How to use Beatport charts to find tracks
Beatport's Top 100 updates daily from sales, Hype charts spotlight smaller labels, and DJ charts show what DJs pick. How to use each without drowning.
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Beatport has three kinds of charts, and each answers a different question. The Top 100 and genre Top 100 charts show what's selling: Beatport updates them "every day, based on sales". The Hype charts spotlight releases from smaller labels. DJ charts show what individual DJs pick. To use them for digging, follow one or two genre charts plus a handful of DJ charts, check them once a week, and only listen to tracks that are new to you since last time.
The Beatport chart types
| Chart | Where | What it measures | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 | beatport.com/top-100 | Sales across all genres, updated daily | Seeing what's big right now |
| Genre Top 100 | Each genre page | Sales within one genre, updated daily | Tracking your genre's current sellers |
| Hype Top 100 | beatport.com/hype-100 | Releases from Hype-program labels | Smaller labels before they cross over |
| Genre Hype charts | Each genre page | Hype releases within one genre | Smaller labels in your genre |
| DJ charts | beatport.com/charts | One DJ's selection | Taste-led picks you trust |
Top 100 and genre Top 100
Beatport's support center says these charts "get updated every day, based on sales". The overall Top 100 mixes every genre, so it's useful for context but rarely for digging. A genre Top 100 is more useful: it shows what DJs in your genre are buying this week. Each genre has its own chart, reached from its genre page; for example, Techno (Peak Time / Driving) has one at /genre/techno-peak-time-driving/6/top-100. Finding new techno tracks covers working through techno's styles chart by chart.
The limit of a sales chart is built in. It rewards tracks that are already selling, so by the time a track charts, many DJs in your scene have it.
Hype charts
Hype is a Beatport program for smaller labels. Beatport's label site says it's open to labels "releasing on Beatport with sales of less than $25,000 in the past 12 months" in eligible genres. Hype releases get their own Hype Top 100 and genre Hype charts. For a digger, that means a chart where the big labels can't crowd out the small ones.
DJ charts
A DJ chart is a short selection made by a DJ. Beatport's support center describes how they're made: from a customer account with a DJ profile, choosing "10-20 tracks" from the store, and once a chart is published, "you will not be able to edit or remove the chart". DJ charts are listed on beatport.com/charts, and artist DJ charts can also appear on the artist's page.
DJ charts are the most taste-led of the three. If you like a DJ's sets, their chart is a free filter: a few tracks they chose out of everything they heard that month.
How to read a chart row
Each row on a Beatport chart gives you more than a title. On the Top 100 page, a row shows the position, title and mix name, artists, label, remixers, genre, BPM and key, release date and price. Use them to decide what's worth a listen:
- Mix name. "Extended Mix", "Original Mix" or a remixer's name tells you which version charted.
- BPM and key. A quick check against your usual range.
- Release date. A track released this month and already charting is moving fast. One released a year ago is a long-runner.
- Label. Labels you trust are a good shortcut; unfamiliar labels in a chart you like are worth following.
A weekly chart routine
- Pick your charts. One or two genre Top 100s, one genre Hype chart, and three to five DJ charts from DJs you rate.
- Check once a week. Daily updates don't mean daily checking. A weekly look catches what matters without making charts a chore.
- Only look at what's new to you. Skip tracks you've already heard and judged. On a chart you check weekly, that's often a small fraction of the hundred. Beatport doesn't mark new entries, so Beatport chart history explains how to keep snapshots and spot them.
- Listen to each new track properly and decide keep or reject.
- Follow the interesting ones sideways. An unfamiliar label in your Hype chart is worth a look at its back catalog.
- Don't buy because it charted. Buy because it passed your own checklist. How to decide which tracks to buy has one.
Choosing which charts to follow
Start from your genres, not the overall chart. Beatport's genre pages each have their own Top 100 and Hype chart. Pick the one or two genres you actually play.
Add one chart that's slightly outside your lane. A neighboring genre's Hype chart is a good source of tracks your peers aren't playing yet.
Pick DJ charts by taste, not fame. The most useful DJ charts come from DJs whose sets you'd happily listen to in full. Beatport says a DJ chart holds 10 to 20 tracks, so a handful of them is a short, focused listen.
Use charts as a door to back catalogs. When a chart track grabs you, open the artist or label page. Will Lynch, writing for Pioneer DJ about digging, suggests organizing an artist's or label's discography by "Tracks", sorting it from "old" to "new" and working through the list.
Common chart mistakes
- Buying the top ten every week. You'll sound like everyone else, and your crate fills with tracks you don't love.
- Checking too many charts. Ten charts a week is a thousand rows. Pick a few and check them properly.
- Re-listening to the same tracks. Without a record of what you've judged, a track that sits on a chart for six weeks gets six listens.
- Ignoring DJ charts. They're often the best digging value on the site.
Charts and other sources
Charts are one input among several. Tracklists from sets you like, Bandcamp feeds and tracks you hear out cover the music charts miss. How to find and buy the tracks from a DJ set covers the tracklist side. If a chart track is also on Bandcamp, Beatport vs Bandcamp for DJs helps you choose where to buy. Is Beatport worth it? covers what buying and streaming on Beatport cost.
Doing this with CatchIt!
CatchIt! is a Mac app with a free iOS companion. It can follow Beatport charts for you, so a weekly check shows only what's new.
- Follow a chart. Use the Add sheet's Chart card, or the + in the sidebar's CHARTS section. CatchIt! accepts beatport.com/top-100, /hype-100, a genre's Top 100 or Hype 100, and DJ charts. The chart names itself.
- Refresh when you choose. Refresh is manual; there's no automatic schedule. A refresh updates positions, adds new tracks and marks tracks that dropped off, and reports "N new · N still charting · N left the chart". Each chart's sidebar row shows when you last refreshed and how many are new, for example "↻ 3d ago · N new".
- Decide in the Inbox. Chart tracks land in the Inbox, where Return keeps a track (green) and Space rejects it (red). Tracks you've already judged from any source show their previous decision, so a long-running chart track doesn't cost you a second listen.
- Matched for playback. When you follow a chart, CatchIt! matches its tracks on Spotify and/or Apple Music, whichever you tick, so you can play them in the app.
- Track movement. A track that drops off shows "left" in the position slot; the All / Charting / Left chips filter them. Unfollowing a chart keeps your decisions.
Summary
- Top 100 and genre Top 100: daily, sales-based; good for knowing what's moving.
- Hype charts: smaller labels with under $25,000 in sales over 12 months.
- DJ charts: 10 to 20 tracks chosen by a DJ; often the best digging value.
- Check a few charts weekly, listen only to what's new to you, and buy only what passes your own test.
This guide is part of how to find and buy the tracks from a DJ set. See Importing tracklists for CatchIt!'s import options.
Frequently asked questions
- How often is the Beatport Top 100 updated?
- Beatport's support center says the Top 100 and genre Top 100 charts "get updated every day, based on sales".
- What is the Beatport Hype chart?
- Hype is a Beatport program for smaller labels. Beatport describes it as open to labels "with sales of less than $25,000 in the past 12 months" in eligible genres, and it has its own Hype Top 100 and genre Hype charts.
- What is a Beatport DJ chart?
- A list of tracks put together by a DJ from a Beatport DJ profile. Beatport asks for 10 to 20 tracks, and a published chart can't be edited or removed. DJ charts are listed on beatport.com/charts.
- Can anyone make a Beatport DJ chart?
- Beatport's support center says DJ charts are created from a customer account with a DJ profile, at beatport.com/dj/charts/new. Artists can ask Beatport to link that DJ profile to their artist page.
- Which Beatport chart is best for finding new music?
- For tracks that are already selling, the genre Top 100. For smaller labels, the genre Hype charts. For taste-led picks, DJ charts from DJs whose sets you like. Most DJs get the most out of combining a genre chart with a few DJ charts.
Sources
- Beatport Support: How often do the Beatport Top 100 and Genre Top 100 charts get updated?
- Beatport Greenroom: Hype
- Beatport Support: How do I create a DJ Chart / a Beatport Streaming Playlist?
- Beatport: Top 100
- Beatport: Hype Top 100
- Beatport: Techno (Peak Time / Driving) Top 100
- Beatport: DJ Charts
- Pioneer DJ: How to find music you love, in a way that you love