How the DCMF Chart Works
The Short Explanation of the DCMF Chart:
The DCMF Chart is a progressive chart with the voting for one week building off the results from the previous week. Think of the chart as a ladder with all songs starting at the ground (Level 0) and climbing the rungs (Level 1 through Level 10) until they “fall off.” Songs move up from Level 0 to Level 10 by winning polls in the Level Points Voting with each Level having different ranges of points. Once the songs on each Level are determined that week, they are then ranked in the Impression Points Voting to earn/lose Impression Points. There’s also a Survivor Poll that helps to determine what songs are going to be removed from the chart. That’s all there is to it. For a more detailed explanation of the chart, please read on.
The Long Explanantion:
The point of this chart is to be simple and clear on how it is made. There is a lot of information here, but all you need to worry about is how to vote each week. I will take care of the math that is needed each to week to calculate the order of the songs on the DCMF using an Excel spreadsheet. The following is for anyone interested in knowing all the details (it’s the “clear” part on how the chart is made).
Fan Driven:
Your votes determine how the chart looks from week-to-week. There are three parts to the voting each week. Monday will be the Level Points Voting, Wednesday will be the Impression Points Voting and Friday will be the Survivor Poll.
The Different Polls:
Level Points Voting: you vote for a certain number of songs on 11 different polls
Impression Points Voting: you rank the active songs on each level (1 through 10) or the six songs on Level 0 that had the fewest votes in the LPV from your favorite to least favorite
Survivor Poll: you assign point values to each song on the poll within certain criteria…there are two polls.
The Formula:
Total Points = Level Points + Impression Points. The maximum number of Total Points is 125. Songs will be ranked by Total Points.
Tiebreakers:
If two or more songs have the same number of Total Points, the ties will be broken as follows:
1. Level Points
2. Number of Weeks on the Chart
3. Last Week’s Position.
Level Points:
All songs start off at Level 0 with 0 Level Points. The results of the Level Points Voting will give some songs more Level Points each week. Songs will either receive one or two points while remaining at its current Level or songs will “level up” and immediately jump up to the minimum points for that level. Once a song reaches the maximum Level Points for the level it is currently at, it can not receive any more points unless it levels up. The following table shows the ranges for each level from the top level of 10 down to the starting level of 0:
|
Level |
Points Range |
|
10 |
100-105 |
|
9 |
90-99 |
|
8 |
80-89 |
|
7 |
70-79 |
|
6 |
60-69 |
|
5 |
50-59 |
|
4 |
40-49 |
|
3 |
30-39 |
|
2 |
20-29 |
|
1 |
10-19 |
|
0 |
-10-9 |
As you can see, the maximum amount of Level Points a song can have is 105. For Level 1 to Level 10, there are only 6 songs on each level during any week. More information on Level 0 songs will be given below.
Impression Points:
The Impression Points Voting is a chance for the readers of this blog to rank the songs at each level. Songs can have from a minimum of -10 Impression Points up to a maximum of 20 Impression Points. Each week, voters will rank the songs from 1 to 6 with 1 being their favorite and 6 being their least favorite. Songs will then be ranked from 1st to 6th based on the average ranking (lowest to highest). The following is how the songs will gain or lose Impression Points:
1st: +3
2nd: +2
3rd: +1
4th: -1
5th: -2
6th: -3
Once a song reaches either-10 Impression Points, it cannot go any lower. A song also cannot go any higher if it has reached 20 Impression Points. Impression Points are independent of level, which means that the points will carry over no matter if a song levels up or not. The only exception is when a song moves up a level with a negative number of Impression Points, their Impression Points are reset to 0.
Level 0 Songs:
Every Level 0 song will start with 0 Level Points and 0 Impression Points. In order to avoid having lots of songs with 0 Total Points, songs at Level 0 will gain or lose points based on the results of the Level 1 Poll. Any song that receives a vote and does not “level up” will gain 1 Level Point up to a maximum of 9 Level Points. Any song that does not receive a vote will lose 1 Level Point down to a minimum of -10 Level Points. The six Level 0 songs that receive the fewest votes after tiebreakers in the Level Point Voting every week will be a part of the Impression Points Voting in the “Bottom of Level 0” Poll. Here, the songs will be ranked the same way, but with different results. The “winner” does not lose any Impression Points, 2nd loses 1, 3rd loses 2 and 4th through 6th loses 3. This was enacted in order to have a few more songs qualify for removal via the Level 0 method below (see How Songs Get Removed).
There is also a maximum of 60 voting-eligible Level 0 songs at a time. If the amount of songs being added to the chart in a week pushes the number over 60, the number of songs who have been on the chart the longest equal to the number over 60 will be declared inactive and will follow those rules. These songs have to have been on the chart for at least 8 weeks in order to ensure they have a 10 week minimum stay on the charts.
How Songs Get Added to the DCMF Chart:
There are two ways: you can either nominate a song by sending an e-mail to dcmfchart@gmail.com or I will add it based on its official add date as a single. If you nominate a song, its existence as a current single will need to be verified before it is added to the chart (if you provide a link to a website confirming this, it will make it easier to verify the song as single and will be greatly appreciated!). Any song with a future add date that receives airplay in advance of the date will be added as soon as possible in order that the song gets the longest opportunity to be on this chart.
How Songs Get Removed:
There will be four ways that a song will be removed from the chart:
1. A song from Level 1 to Level 10 reaches -10 Impression Points and spends three weeks there (will be highlighted on the chart as shown below).
2. The artist/group responsible for the single has released another single, therefore making the current single inactive. The administrator of this chart, Matt F., also reserves the right to declare a song inactive at his own discretion. Once declared inactive, songs are removed from the DCMF Voting process. These songs will last three weeks in inactive status
3. If a song that is spending its 8th or higher week on the chart is still at Level 0 and has negative Total Points, it will be highlighted as if inactive but will still be a part of the Level 1 Poll for that week. The song will have to be voted to Level 1 before it has spent its three weeks in a row with negative Total Points or else it will be removed.
4. When songs are added to the chart at Level 0 and the maximum number of 60 eligible songs is exceeded, the number of songs “at the top” equal to number of songs exceeding 60 will be declared inactive and treated as such.
5. A song loses the Survivor Poll, where the loser of the voting will be declared inactive.
How Songs Will Be Highlighted on the Chart:
Italicized Songs will be songs that are at -10 Impression Points for the first week, inactive for 1 week, or a Level 0 song in its 8th or higher week and has negative Total Points, whichever comes first.
Italicized and Underlined Songs will be songs that are at -10 Impression Points for the second straight week, inactive for 2 weeks, or a Level 0 song in its 9th or higher week and has negative Total Points, whichever comes first.
Italicized, Underlined and Bolded Songs will be songs that are at -10 Impression Points for the third straight week, inactive for 3 weeks, or a Level 0 song in its 10th or higher week and has negative Total Points, whichever comes first. These songs will be removed from the chart and will not appear on the following week’s chart.
Questions? Feel free to ask with a comment or an e-mail to dcmfchart@gmail.com.
