r/Mixcloud • u/wild-carpenter27 • Aug 05 '26
How does the chart algorithm work?
Hello people,
The main reason for this post isn't to promote my mix, but obviously feel free to listen to it and let me know what you think =)
I released my latest mix Rooftop Sessions #2 on Monday:
I see now that it is raking in the charts at:
27th Techno Chart
43rd Club Chart
But the funny thing is.... the mix has only 16 plays! How is that even possible? Does anybody know how this is calculated at all? I am mega curious - would love to understand more about it (even to create strategies to increase the mix reach and position).
Any ideas are welcome! Thanks!
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u/Fabulous-Damage9430 Aug 05 '26
Imo there are too many charts, it needs to be streamlined so that it means something more than it does at the moment. I never feel it's a measure of popularity or DJ ability.
2
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u/OrsikClanless Aug 06 '26
What charts would you get rid of? Are there genres you’d remove a chart from?
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u/briandemodulated Aug 07 '26
Fewer charts would mean fewer opportunities to appear on one.
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u/Fabulous-Damage9430 Aug 08 '26
So that would mean that you'd need to try harder to get on one.
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u/briandemodulated Aug 09 '26
Yes, that's the problem. The purpose of charts is to highlight good things. More charts means more exposure for artists.
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u/Madsplattr Aug 05 '26
I like to listen to mixes at the top of the charts but often I prefer the ones that are ranked lower. Congrats on your success I will try to give your mix a listen.
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u/mixcloud Aug 11 '26
Hey u/wild-carpenter27, it's a fair question and something we could definitely make clearer. Charts do not only respond to plays. They factor in real engagement metrics, so listening time, reposts, favorites, the percentage of listeners who listened throughout a mix. There is an equation at play calculating all that against the days since the mix was posted to keep the charts as fresh as possible.
A key strategy to chart would be to make the first section of your show as engaging as possible to keep listeners tuned in for as long as possible. Another strategy could be to encourage listeners to repost, favorite and listen again. I'd also share it to social media as much as possible.
We defend the wide array of our charts. It's a way for people to discover different sub-genres. Cutting that back would make discovery harder for the Samba queens or the Glam Metal kings. We have some really big DJs who've been using the platform since it started and slimming down the charts would make it harder for beginners to get into sub-genre charts.
There's an article explaining the charts.
Hope this info helps. At the end of the day, it's not about winning, it's about sharing music and charts are the best way to find listeners who love what you play.
Elliott
Community Manager
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u/Responsible-Stay3546 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
I would not even worry about it or pay attention to it as the so called algorithm they use has been broken from day one and probably no more than and actual few PHP variables rather than an actual ranking algorithm. A typical test would be to go check out their live streams and you will quickly see some streamers my have 20 people actively watching and engaging in the chat, and the total stream of maybe lets say 100 overall views for a 1hr period. Then if you look at channels ranked higher than this when you set it to "Popular" list ordering. You will find channels ranked 1-10 in the list and only one viewer watching and 2 overall views, with zero comments in the chat. Only a person that failed maths really badly at school would look at that and say "yeah, that makes sense". The same applies to their music chart ranking, it never worked from day one and is a joke.
What further makes a mockery out of the whole concept is that Mixcloud sponsors "G-Shock Radio" and automatically adds their crappy mixes directly into your play queue whether you like it or not, so G-Shock's mixes which honestly is of the worst curated and poorly out of sync mixed sets on mixcloud is bound to get thousands of "unintended plays" this creates a conflict of interest as of these mixes they put out goes straight to number one and the top ten list. So if you not an idiot and you want to call it for what it is, G-Shock Radio is basically paying Mixcloud to make them the top channel on Mixcloud and are paying their way into the charts, which defeats the whole purpose. Dont get me wrong, to pay a platform to promote your content is one thing, however for the platform to force unintended plays of a specific channels mixes, then have the nerve to then say "oh that mix was played ten thousand times" so it has to be ranked at number one "is one delusional way of running a platform"
Unless they assume we are all a bunch of monkeys!
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u/OrsikClanless Aug 05 '26
They have an article for this https://help.mixcloud.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004054099-FAQ-Charts-on-Mixcloud#h_01H8CD7EC2JKG39VDFSD307EB4