Dutch Top 40

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The Dutch Top 40 (Dutch: Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by Stichting Nederlandse Top 40.^[1] It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting. Joost den Draaijer initiated the Top 40 in the Netherlands. The show currently airs on Fridays from 2 to 6 PM on Qmusic.

On January 2, 1965, the first Top 40 was compiled, with its first #1 hit "I Feel Fine" by The Beatles. In September 1974, the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 bought the Top 40 and named it De Nederlandse Top 40. The Dutch Top 40 is one of the four official charts in the Netherlands, the other three being the B2B Single Top 100, which is based entirely on pure sales and streaming, the Mega Top 30 from (NPO 3FM) which, like the Dutch Top 40 also includes airplay data.^[2]

From October 4. 1974 until May 20. 1976, the Top 40 was broadcast by TROS on the pop radio station Hilversum 3, presented by famous Dutch DJ Ferry Maat. From May 28, 1976 until November 29. 1985 the Top 40 was broadcast by Veronica on Hilversum 3. As of December 1. 1985, after the rename of the station name to Radio 3, the Top 40 continued to be broadcast by Veronica on Radio 3.

In 1981 and 1982, Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 ran several trade fairs in both the Netherlands and Belgium.^[3]

In January 1993 Radio 3 decided that the broadcasting of two hit lists (the other one was the Nationale Top 100) on one radio station must come to an end and therefore as from February 7. 1993 Radio 3 started to broadcast a new hitlist: the Mega Top 50 and wanted to terminate the broadcasting of the Top 40.^[4] Due to a lawsuit of the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40,^[5] Veronica had to continue broadcasting the Dutch Top 40 on Radio 3 until December 18, 1993.

Meanwhile the Dutch Top 40 was also broadcast on the Dutch commercial radiostation Radio 538 since June 1993. The list continued to be broadcast on this radiostation until December 28. 2018, when Radio 538 discontinued the broadcasting of the Dutch Top 40. As from January 4. 2019, the Top 40 is broadcast by the Dutch commercial radiostation Qmusic.

For most of its history, the Top 40 was based on sales figures of record stores. These were collected through telephone surveys. As of 1999, the airplay of a limited number of radio stations was included.^[6] Between 2006 and 2014, download figures were added to the mix. They were removed again because supposedly, download sales could be easily manipulated by record companies or artists.^[7]

As of February 2014, the chart is a combination of airplay, streaming, and social media trends.^[8] The more often a song gets played on the radio, the higher its ranking in the Top 40.

To compute year-end chart positions, the weekly #1 positions get 40 points, the #2 positions get 39 points, etc. These weekly scores are then added up and sorted by single to determine the ranking.

The Tipparade, a 'bubbling under' chart for the Top 40, is based on sales, streaming, airplay, and recommendations from both the general public and the music industry.^[9][10]

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There is a set of rules, of which some have existed since 1972, that has been maintained up until 2012. Some of these have been criticized as a hindrance.

• Since late 1971, singles had to remain at least two weeks in the charts. If a single officially no longer belongs in the Top 40, these are placed at #40.
  • Example: Missy Elliott's "Lose Control": Remained for two weeks at #40 in the chart, because it did not sell enough and also wasn't played enough on the radio.
  • There have been two exceptions to this, though: In October 1994, Pet Shop Boys' "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" stayed in the charts for only one week due to an error in the compilation, and in late September 2007, Kus's "4 meiden" just didn't sell enough to stay in the charts for two weeks.
• Since 1983, singles that move up in the chart by a large number of positions are assigned superstip ("super bullet") status. These singles were not allowed to fall down in chart position in the following week. If a superstip single had comparatively lower sales/airplay statistics a week later, it would remain stuck on the same chart position until the second week of drop, by which time it may appear as if it dropped hard in chart positions.
  • Example: Guus Meeuwis's "Ik wil dat ons land juicht": The song entered the chart at #11 (superstip), and rose up to #5 (superstip again) in its second week. The following week it was meant to drop in chart position, but it remained in the #5 position. The following two weeks, it went from #5 to #39. Because of this rule, this single was the biggest fall down in the Top 40. However, this was not always the case. Sometimes singles with a superstip status did drop, for example, if there's no room.
• Up until 2005, there were no clear rules on when a single could re-enter the Top 40. Apparently, a song had to re-enter at least in the top 30 portions of the chart to be allowed back, which happened occasionally. In the case of re-issued singles, there were no rules whatsoever - these singles could re-enter anyway. Since the mid-2000s, new rules were implemented, meaning that only songs from recently deceased artists could return to the Top 40, such as Michael Jackson's Billie Jean after the artist's death in 2009. Since 2012, "normal" re-entries have started to occur again. During the Christmas season, however, re-entries of older Christmas classics (e.g. Wham!'s Last Christmas or Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You) are barred from re-entering the Top 40, even though their streaming and airplay activity should earn them a Top 40 position.
• Singles with double A-side are listed separately in the Top 40; due to the (possible) different amount of airplay the two songs get.
  • Example: Robbie Williams' first single off his 2005 album Intensive Care was "Tripping" with the B-side being "Make Me Pure". While "Tripping" topped the chart by peaking at #1, "Make Me Pure" peaked at #15 in the Top 40.

This is a listing of significant achievements and milestones based upon the Dutch Top 40 charts.

• 18 weeks

Harry Styles — "As It Was" (2022)

• 16 weeks

Calvin Harris with Dua Lipa — "One Kiss" (2018)

Miley Cyrus — "Flowers" (2023)

• 15 weeks

Ed Sheeran — "Shape of You" (2017)

Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber — "Despacito (Remix)" (2017)

Tones and I — "Dance Monkey" (2019-20)

Tate McRae — "Greedy" (2023-24)

• 14 weeks

The Weeknd — "Blinding Lights" (2020)

• 13 weeks

Gusttavo Lima — "Balada" (2012)

• 12 weeks

Marco Borsato — "Dromen Zijn Bedrog" (1994)

Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello — "Señorita" (2019)

Source:^[11]

• 49 weeks

Pharrell Williams — "Happy" (2013–14)

• 42 weeks

Lewis Capaldi — "Someone You Loved" (2019)

• 41 weeks

Corry En De Rekels — "Huilen Is Voor Jou Te Laat" (1970–71)

• 40 weeks

The Scorpions — "Hello Josephine" (1965, 1977)

Trio Hellenique — "Zorba's Dance" (1965–66, 1974)^[a]

• 39 weeks

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg — "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus" (1969, 1974)

• 38 weeks

Avicii — "Wake Me Up" (2013–14, 2018)

Gotye featuring Kimbra — "Somebody That I Used to Know" (2011–12)

• 35 weeks

Dave Berry — "This Strange Effect" (1965–66)

Nini Rosso — "Il Silenzio" (1965–66)^[b]

Source:^[12]

• BZN (55)
• Madonna (55)
• David Guetta (53)
• Michael Jackson (50)
• The Rolling Stones (49)
• Golden Earring (47)
• Queen (46)
• Normaal (46)
• U2 (44)
• Vader Abraham (43)
• Bee Gees (43)

Source:^[13]

Number of singles	Artist
16	The Beatles
15	Marco Borsato
8	ABBA
7	Justin Bieber
6	Michael Jackson
6	George Michael
6	Jan Smit
6	Queen
5	The Cats
5	Bee Gees
5	The Kinks
5	David Bowie
5	Golden Earring
5	UB40
5	Madonna

Source:^[14]

Most weeks at number one
(Total)

Artist	Record
The Beatles	74 weeks
Marco Borsato	72 weeks
Justin Bieber	47 weeks
Ed Sheeran	34 weeks
Adele	27 weeks
George Michael	26 weeks
Jan Smit	25 weeks
Elton John	25 weeks
Bruno Mars	25 weeks
ABBA	24 weeks

Source:^[15]

Most weeks at number one
(in 1 year)

Artist	Year	Record
The Beatles	1965	30 weeks
Marco Borsato	2006	22 weeks
Ed Sheeran	2017	20 weeks
The Beatles	1966	19 weeks
Harry Styles	2022	18 weeks
Calvin Harris	2018	16 weeks
Dua Lipa	2018	16 weeks
Miley Cyrus	2023	16 weeks
Justin Bieber	2016	15 weeks
	2017
Avicii	2013	15 weeks
Pharrell Williams	2013	15 weeks
Shaggy	2001	14 weeks
André Hazes	2007	14 weeks
Bruno Mars	2010	14 weeks
The Weeknd	2020	14 weeks
Heintje	1968	13 weeks
Olivia Newton-John	1978	13 weeks
Shakira	2002	13 weeks
Marco Borsato	2004	13 weeks
Gusttavo Lima	2012	13 weeks
Tones and I	2019	13 weeks
Tate McRae	2023	13 weeks

Most successful top 40 artists

Artist	Weeks	Points
David Guetta	745	16389
Rihanna	590	14741
Madonna	540	13428
Marco Borsato	494	12996
Justin Bieber	472	12584
Rolling Stones	462	12070
Ed Sheeran	420	10398
Michael Jackson	433	10326
The Beatles	328	9728
Pink	444	9312

Source:^[16]

• (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40 / Official website—contains archive from 1965 onwards Is now fully renewed!
• (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40 / Radio 538 website—contains archive from 1965 onwards