-recordings of a song are considered to be a different song from the original version.
In any case where the status of two or more different versions are not clearly addressed by this rule, and a dispute arises, the Chart Manager shall have the final discretion to determine the status of each version. The Chart Manager shall have the right to call a vote among the Reporters in order to decide such a dispute.
H. Inverse Point System. As of the July 17, 2001 Chart Week (submission window July 10-16, 2001), the inverse point system will no longer be assigned by the Chart Manager. All playlists must have points assigned by the reporter.
I. Member Name Requirement. Each Playlist submission must include the Member Name of the Reporter submitting it. Any Playlists submitted without a Member Name shall be disregarded.
J. Playlist Publication. By submitting a Playlist, each Reporter agrees to have his or her Playlist published on the World Wide Web along with all of the other Playlists. Only the Member Name shall be published with the Playlist; all e-mail addresses and personal information shall remain confidential and the Chart Manager shall not publish such information without the Reporter's explicit permission.
K. New Member Limitations. Effective the week of September 18-24, 2001 (chart publication date September 25, 2001), any new Reporter who has made fewer than 100 posts on the R&R Message Boards AND has been a Member for less than four (4) weeks as of the first day of the chart week, is limited to 20 songs and 500 points, with a limit of 50 points per song, on his or her Playlist.
L. Point Trend Requirement. Effective the week of January 8-14, 2002 (chart publication date January 15, 2002), all Playlists must include a specific indication of each song's change in point value from the Reporter's most recently submitted Playlist. This requirement may be satisfied by either (1) listing each song's point value on the Reporter's most recently submitted Playlist; or (2) listing the change in each song's point value on the Reporter's most recently submitted playlist, as a +/- (or zero) numerical value. A few mistakes are permissible, but playlists whose point-trend information is grossly inaccurate will be rejected. Playlists not containing this information will not be counted and the Reporter will be considered as "non-reporting" as defined in Section 5(C).
(5) Reporter Status and Frozen Playlists
A. Reporter Status. Any eligible Member of the Radio & Records Message Boards who submits a Playlist may become a Reporter. However, the Chart Manager may reject new members at his or her discretion if s/he believes that the Member has already become a Reporter under another name, or if the Member's behavior on the Message Boards has caused the Member to be banned under previous screen names. (Modified effective September 18, 2001.)
B. Frozen Playlist Report. Any Reporter may report a "Frozen Playlist" at any time, for any length of time. A reported Frozen Playlist shall contribute the same number of points to the same songs as it did the previous week, for the duration of the "freeze." A reported Frozen Playlist shall be listed as a "Reported Frozen Playlist" on the Chart Week in question.
C. Non-Reporting. Any Reporter who fails to report to the PeopleBase Chart during a given Chart Week shall have his or her Playlist frozen. A non-reported Frozen Playlist shall contribute the same number of points to the same songs as it did the previous week. Playlists frozen in this manner shall be listed as "Frozen Playlist - Not Reported" on the Chart Week in question.
Any Reporter who fails to report for three consecutive weeks shall be dropped from the Reporter panel on his or her third consecutive non-reporting week. At that time, his or her Playlist's points will no longer count toward the PeopleBase Chart.
Any Reporter who has been dropped from the Reporter panel may rejoin the panel by submitting a current Playlist in accordance with the rules in Section 4.
(6) Chart Publication
Each Tuesday, or later under the conditions provided in Section 3(B), the Chart Manager shall publish the official weekly PeopleBase Chart. The Chart shall be compiled according to the following rules:
A. Chart Specifications. The Chart shall consist of 50 songs, ranked by the total number of points. The Chart shall list, at a minimum, the following information:
(i) Song title and artist.
(ii) Chart position for the current and previous chart weeks.
(iii) Point total for the current week, and point change from the previous week.
(iv) Total number of Reporters for the current week, and change from the previous week.
The Chart Manager, at his discretion, may include additional information on the published Chart.
B. Breaking Ties. In the event that two (2) or more songs have an equal point total, the tie shall be broken by considering the following factors, in decreasing order of priority:
(i) Number of Reporters. The song with more Reporters shall be ranked highest.
(ii) Maximum individual Point Value. The song with the highest Point Value from an individual Reporter shall be ranked highest. If a tie still exist, the second-highest Point Value shall be used, and so forth, until the tie is broken.
(iii) Previous week's rank. The song that was ranked highest on the previous week's Chart shall be ranked highest. If no song was on the previous week's Chart, the song that would have been highest on the previous week's Chart using rules 6(B)(i) and 6(B)(ii) shall be ranked highest. If a tie still exists, each previous week shall be examined until the tie is broken, or until a week is reached in which none of the songs in question had yet received points.
(iv) Declaring a tie. In the exceedingly rare event that none of the above tie-breaking measures resolves a tie, a tie shall be declared, and the songs in question shall occupy the same space on the Chart. Any positions the songs would have occupied in the event of a broken tie shall be vacated.
(v) Limitation of songs on the Chart. In no event shall a tie cause the Chart to contain more than 50 songs, unless there is a tie at No. 50; or a tie of three or more songs at No. 49; or a tie of four or more songs at No. 48; and so forth.
C. Chart Location. The Chart Manager shall create a new "thread" (topic) on the Radio & Records Message Boards for each weekly PeopleBase Chart, and shall publish, at a minimum, the Top 50 songs at that location, or he may appoint another location on the World Wide Web upon which to publish the information. Any alternate location for Chart information shall be disclosed in the relevant "thread" on the Radio & Records Message Boards.
(7) Additional Data
In addition to the PeopleBase Top 50 Chart, the Chart Manager shall also make public, at a minimum, the following information:
A. Member playlists. The Chart Manager shall release all of the Member Playlists at the time of the Chart's publication.
B. "New and Active." The Chart Manager shall release a list of songs that are below the Top 50, but gaining in points and listed by two (2) or more Reporters. The list shall contain at least 10 songs if possible.
C. "Most Increased Reporters." The Chart Manager shall release a list of the songs with the greatest increase in the number of Reporters. The list shall contain at least five (5) songs if possible.
D. "Most Increased Points." The Chart Manager shall release a list of the songs with the greatest increase in the number of total Points. The list shall contain at least five (5) songs if possible.
(8) Democratic Procedures
In order to keep this Chart based on, and relevant to, the Reporters who contribute to it, the Reporters shall have certain limited rights to participate in the procedural affairs of the PeopleBase Chart. Specifically,
A. Motions. Any coalition of three (3) or more members may make a Motion to amend the Rules of the PeopleBase Chart. This Motion must be made in the most recent "thread" (topic) of the PeopleBase Chart on the Radio & Records Message Boards. It may also be copied to the Chart Manager.
B. Votes. Upon such a Motion, the Chart Manager shall call a vote of the Reporters on the Motion in question. A simple majority of the Reporter panel shall suffice to amend the Rules. However, a three-fourths majority shall be required to amend Section 1(A) with the intent of changing the Chart Manager.
C. Veto. The Chart Manager may veto any amendment of the Rules; upon such a veto, the Reporter panel shall have a second opportunity to vote on the manner, and a two-thirds majority of the panel shall suffice to override the Chart Manager's veto.
D. Rule Changes without Vote. The Chart Manager may modify the rules at his discretion according to the needs of the Chart and its Reporters, without holding a vote. However, upon the Motion of three (3) or more members, as described in Subsection A, such a modification shall be suspended until a vote can be held on the matter in question.
E. Resignation of Chart Manager. The Chart Manager may resign his post at any time. In the event of such a resignation, the Reporters may make a Motion to elect a new Chart Manager; they may appoint a Chart Manager by some other means; or they may discontinue the PeopleBase Chart. Upon resignation, the Chart Manager shall provide any relevant PeopleBase Chart files, if possible, to any newly selected Chart Manager.
Rules last updated March 5, 2002.