Indie pop

Indie pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, with its roots in Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early 1980s (Josef K and Orange Juice) and the dominant UK independent band of the mid-1980s, the Smiths. Indie pop was inspired by punk's DIY ethic and related ideologies, and it generated a thriving fanzine, label, and club and gig circuit. Indie pop differs from indie rock to the extent that it is more melodic, less abrasive, and relatively angst-free.

The term "indie" had been used for some time to describe artists on independent labels (and the labels themselves), but the key moment in the naming of "indie pop" as a genre was the release of NME's C86 tape in 1986. The compilation featured, among other artists, Primal Scream, the Pastels, and the Wedding Present, and "indie" quickly became shorthand for a genre whose defining conventions were identified as jangling guitars, a love of '60s pop, and melodic power pop song structures (the genre was initially dubbed "C86" after the tape itself).

List of number-one Billboard Rock Songs

Hot Rock Songs is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternative, mainstream rock, and triple A radio stations in the United States. However, since the chart dated October 20, 2012, the Hot Rock Songs chart has followed the methodology of the Billboard Hot 100 by incorporating digital download sales, streaming data, and radio airplay of rock songs over all formats. Before that date the chart was ranked by overall audience impressions (the approximate number of audience impressions made for each play, as determined by BDS data cross-referenced with Arbitron listener information).

Since its introduction, thirty-nine singles have reached the number-one position on the Rock Songs chart. Foo Fighters and Linkin Park have been the most successful groups, with each having three singles to top the chart. Walk the Moon's "Shut Up and Dance" is the longest running number-one single, having spent a total of twenty-seven consecutive weeks atop the chart. Foo Fighters have spent the longest time atop the chart, as their three number-one singles have spent a combined thirty weeks at the summit. Out of the thirty-nine singles that hit the number-one position, ten singles spent two separate runs atop the chart. Coldplay's "A Sky Full of Stars" is the only single to have returned to the top position for three distinct runs. Thirty artists have recorded number-one singles. The first number-one single on the chart was Green Day's "Know Your Enemy", which led the chart's debut week. The most recent number-one single is Twenty One Pilots's "Stressed Out".

Alternative Songs

Alternative Songs (also called Alternative and formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs. The chart was introduced as a companion to the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and its creation was prompted by the explosion of alternative music on American radio in the late 1980s.

The chart is based solely on radio airplay. As of 2012, approximately 80 radio stations are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. Songs are ranked by a calculation of the total number of spins per week with its "audience impression", which is based upon exact times of airplay and each station's Arbitron listener data.

Many rock artists do not release commercial singles in the U.S. Several popular songs which were not released as commercial singles did not qualify for the Hot 100 before December 1998, but performed very well on Modern Rock Tracks.