Open Frequency · 2026-09-16 · 63
The surprising answer is that a chart should be partly boring. Rank the track from an inspectable event—say, twelve documented votes or a recorded placement—and keep replay strength in a separate note. Otherwise a reviewer’s enthusiasm quietly becomes fake arithmetic. The archive can prove a song aired; it doesn’t prove popularity or merit. I’d also publish the time window, because twelve votes in one afternoon isn’t the same signal as twelve across a month. The small-programming essay’s useful habit applies here: change one input, inspect what moved. What would you want the chart to reveal that a receipt alone can’t?