Ultratop

Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Two parallel set of charts are concurrently produced and published, one on behalf of Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region, and the other catering to the nation's French-speaking region of Wallonia.

Ultratop charts

The music charts produced by Ultratop organization are separated along regional-language boundaries, an unusual division that is justified by the cultural differences in Belgium. So it is that the Dutch-speaking Flanders region has one set of charts of record activity there, while the French-speaking Wallonia region has another set to measure popularity in those provinces.

The charts are broadcast on several Belgian radio stations, and on TV stations TMF in Flanders and Plug TV in Wallonia.

Procedure

Ultratop creates charts based on record sales of around 500 retail outlets and legal digital downloads. Currently GfK is the market observer of the charts. The chart broadcasts on Radio Contact on Saturdays from 12:00 to 14:00. The combined number of Ultratop chart listeners on the various radio or TV stations exceeds two million every week. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the charts in 2005, a jubilee book was published. It covered all 15,282 singles from 5,882 artists thus far.

Prominent charts

Ultratop 50 Singles (Flemish chart)

The Flemish Ultratop 50 chart has existed since 31 March 1995. Prior to 1995, the official weekly chart was the Radio 2 Top 30 (previously known as the BRT Top 30) broadcast by the Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (BRT) and subsequently by the Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep Nederlandstalige Uitzendingen (BRTN) - a chart which continues to be broadcast to this day by the BRTN's successor, the Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) (hence its alternative name, the VRT Top 30). The Ultratop 50 chart is compiled in Dutch and presented on the Belgian radio station MNM as well as on TMF Flanders television.

Ultratop 50 Singles (Walloon chart)

The Walloon Ultratop chart began in 1995 as the Ultratop 40, ranking the forty best-selling singles in the French-speaking region of Belgium. On 4 September 2010, the Walloon chart was renamed Ultratop 50 as well after being increased from a 40-position into a 50-position chart.

Ultratop 200 Albums (Flemish chart)

Compiled in Dutch, it covers weekly albums sales in Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region. Originally brought out as the Ultratop 50 Albums chart, it was expanded to become the Ultratop 100 Albums chart, and eventually the Ultratop 200 Albums chart.

Ultratop 200 Albums (Walloon chart)

Published in French, it covers weekly albums sales in Belgium's French-speaking Wallonia region.

Complete list of Ultratop charts

The Ultratop charts published include:

Chart name	Flanders	Wallonia
Ultratop 50 Singles	Top 50	Top 50
Ultratop 200 Albums	Top 200	Top 200
Ultratop Compilations	Top 20	Top 20
Ultratop Dance	Top 50	Top 50
Ultratop Urban	Top 50
Ultratop Airplay	Top 30	Top 30
Ultratop Alternative Albums	Top 50
Back Catalogue Singles	Top 50	Top 50
Dance Bubbling Under	Top 20	Top 20
Albums Belges / Belgische Albums	Top 40	Top 20
Mid Price	Top 20	Top 20
Heatseekers Albums	Top 20	Top 20
Albums Classiques / Klassiek Albums	Top 20	Top 20
DVD Musicaux / Muziek-DVD	Top 40	Top 10
Ultratop Vlaams	Top 10
Radio 2 Vlaams	Top 10
Vlaams Kids	Top 5

Ultratip

In addition to the main Ultratop 50, another weekly singles chart known as Ultratip is published. Also referred to as the Tipparade, it is an indicator chart of commercially available singles, with chart positions based on a combination of sales and airplay, i.e., the number of times a song is played on the radio or television, coupled with the calculated audience size for each station, region and language.

Ultratip differs from the Ultratop charts, in that it depends on both airplay and sales, whereas Ultratop charts are based solely on sales. However, it should be noted that a song cannot chart on the Ultratip chart on airplay figures alone.

Ultratip charts

Flanders	Wallonia
Ultratip 100	Ultratip 50

Records

In Flanders

Singles

Note: Ultratop's all-time singles record (at Ultratop) has been updated to combine the Ultratop data (from 1995 onwards) with the earlier official charts dating back to late 1954. Therefore the singles statistics here actually reflect a combination of charts that are successive but independent of each other.

Most top 50 singles

• Will Tura: 92
• Madonna: 63, including 4 collaborations
• Elvis Presley: 59, including 1 collaboration
• Cliff Richard: 58, including 16 collaborations
• Clouseau: 45
• Michael Jackson: 45, including 10 collaborations
• Queen: 41, including 4 collaborations
• U2: 41, including 5 collaborations
• The Rolling Stones: 39
• Bee Gees: 36, including 1 collaboration
• Prince: 36, including 19 collaborations
• K3: 34
• The Beatles: 33
• Helmut Lotti: 33, including 3 collaborations
• Milk Inc.: 31, including 1 collaboration
• Rihanna: 30, including 15 collaborations

Longest at number 1

• 16 weeks: "Kvraagetaan" by Fixkes

• 12 weeks: "The Ketchup Song" by Las Ketchup, "Axel F" cover by Crazy Frog, and "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye

• 11 weeks: "This Is the Life" by Amy Macdonald

• 10 weeks: "Barbie Girl" by Aqua, "Wild Dances" by Ruslana, "Con te Partiro" by Andrea Bocelli and "Last Thing On My Mind" by Steps

Longest noted overall

• 69 weeks: "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas
• 62 weeks: "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele
• 61 weeks: "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye
• 54 weeks: "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets
• 54 weeks: "Sex On Fire" by Kings Of Leon

Other records

• Shortest noted Number 1 hit was "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" by Artists for Haiti. It left the Ultratop 50 after 6 weeks.

• Biggest leap to the number 1 position was for Elton John with "Candle in the Wind 1997". It jumped from the 46th position, directly to the number 1 spot in September 1997.
• The record of most songs in the top 100 at the same moment is held by Natalia. In June 2007 she charted with 10 songs.

Albums

Most top 50 albums

• André Rieu: 23
• Will Tura and Celine Dion: 22
• The Beatles: 20
• Helmut Lotti: 18
• Andrea Bocelli and K3: 17
• Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam: 15

Most number 1 albums

• Helmut Lotti and Clouseau: 8
• K3 and Marco Borsato: 7
• U2, Michael Jackson and Samson & Gert: 6
• Celine Dion and Madonna: 5

Longest stay in the charts (since 1995)

• Queen, The Platinum Collection - Greatest Hits I, II & III, 255 weeks
• Marco Borsato, Onderweg: 184 weeks
• Adele, 21: 179 weeks
• Coldplay, A Rush Of Blood To The Head: 168 weeks
• Amy Winehouse, Back to Black: 152 weeks
• Bob Marley & The Wailers, Legend: 152 weeks
• Norah Jones, Come Away With Me: 144 weeks
• The Beatles, 1: 135 weeks
• Foo Fighters, Greatest Hits, 133 weeks
• Selah Sue, Selah Sue: 125 weeks
• St. Germain, Tourist: 122 weeks
• Gabriel Rios, Ghostboy: 118 weeks
• Ed Sheeran, +-: 115 weeks
• Buena Vista Social Club, Buena Vista Social Club: 115 weeks
• Milow, The Bigger Picture: 110 weeks
• Hooverphonic, The Magnificent Tree: 107 weeks
• Lady Linn And Her Magnificent Seven, Here We Go Again: 106 weeks
• Marco Borsato, #1: 103 weeks
• Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More: 102 weeks
• The Black Box Revelation, Set Your Head On Fire: 102 weeks
• K3, MaMaSé!: 102 weeks

In Wallonia

• Longest stay at number 1 for a single: "The Ketchup Song" by Las Ketchup and "Happy" by Pharrell Williams; 17 weeks . "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" of Céline Dion held on for 15 weeks at that first spot.
• Longest overall stay in the chart for a single: "Con te partirò" of Andrea Bocelli; 52 weeks in the chart. "Obsesión" by Aventura stayed in the charts for 48 weeks.
• Number 1 hit that lasted the shortest on the chart: "Ensemble" by Solidarité Asie Tsunami 12-12. It left after 8 weeks total (out of which two weeks at number 1 spot).
• Songs that entered at number 1: "Candle in the Wind (1997)" by Elton John, "La Musique (Angelica)" by Star Academy (France), "On se Ressemble" by Mario Barravecchia, "Hold It Against Me" by Britney Spears and "A Sky Full of Stars" by Coldplay.
• The strongest riser to the number one position was "Un enfant de toi" by Phil Barney and Marlène Duval. It rose from the 20th place to the first.

See also

• List of number-one hits (Belgium)
• Top 30, the formerly preeminent Flemish chart
• List of best-selling Belgian music artists
• Music of Belgium

External links

• Ultratop Flemish charts (Dutch)
• Ultratop Walloon charts (French)
• Charts archive (Flanders, from 1959 to 2009 on worldcharts.co.uk
• Charts archive (Walloon, from 1999 to 2009 on worldcharts.co.uk