methodology
How NGMCharts measures Nigerian gospel music every week: what we count, how songs are scored, and the rules that keep the chart honest.
NGMCharts publishes a weekly record of the songs moving Nigerian gospel music. The charts measure momentum: how much a song grew during the chart week, not how big its lifetime total is. A song released this month can outrank a classic, and a classic can still chart if people are actively returning to it.
The charts
50 songs
20 songs
20 songs
20 songs
30 songs
20 songs
25 songs each
The chart week
Each chart is dated on a Friday. It covers the seven days from the previous Friday through Thursday, and closes at midnight UTC on the Friday it is dated. Final calculation runs on Friday morning and the chart publishes on Friday at 6pm UK time.
A chart can only publish if the final calculation ran after the week closed. Earlier previews during the week are never published.
What we count
Score source
Score source
Score source
Identity source
Weights reflect how comparable a play is across platforms. Other platforms may appear on song pages, but they are not part of the score.
How a song is scored
For every song we take each platform's count at the end of the chart week and subtract its count at the start. That is the song's weekly movement on each platform. The three are weighted and added together. A count can never go backwards, so a platform correction never reduces a song's total.
That weekly total is then adjusted in three ways:
- Recency. New releases get a boost that fades as the song ages: strongest in its first week, still positive in its first three months, and lower after six months.
- Quality. Engagement and data trust can nudge a score up or down by a small, capped amount, so no single signal can swing a song on its own.
- Staying power. Songs whose recent activity has faded relative to their lifetime total ease down the chart, and older songs in a long run of weaker weeks lose ground gradually. Emerging songs up to six months old are exempt.
A very small catalogue factor based on a song's lifetime and last-90-day plays also counts, at 5% of the score. Songs are scored, given a provisional rank, then scored again so that rank-based checks apply consistently. If two songs tie, the order is fixed by an internal identifier so the result is always reproducible.
Who can chart
- A song needs at least two days of verified data inside the chart week. New songs without enough data wait in a holding area and enter the following week.
- A song needs at least 100,000 lifetime weighted plays. New songs can qualify sooner through early entry (below).
- Age limits apply: up to 3 years on the Top 50 and Praise, 4 years on Worship, and 2 years on Afro-Gospel. Older songs can still chart if they are surging again or have a proven chart history.
- Older catalogue with low lifetime totals does not enter the main charts.
- Each artist can have up to 3 songs on a main chart.
- Sermons, prayer sessions and medleys are not eligible. Event uploads and unclear live or remix uploads are held for review.
Early entry
New songs do not all need the same numbers to get in. The entry bar depends on the chart. Pick a chart group to see its rules.
Normally a song needs 100,000 lifetime weighted plays. A big new release can enter early if it meets all of these:
Emerging is for artists who have not broken through yet, so the bar is lower and new songs get extra help.
Discovery spotlights artists we have selected to discover, so the entry bar is the lowest of any chart.
On every chart, early entry only lowers the plays bar. The song still needs two days of data inside the chart week and is scored like every other song.
Long-running songs
To keep room for new music, songs with very long runs need to stay near the top to remain on the chart. On the Top 50, a song that has charted for 20 weeks or more must hold a higher position the longer it runs, and after a year it must stay in the top 10. Genre charts apply the same idea with tighter cut-offs. A song showing a strong genuine comeback is not removed.
One song, one entry
A song is one entry, however many uploads exist. Versions of the same recording are grouped together and only the strongest version charts. The official video is the main YouTube source. Lyric videos, audio uploads, remixes, covers and session performances are not treated as the official video, and live videos are only accepted from trusted channels with a matching recording.
Versions and featured artists must match between a song and its uploads. When a version is added to a song, its existing count is recorded first so the song does not jump from numbers it earned elsewhere. Artists are matched to their own official channels and profiles, not by search results.
Chart labels
Keeping the chart honest
- Sudden unexplained jumps are detected and set aside rather than counted.
- Counts that drop or reset never reduce a song's weekly movement.
- Songs with unusual engagement patterns are flagged and have their influence limited.
- Duplicate uploads and mismatched versions are merged or removed before scoring.
- Our team reviews flagged songs, genre classifications and eligibility, and can limit or exclude songs where the data is not genuine.
- Every published chart is backed up before it goes live.
Questions
If you think a song is missing, misclassified or credited wrongly, contact us at contact@ngmcharts.com. To put a new release forward, use the submit music form. Submitting a song does not guarantee a chart place. Songs chart on real activity.