Dutch Top 40

This chart is often confused with the Single Top 100 and the Mega Top 50.

Hans Breukhoven and Lex Harding celebrating a printed edition of the Dutch Top 40 in 2005

The Dutch Top 40 (Dutch: Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. 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 was the initiator of the top 40 in the Netherlands. The show is currently aired on Friday from 2 till 6 PM on Qmusic.

History

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 4 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 50 from (NPO 3FM) which, like the Dutch Top 40 also includes airplay data and the 538 Top 50.

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

In January 1993 Radio 3 decided that the broadcasting of 2 hitlists (the other one was the Nationale Top 100) on one radiostation must come to an end and therefore as from February 7th. 1993 Radio 3 started to broadcast a new hitlist: the Mega Top 50 and wanted to terminate the broadcasting of the Top 40. Due to a lawsuit of the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, Veronica had to continue broadcasting the Dutch Top 40 on Radio 3 until December 18th. 1993.

Compilation

Composition

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. 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.

As of February 2014, the chart is a combination of airplay, streaming and social media trends. 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, listing likely candidates for the Top 40, is based on sales, streaming, airplay, and recommendations from both the general public and the music industry.

Rules

There is a set of rules, of which some have existed since 1972, that have been maintained up until 2012. Some of these have been criticised 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 on #40.
  • Example: Missy Elliott's "Lose Control": Remained two weeks on #40 in the chart, because it did not sell enough and also wasn't played enough on the radio.
  • There have been two exceptions for this, though: In October 1994, Pet Shop Boys's "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" stayed in the charts for only 1 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 2 weeks.
• Since 1983, singles that move up in the chart by a large number of positions are assigned superstip status. These singles were not allowed to fall down in chart position in the following week. If a superstip single had a comparatively lower sales/airplay statistics a week later, it would remain stuck on the same chart position until a 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), rose up to #5 (superstip again) in its second week. The following week it was meant to drop in chart position, but remained on 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 Dutch Top 40. However, this was not always the case. Sometimes singles with a superstip status did drop, for example, if there's no room.
• Re-entry only took place when the single re-entered within the top 30, if differently, these re-entried singles were ignored. Since 2005, there were no re-entries, until Michael Jackson died in 2009. Ever since, singles only re-entered the charts posthumously, but since 2012, "normal" re-entries started to occur again.
• Singles with double A-side are noted separately in the top 40; due the (possible) different number 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.

Records, milestones and achievements

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

Song achievements

Most weeks at number one

• 16 weeks

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

• 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)

• 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)

• 11 weeks

Bryan Adams — "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (1991)

Marco Borsato — "Rood" (2006)

André Hazes and Gerard Joling — "Blijf bij mij (Dit zijn voor mij de allermooiste uren)" (2007)

Bruno Mars — "Just the Way You Are" (2010)

Michel Teló — "Ai se eu te pego!" (2012)

Robin Thicke featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams — "Blurred Lines" (2013)

Avicii — "Wake Me Up" (2013)

Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne — "Rather Be" (2014)

OMI — "Cheerleader" (Felix Jaehn remix) (2015)

Davina Michelle — "Duurt te lang" (2018-19)

• 10 weeks

Heintje — "Ich bau' dir ein Schloß" (1968)

4 Non Blondes — "What's Up? (1993)

Vangelis — "Conquest of Paradise" (1995)

Céline Dion — "My Heart Will Go On" (1998)

Owl City — "Fireflies" (2009–10)

Alexis Jordan — "Happiness" (2011)

Mike Posner — "I Took a Pill in Ibiza (SeeB remix) (2016)

BLØF featuring Geike Arnaert — "Zoutelande" (2018)

Source:

Most total weeks in the Top 40

• 49 weeks

Pharrell Williams — "Happy" (2013–14)

• 41 weeks

Corry en de Rekels — "Huilen is voor jou te laat" (1970–71)

• 40 weeks

Trio Hellenique / Polis & Les Helleniques / Duo Akropolis / Mikis Theodorakis — "Zorba's Dance" (1965–66, 1974)^[1]

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

• 39 weeks

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg — "Je t'aime... moi non plus" (1969, 1974)

• 38 weeks

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

Avicii — "Wake Me Up" (2013–14, 2019)

• 35 weeks

Nini Rosso / Heinz Schachtner / Willy Schobben — "Il Silenzio (Abschiedsmelodie)" (1965–66)^[2]

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

• 34 weeks

De Heikrekels — "Waarom heb jij me laten staan?" (1967)

John Legend — "All of Me" (2013–14)

Lewis Capaldi - "Someone You Loved" (2019)

• 33 weeks

Henk Westbroek — "Zelfs je naam is mooi" (1998–99)

Gers Pardoel — "Ik neem je mee" (2011–12)

Nielson — "Beauty en de brains" (2012–13)

Lorde — "Royals" (2013–2014)

Sam Smith — "Stay with Me" (2014–2015)

Major Lazer and DJ Snake featuring MØ — "Lean On" (2015)

Source:

Notes

• 1 ^ Four different versions of the song (which featured in the 1964 film Zorba the Greek), performed by four different artists, were listed on the Top 40 as only one song.
• 2 ^ Different versions of the song were performed by three different artists, and were listed on the Top 40 as only one song.

Number-one debuts

• The Beatles — "I Feel Fine" (January 2, 1965)
• The Beatles — "We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper" (December 25, 1965)
• Procol Harum — "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (June 17, 1967)
• The Beatles — "Hey Jude" (September 14, 1968)
• Jantje Smit — "Ik zing dit lied voor jou Alleen" (April 12, 1997)
• Elton John — "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997" (September 27, 1997)
• 2Pac — "Changes" (February 13, 1999)
• Backstreet Boys — "I Want It That Way" (May 8, 1999)
• Starmaker — "Damn (I Think I Love You)" (April 14, 2001)
• One Day Fly — "I Wanna Be a One Day Fly" (May 19, 2001)
• Shaggy featuring Rayvon — "Angel" (June 23, 2001)
• Shakira — "Whenever, Wherever" (February 9, 2002)
• Jamai — "Step Right Up" (March 29, 2003)
• Jim — "Tell Her" (May 17, 2003)
• Dinand Woesthoff — "Dreamer (Gussie's song)" (February 21, 2004)
• Boris — "When You Think of Me" (May 22, 2004)
• Marco Borsato and Ali B — "Wat zou je doen" (September 25, 2004)
• André Hazes — "Zij gelooft in mij" (October 9, 2004)
• Men2B — "Bigger Than That" (December 25, 2004)
• Artiesten Voor Azië — "Als je iets kan doen" (January 15, 2005)
• Kane — "Fearless" (August 6, 2005)
• Ch!pz — "Carnival" (August 27, 2005)
• Lange Frans & Baas B — "Het land van..." (October 8, 2005)
• Andrea Bocelli and Marco Borsato — "Because We Believe" (February 11, 2006)
• Raffaëla — "Right Here Right Now" (March 25, 2006)
• Sharon Kips — "Heartbreak Away" (March 10, 2007)
• Jan Smit — "Dan volg je haar benen" (November 3, 2007)
• Nikki — "Hello World" (March 15, 2008)
• Marco Borsato — "Wit licht" (May 3, 2008)
• Marco Borsato — "Stop de tijd" (August 30, 2008)
• Lisa — "Hallelujah" (May 23, 2009)
• Lady Gaga — "Born This Way" (February 26, 2011)
• Nick & Simon — "Julia" (March 23, 2013)
• Adele — "Hello" (October 31, 2015)

Artist achievements

Most Top 40 entries

• BZN (55)
• Madonna (55)
• Michael Jackson (51)
• The Rolling Stones (49)
• Golden Earring (47)
• Normaal (46)
• Queen (46)
• Vader Abraham (44)
• U2 (43)
• Bee Gees (43)

Source:

Most number-one singles

Number of singles	Artist
16	The Beatles
14	Marco Borsato
8	ABBA
6 (tie)	Queen
6 (tie)	Michael Jackson
6 (tie)	George Michael
6 (tie)	Jan Smit
5 (tie)	The Rolling Stones
5 (tie)	The Cats
5 (tie)	Bee Gees
5 (tie)	The Kinks
5 (tie)	Golden Earring
5 (tie)	David Bowie
5 (tie)	UB40
5 (tie)	Madonna
5 (tie)	Justin Bieber

Source:

Most weeks at number one
(Total)

Artist	Record
The Beatles	74 weeks
Marco Borsato	69 weeks
George Michael	26 weeks
Ed Sheeran	26 weeks
Elton John	25 weeks
Jan Smit	25 weeks
Justin Bieber	25 weeks
ABBA	24 weeks
Madonna	22 weeks
Calvin Harris	22 weeks
The Rolling Stones	20 weeks
The Cats	20 weeks
Guus Meeuwis	20 weeks

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
Calvin Harris	2018	16 weeks
Dua Lipa	2018	16 weeks
Avicii	2013	15 weeks
Pharrell Williams	2013	15 weeks
Justin Bieber	2016	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

Most successful top 40 artists

Artist	Weeks	Points
Madonna	470	12550
Rolling Stones	448	11649
The Beatles	312	9220
Golden Earring	365	9093
Michael Jackson	336	8563
BZN	373	8249
The Cats	335	8077
Bee Gees	326	7625
Queen	323	7577
Calvin Harris	306	7570

Most successful artists
(combined Single top 40 and Album top 100)

Artist	Weeks	Points
BZN	1106	60375
The Rolling Stones	1117	57200
Madonna	1107	53994
Golden Earring	1039	53833
Queen	1014	53647
André Hazes	972	49412
ABBA	761	46439
U2	906	45913
Michael Jackson	873	44240
Celine Dion	775	43119

External links

• (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