Drake is an artist who is synonymous with modern pop culture. His origins from “Degrassi” pushed him into the limelight, and his fast success in rap music only elevated him to the star status he currently holds. 

Recently, that status was even compared to the legendary Michael Jackson, with both artists now being tied for male solo artist with the most No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.

But is that comparison really accurate? Michael Jackson’s influence has made him a household name worldwide, even years after his death. Drake is popular too, but doesn’t have a reach quite like Michael Jackson. Even critics are struggling to see Drake’s potential after his latest album.

Music charts can be a good measure of a song, album or artist’s sales, but they don’t reveal much else.

The most popular chart today remains the Billboard Hot 100. Established in 1958, it started as a more industry-focused ranking. Back then, the sales that counted toward rankings meant physical ones, like records and jukebox plays. This allowed retailers to identify what was popular with consumers, and push those songs and albums in stores.

Of course, as different methods of consuming media became more popular, the charts had to adapt. Airplay, like radios, was added in 1991, and streaming was only recently added in 2012 and 2013, which famously allowed Baauer’s Harlem Shake to reach number one via YouTube views.

But the charts continue to have issues, even while trying to be more inclusive. For one, it takes a long time for chart data to be updated. A sale or stream on a Monday will only be included in the chart published the next Tuesday. The chart can be inaccurate about when a song is actually popular.

It also just isn’t a good measure of an artist’s success in general. Famous groups and singers like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and One Direction have never achieved a number one on the Billboard Hot 100, despite being deeply influential and popular in their respective eras.

However, even with all of these quantitative issues, there are still some artistic issues as well.

Artists shouldn’t have to reach a designated number on the chart to be considered good. There are tons of other metrics that go into consideration, and the most important is simply the taste of the consumer. Rather than expecting artists to reach high numbers of sales, we should focus on allowing them to make the best music they can.

SZA is a fantastic example of this. While she remains arguably one of the most popular artists in the world today, SZA only has two number one hits and only nine songs that reached the top 10. Even stranger is the fact that none of those songs come from her 2017 classic album “Ctrl.”

Even though SZA has been making fantastic music for a long time, it still took her years to reach grand success on the Hot 100. And there are plenty of artists just like her, making incredible music that simply might not be reaching enough people to create those sales.

There are still plenty of charts being published, each with its own formula. Spotify and Rolling Stone have also developed their own measurements for music success outside of Billboard. But rather than focusing on where our favorite artists stand on any given chart, we might want to start focusing on what kind of music they’re making.

Plenty of my favorite artists, like Mitski, Fiona Apple and Faye Webster, have never gotten a number one on the Hot 100, but that doesn’t stop me from listening to their music. And it certainly shouldn’t stop you from listening to your favorite artist either. So the next time the chart updates, take it with a grain of salt.

Amartya is a freshman in LAS.

[email protected]