Dutch Top 40

Dutch singles chart

This chart is often confused with the Single Top 100 and the Mega Top 50.

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Hans Breukhoven and Lex Harding celebrating a printed edition of the Dutch Top 40 in 2005

The Dutch Top 40 (Dutch: Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by Stichting Nederlandse Top 40.[1] It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting. Joost den Draaijer initiated the Top 40 in the Netherlands. The show currently airs on Fridays from 2 to 6 PM on Qmusic.

## History

[edit]

Swedish pop group ABBA receiving an award for reaching the top of the Veronica Top

On January 2, 1965, the first Top 40 was compiled, with its first #1 hit "I Feel Fine" by The Beatles. In September 1974, the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 bought the Top 40 and named it De Nederlandse Top 40. The Dutch Top 40 is one of the four official charts in the Netherlands, the other three being the B2B Single Top 100, which is based entirely on pure sales and streaming, the Mega Top 30 from (NPO 3FM) which, like the Dutch Top 40 also includes airplay data,[2] and the Dutch Single Tip.

From October 4, 1974 until May 20, 1976, the Top 40 was broadcast by TROS on the pop radio station Hilversum 3, presented by famous Dutch DJ Ferry Maat. From May 28, 1976 until November 29. 1985 the Top 40 was broadcast by Veronica on Hilversum 3. As of December 1, 1985, after the rename of the station name to Radio 3, the Top 40 continued to be broadcast by Veronica on Radio 3.

In 1981 and 1982, Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 ran several trade fairs in both the Netherlands and Belgium.[3]

In January 1993, Radio 3 decided that the broadcasting of two hit lists (the other one was the Nationale Top 100) on one radio station must come to an end and therefore from February 7, 1993 Radio 3 started to broadcast a new hit list: the Mega Top 50 and wanted to terminate the broadcasting of the Top 40.[4] Due to a lawsuit of the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40,[5] Veronica had to continue broadcasting the Dutch Top 40 on Radio 3 until December 18, 1993.

Meanwhile the Dutch Top 40 was also broadcast on the Dutch commercial radio station Radio 538 since June 1993. The list continued to be broadcast on this radio station until December 28, 2018, when Radio 538 discontinued the broadcasting of the Dutch Top 40. As of January 4, 2019, the Top 40 is broadcast by the Dutch commercial radio station Qmusic.

The current number one is "Ordinary" by Alex Warren.[6]

## Compilation

[edit]

### Composition

[edit]

For most of its history, the Top 40 was based on sales figures of record stores. These were collected through telephone surveys. As of 1999, the airplay of a limited number of radio stations was included.[7] Between 2006 and 2014, download figures were added to the mix. They were removed again because supposedly, download sales could be easily manipulated by record companies or artists.[8]

As of February 2014, the chart is a combination of airplay, streaming, and social media trends.[9] The more often a song gets played on the radio, the higher its ranking in the Top 40.

To compute year-end chart positions, the weekly #1 positions get 40 points, the #2 positions get 39 points, etc. These weekly scores are then added up and sorted by single to determine the ranking.

#### Tipparade

[edit]

The Tipparade, a 'bubbling under' chart for the Top 40, is based on sales, streaming, airplay, and recommendations from both the general public and the music industry.[10][11]

### Rules

[edit]

This section may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The talk page may contain suggestions. (April 2015)

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There is a set of rules, of which some have existed since 1972, that has been maintained up until 2012. Some of these have been criticized as a hindrance.

* Since late 1971, singles had to remain at least two weeks in the charts. If a single officially no longer belongs in the Top 40, these are placed at #40.
* Example: Missy Elliott's "Lose Control": Remained for two weeks at #40 in the chart, because it did not sell enough and also wasn't played enough on the radio.
* There have been two exceptions to this, though: In October 1994, Pet Shop Boys' "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" stayed in the charts for only one week due to an error in the compilation, and in late September 2007, Kus's "4 meiden" just didn't sell enough to stay in the charts for two weeks.
* Since 1983, singles that move up in the chart by a large number of positions are assigned superstip ("super bullet") status. These singles were not allowed to fall down in chart position in the following week. If a superstip single had comparatively lower sales/airplay statistics a week later, it would remain stuck on the same chart position until the second week of drop, by which time it may appear as if it dropped hard in chart positions.
* Example: Guus Meeuwis's "Ik wil dat ons land juicht": The song entered the chart at #11 (superstip), and rose up to #5 (superstip again) in its second week. The following week it was meant to drop in chart position, but it remained in the #5 position. The following two weeks, it went from #5 to #39. Because of this rule, this single was the biggest fall down in the Top 40. However, this was not always the case. Sometimes singles with a superstip status did drop, for example, if there's no room.
* Up until 2005, there were no clear rules on when a single could re-enter the Top 40. Apparently, a song had to re-enter at least in the top 30 portions of the chart to be allowed back, which happened occasionally. In the case of re-issued singles, there were no rules whatsoever - these singles could re-enter anyway. Since the mid-2000s, new rules were implemented, meaning that only songs from recently deceased artists could return to the Top 40, such as Michael Jackson's Billie Jean after the artist's death in 2009. Since 2012, "normal" re-entries have started to occur again. During the Christmas season, however, re-entries of older Christmas classics (e.g. Wham!'s Last Christmas or Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You) are barred from re-entering the Top 40, even though their streaming and airplay activity should earn them a Top 40 position.
* Singles with double A-side are listed separately in the Top 40; due to the (possible) different amount of airplay the two songs get.
* Example: Robbie Williams' first single off his 2005 album Intensive Care was "Tripping" with the B-side being "Make Me Pure". While "Tripping" topped the chart by peaking at #1, "Make Me Pure" peaked at #15 in the Top 40.

## Records, milestones and achievements

[edit]

This is a listing of significant achievements and milestones based upon the Dutch Top 40 charts.

### Song achievements

[edit]

#### Most weeks at number one

[edit]

* 18 weeks

Harry Styles – "As It Was" (2022)

* 17 weeks

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars – "Die with a Smile" (2024–25)

* 16 weeks

Calvin Harris with Dua Lipa – "One Kiss" (2018)
Miley Cyrus – "Flowers" (2023
Alex Warren – "Ordinary" (2025)

* 15 weeks

Ed Sheeran – "Shape of You" (2017)
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber – "Despacito (Remix)" (2017)
Tones and I – "Dance Monkey" (2019–2020)
Tate McRae – "Greedy" (2023–24)

* 14 weeks

The Weeknd – "Blinding Lights" (2020)

* 13 weeks

Gusttavo Lima – "Balada" (2012)

* 12 weeks

Marco Borsato – "Dromen Zijn Bedrog" (1994)
Shawn Mendes featuring Camila Cabello – "Señorita" (2019)

Source:[12]

#### Most total weeks in the Top 40

[edit]

* 49 weeks

Pharrell Williams – "Happy" (2013–14)

* 42 weeks

Lewis Capaldi – "Someone You Loved" (2019)

* 41 weeks

Corry En De Rekels – "Huilen Is Voor Jou Te Laat" (1970–71)

* 40 weeks

The Scorpions – "Hello Josephine" (1965, 1977)
Trio Hellenique – "Zorba's Dance" (1965–66, 1974)[a]

* 39 weeks

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg – "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus" (1969, 1974)

* 38 weeks

Avicii – "Wake Me Up!" (2013–14, 2018)
Gotye featuring Kimbra – "Somebody That I Used to Know" (2011–12)

* 35 weeks

Dave Berry – "This Strange Effect" (1965–66)
Nini Rosso – "Il Silenzio" (1965–66)[b]

Source:[13]

#### Number-one debuts

[edit]

* The Beatles – "I Feel Fine" (January 2, 1965)
* The Beatles – "We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper" (December 25, 1965)
* Procol Harum – "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (June 17, 1967)
* The Beatles – "Hey Jude" (September 14, 1968)
* Jantje Smit – "Ik zing dit lied voor jou alleen" (April 12, 1997)
* Elton John – "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" / "Candle in the Wind 1997" (September 27, 1997)
* 2Pac – "Changes" (February 13, 1999)
* Backstreet Boys – "I Want It That Way" (May 8, 1999)
* Starmaker – "Damn (I Think I Love You)" (April 14, 2001)
* One Day Fly – "I Wanna Be a One Day Fly" (May 19, 2001)
* Shaggy featuring Rayvon – "Angel" (June 23, 2001)
* Shakira – "Whenever, Wherever" (February 9, 2002)
* Jamai – "Step Right Up" (March 29, 2003)
* Jim – "Tell Her" (May 17, 2003)
* Dinand Woesthoff – "Dreamer (Gussie's song)" (February 21, 2004)
* Boris – "When You Think of Me" (May 22, 2004)
* Marco Borsato and Ali B – "Wat zou je doen" (September 25, 2004)
* André Hazes – "Zij gelooft in mij" (October 9, 2004)
* MEN2B – "Bigger Than That" (December 25, 2004)
* Artiesten Voor Azië – "Als je iets kan doen" (January 15, 2005)
* Kane – "Fearless" (August 6, 2005)
* Ch!pz – "Carnival" (August 27, 2005)
* Lange Frans & Baas B – "Het land van..." (October 8, 2005)
* Andrea Bocelli and Marco Borsato – "Because We Believe" (February 11, 2006)
* Raffaëla – "Right Here Right Now" (March 25, 2006)
* Sharon Kips – "Heartbreak Away" (March 10, 2007)
* Jan Smit – "Dan volg je haar benen" (November 3, 2007)
* Nikki – "Hello World" (March 15, 2008)
* Marco Borsato – "Wit licht" (May 3, 2008)
* Marco Borsato – "Stop de tijd" (August 30, 2008)
* Lisa – "Hallelujah" (May 23, 2009)
* Lady Gaga – "Born This Way" (February 26, 2011)
* Nick & Simon – "Julia" (March 23, 2013)
* Adele – "Hello" (October 31, 2015)
* Olivia Rodrigo – "Drivers License" (January 23, 2021)
* Adele – "Easy on Me" (October 23, 2021)
* Joost – "Europapa" (March 9, 2024)
* Roxy Dekker – "Sugardaddy" (April 13, 2024)

### Artist achievements

[edit]

#### Most Top 40 entries

[edit]

* BZN (55)
* Madonna (55)
* David Guetta (53)
* Michael Jackson (50)
* The Rolling Stones (49)
* Golden Earring (47)
* Queen (46)
* Normaal (46)
* U2 (44)
* Vader Abraham (43)
* Bee Gees (43)

Source:[14]

#### Most number-one singles

[edit]

Number of singles  | Artist

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16  | The Beatles
15  | Marco Borsato
8  | ABBA
7  | Justin Bieber
6  | Michael Jackson
6  | George Michael
6  | Jan Smit
6  | Queen
5  | The Cats
5  | Bee Gees
5  | The Kinks
5  | David Bowie
5  | Golden Earring
5  | UB40
5  | Madonna
5  | Bruno Mars

Source:[15]

Most weeks at number one
(Total) Artist | Record

|

The Beatles | 74 weeks
Marco Borsato | 72 weeks
Justin Bieber | 47 weeks
Bruno Mars | 40 weeks
Ed Sheeran | 34 weeks
Lady Gaga | 29 weeks
Adele | 27 weeks
George Michael | 26 weeks
Jan Smit | 25 weeks
Elton John | 25 weeks
ABBA | 24 weeks

Source:[16]

Most weeks at number one
(in 1 year) Artist | Year | Record

|
|

The Beatles | 1965 | 30 weeks
Marco Borsato | 2006 | 22 weeks
Ed Sheeran | 2017 | 20 weeks
The Beatles | 1966 | 19 weeks
Harry Styles | 2022 | 18 weeks
Calvin Harris | 2018 | 16 weeks
Dua Lipa | 2018 | 16 weeks
Miley Cyrus | 2023 | 16 weeks
Justin Bieber | 2016  | 15 weeks
2017
Avicii | 2013 | 15 weeks
Pharrell Williams | 2013 | 15 weeks
Bruno Mars | 2024 | 15 weeks
Lady Gaga | 2024 | 15 weeks
Alex Warren | 2025 | 15 weeks
Most successful top 40 artists  Artist | Weeks | Points

|
|

David Guetta | 745 | 16389
Rihanna | 590 | 14741
Madonna | 540 | 13428
Marco Borsato | 494 | 12996
Justin Bieber | 472 | 12584
Rolling Stones | 462 | 12070
Ed Sheeran | 420 | 10398
Michael Jackson | 433 | 10326
The Beatles | 328 | 9728
Pink | 444 | 9312

Source:[17]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Three different versions of the song (which was featured in the 1964 film Zorba the Greek), performed by Trio Hellenique, Mikis Theodorakis and Duo Acropolis, were combined as one chart entry (which happened more often in the 1960s), spending 37 weeks on the chart. The Trio Hellenique version spent three more weeks on the chart in 1974, totalling 40 weeks.
2. ^ Different versions of the song were performed by three different artists, and were listed on the Top 40 as only one song.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Bakker, Machgiel (August 24, 1991). "Specifications Of National Charts" (PDF). Music & Media. p. 3. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
2. ^ "Buma/Stemra" (PDF). Music & Media. April 3, 1993. p. 21. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
3. ^ "Dutch Foundation Sets Trade Fairs" (PDF). Billboard. January 5, 1982. p. 35. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
4. ^ Watson, Miranda (July 3, 1993). "Battle Of The Charts Heats Up" (PDF). Music & Media. p. 3. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
5. ^ Bakker, Machgiel (February 20, 1993). "Dutch Chart Rivalry Ends In Court Case Proceedings" (PDF). Music & Media. p. 3. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
6. ^ "Top 40-lijst van week 28, 2025". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
7. ^ "International - Newsline" (PDF). Billboard. January 23, 1999. p. 49. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
8. ^ Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. "Geschiedenis Nederlandse Top 40". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-02-21.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
9. ^ Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. "Samenstelling Top 40". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-02-21.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
10. ^ Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. "Geschiedenis Nederlandse Top 40". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-01-05.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. ^ "Bulletin Board - Holland" (PDF). Music & Media. May 25, 1996. p. 4. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
12. ^ "Langst op nummer 1". www.top40.nl. Dutch Top 40. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
13. ^ "Langst in de Top 40". www.top40.nl. Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
14. ^ Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Artiest met de meeste Top 40-hits". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-12-17.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
15. ^ "Artiest met meeste nummer 1-hits". Dutch Top 40 (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 December 2021.
16. ^ "Artiest langst op nummer 1". Dutch Top 40 (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 December 2021.
17. ^ "Best scorende artiest". Dutch Top 40 (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 December 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40 / Official website—contains archive from 1965 onwards Is now fully renewed!
* (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40 / Radio 538 website—contains archive from 1965 onwards

* v
* t
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Lists of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles

* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
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* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
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* 1993
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* 1995
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