Rolling Stone Rolls Past Chart Debut

• Last week Rolling Stone made some news when it unveiled its ambitious plan to enter the chart business and go head-to-head with Billboard, with an announced start date of Monday, May 13…

However… on Saturday, May 11, Rolling Stone published “An Update on The Rolling Stones Charts,” which starts promisingly enough, stating, “In the past year, Rolling Stone has significantly increased its coverage of the music business — fitting for a time when streaming is changing everything, the industry is evolving rapidly, and fascinating business stories arise every day. We recently announced the next phase of this evolution: Rolling Stone Charts, which will offer an in-depth and in-the-moment view of the biggest songs, albums and artists in music. The Rolling Stone charts harness the innovative analytics of Alpha Data, formerly known as BuzzAngle Music, which came under the umbrella of our parent company Penske Media Corporation last year.”

The story goes on to say, “This project is unprecedented for a consumer magazine. Rolling Stone’s charts will feature daily updates, as well as interactive functionality and unprecedented transparency, and we can’t wait for you to see them.”

However… the last paragraph of the update states, “While we had initially targeted a public beta launch of May 13th, we are instead going to remain in private beta for just a while longer to optimize with our industry partners and fully ensure the smoothness of our presentation. We’ll be announcing a new public launch date shortly; in the meantime, you can get in touch with our charts team for inquiries at charts@rollingstone.com.”