The chart is based solely on radio airplay ranked by a calculation of the total number of spins each song receives per week.
[2] The chart was renamed to Alternative Songs beginning with the June 20, 2009, issue after Billboard fully absorbed Radio & Records, whose similar chart was called "Alternative" and to reflect the music industry's more common use of the term.
[3] In June 2020, Billboard introduced the separate Hot Alternative Songs chart, which uses similar methodology as the Billboard Hot 100 by measuring the popularity of songs classified as alternative across all radio formats, streaming services, and sales within the United States.
The first alternative chart, called Modern Rock Tracks, appeared in the September 10, 1988, edition of Billboard magazine.
In the mid-1990s, alternative rock songs began to crossover to Pop radio, with acts such as Green Day, the Offspring and Alanis Morissette being played on Pop stations after establishing hits on the Alternative chart.
[6] Dominant genres included pop punk and softer alternative rock, as grunge acts such as Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots did not reach No.
[6][10] At the turn of the century, alternative radio embraced nu-metal/rap rock with bands including Korn, Limp Bizkit and most famously, Linkin Park.
Chris Molanphy of Pitchfork stated that "possibly the most loathed period for music of the last half-century, the rap-rock years—when looked through the prism of the Modern Rock chart's evolution—are a logical endpoint to a decade when alt-culture steadily de-wussified itself.
1 song was by either Foo Fighters, Green Day, Incubus, Linkin Park or Red Hot Chili Peppers 49% of the time – 152 out of 313 weeks.
[6] During this time, 1990s alternative groups such as Nine Inch Nails and Weezer enjoyed their biggest success, while emo (Jimmy Eat World), indie rock (Modest Mouse) and pop punk (Fall Out Boy) also were popular.
[14] On October 11, 2018, Billboard released its Greatest of All Time Alternative Songs 30th-anniversary recap.
[16] As of 2023, only Depeche Mode, Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2 have extended that streak to five decades.