Ultratop facts for kids

Ultratop's logo

Ultratop is an organization in Belgium that creates and publishes the official music charts. Think of it like a scoreboard for the most popular songs and albums! Ultratop started in 1995. It was created by the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), which is part of a bigger group called the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

Belgium has two main language regions: Flanders (where people mostly speak Dutch) and Wallonia (where people mostly speak French). Because of these differences, Ultratop makes two separate sets of music charts. One set is for Flanders, and the other is for Wallonia. This helps show what music is popular in each part of the country.

What are Ultratop Charts?

Ultratop's music charts are divided by language and region. This is a bit unusual, but it makes sense because of the different cultures in Belgium. So, Flanders has its own charts for popular music, and Wallonia has its own.

These charts are shared on several radio stations in Belgium. They also used to be shown on TV stations like TMF in Flanders and Plug RTL in Wallonia.

How Ultratop Charts are Made

Ultratop creates its charts by looking at music sales from about 500 stores. They also count legal digital downloads. A company called GfK helps collect all this sales information.

The charts are broadcast on Radio Contact on Saturdays. Many people listen to or watch the Ultratop charts every week. In 2005, to celebrate 10 years of charts, a special book was published. It listed all the popular songs from those years!

Main Ultratop Charts

Ultratop has several important charts that show what's popular.

Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders)

This chart lists the 50 most popular songs in the Dutch-speaking Flanders region. It started on March 31, 1995. Before Ultratop, there was another chart called the Radio 2 Top 30. This older chart also tracked popular songs in Flanders.

Today, the Ultratop 50 chart for Flanders is announced on the Belgian radio station MNM.

Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia)

This chart shows the 50 most popular songs in the French-speaking Wallonia region. It also started in 1995, but it was first called the Ultratop 40 because it only listed 40 songs. On September 4, 2010, it grew to 50 songs and was renamed Ultratop 50.

Ultratop 200 Albums (Flanders)

This chart tracks the weekly sales of albums in Dutch-speaking Flanders. It started as the Ultratop 50 Albums chart. Over time, it grew to include more albums, becoming the Ultratop 100 Albums and then the Ultratop 200 Albums chart.

Ultratop 200 Albums (Wallonia)

This chart lists the weekly sales of albums in French-speaking Wallonia.

All Ultratop Charts

Here is a list of all the different charts Ultratop publishes:

Ultratip Chart

Besides the main Ultratop 50, there was another weekly chart called Ultratip or Ultratip Bubbling Under. This chart showed songs that were popular but hadn't quite made it into the Top 50 yet. It was similar to the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart in the US. The Ultratip chart stopped being published on May 29, 2021.

Ultratip Charts

• Flanders: Ultratip Bubbling Under 100
• Wallonia: Ultratip Bubbling Under 50

Streaming Music and the Charts

Since 2016 for songs and July 2017 for albums, Ultratop charts also include music streams. This means when you listen to a song or album online, it can help it get on the charts!

To make sure the charts are fair, Ultratop has special rules for counting streams. For albums, only the 12 most streamed songs are counted. Also, to prevent one or two super popular songs from making an album seem more popular than it is, the two most streamed songs are counted differently. Their streams are averaged with the next ten songs.

See also

In Spanish: Ultratop para niños

• List of number-one hits (Belgium)
• List of best-selling Belgian music artists
• Music of Belgium