Week ending January 31 All categories

Ranking	Artist	Title	Downloads
#1	Nelly	Over And Over (unchanged)	5,827,833
#2	Snoop Dogg	Drop it like It’s Hot (unchanged)	5,717,781
#3	Mario	Let Me Love You (+ #4)	5,352,982
#4	Usher	My Boo (- #3)	5,132,601
#5	Trick Daddy	Let’s Go (unchanged)	4,900,034
#6	The Game	How We Do (unchanged)	4,819,648
#7	Destiny’s Child	Lose My Breath (unchanged)	4,069,550
#8	Linkin Park and Jay-Z	Numb/Encore (unchanged)	3,943,144
#9	Eminem	Like Toy Soldiers (unchanged)	3,932,340
#10	Ludacris	Get Back (new)	3,717,510

Country

Ranking	Artist	Title	Downloads
#1	Nelly	Over And Over (unchanged)	2,629,230
#2	Rascal Flatts	Bless The Broken Road (unchanged)	1,018,150
#3	Gretchen Wilson	When I Think About Cheating (+ #4)	623,145
#4	Brad Paisley	Mud On The Tires (+ #5)	613,161
#5	Big & Rich	Holy Water (+ #6)	547,467
#6	Keith Urban	You’re My Better Half (+ #7)	420,788
#7	LeAnn Rimes	Nothin’ ‘Bout Love Makes Sense	396,394
#8	Josh Gracin	Nothing to Lose (+ #10)	359,804
#9	Darryl Worley	Awful, Beautiful Life (unchanged)	350,102
#10	Kenny Chesney	Anything But Mine (new)	301,869

Adult Contemporary

Ranking	Artist	Title	Downloads
#1	Nelly	Over And Over (unchanged)	4,974,336
#2	Usher	My Boo (unchanged)	4,179,043
#3	Mario	Let Me Love You (unchanged)	4,143,016
#4	Destiny’s Child	Lose My Breath (unchanged)	3,353,001
#5	Green Day	Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (unchanged)	3,099,362
#6	Kelly Clarkson	Since U Been Gone (+ #9)	2,790,001
#7	Maroon 5	She Will Be Loved (- #6)	2,696,864
#8	Destiny’s Child	Soldier (unchanged)	2,694,375
#9	Green Day	American Idiot (- #7)	2,679,957
#10	Jojo	Baby It’s You (new)	2,370,046

Rock

Ranking	Artist	Title	Downloads
#1	Snoop Dogg	Drop it like It’s Hot (unchanged)	3,683,972
#2	Green Day	Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (unchanged)	3,035,326
#3	Linkin Park and Jay-Z	Numb/Encore (unchanged)	2,773,368
#4	The Game	How We Do (+ #5)	2,748,979
#5	Eminem	Like Toy Soldiers ( - #4)	2,581,829
#6	Ludacris	Get Back (unchanged)	2,282,175
#7	Bowling for Soup	1985 (unchanged)	1,809,274
#8	Gavin Degraw	I Don’t Want To Be (+ #9)	1,507,404
#9	Gwen Stefani	What You Waiting For? (- #8)	1,451,968
#10	The Killers	Mr Brightside (unchanged)	1,388,759

Urban

Ranking	Artist	Title	Downloads
#1	Snoop Dogg	Drop it like It’s Hot (unchanged)	5,221,584
#2	Nelly	Over And Over (unchanged)	5,197,753
#3	Mario	Let Me Love You (+ #4)	4,969,899
#4	Usher	My Boo (- #3)	4,764,211
#5	Trick Daddy	Let’s Go (unchanged)	4,533,311
#6	The Game	How We Do (unchanged)	4,461,789
#7	Destiny’s Child	Lose My Breath (unchanged)	3,730,265
#8	Eminem	Like Toy Soldiers (unchanged)	3,505,170
#9	Ludacris	Get Back (unchanged)	3,444,191
#10	Ja Rule	New York (unchanged)	3,204,975

How can downloads be any more than guesstimate? Reader’s Write

It [the #1 item) says that Nelly was downloaded 5,954,537 times. That’s a very precise figure. It was not rounded to 5.9 or 6 million. What P2P networks did this include anyway? How is it possible to get such a precise figure from such a nebulous, randomized network such as Fasttrack - a network which does not even connect each user to every other peer?

Since downloads on a P2P network take place between multitudes of anonymous peers, how can any system determine the number of downloads taking place without undertaking the impossible task of monitoring every single one of the millions of peers?

Does BigChampagne set up a few supernodes and monitor them for file requests, then extrapolate the results to estimate the total network requests? Is this assuming that the number of requests equals the number of completed downloads? (That would be a rather speculative assumption.) As any P2P user knows, the larger the file, the greater the probability of the transfer getting cancelled, and having to be re-requested afterward to complete it. So this method would tend to give 6 minute songs a higher rating than 3 minute songs due to the increased cancellations.

If using statistical analysis, the methodology could be considered a success if it would get an accuracy of plus or minus 5% or 10% of real-world numbers on a given, open network. But the posted figures suggest an incredible .00001% accuracy.

Although I think that the relative popularity of the members of the ‘top ten’ list is probably precise enough to create a ranking order, I also think that there is really no accurate way to determine the actual number of downloads on any given P2P network.

Also, the file transfer methods in which downloads are more difficult to monitor - such as IRC, Newsgroups, email, Instant messages, and private servers - these generate a substantial number of shared files. So the actual numbers are anyone’s guess.

Here’s what Big Champagne ceo Eric Garland had to say >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Good point - the "precise figures" you reference are really by definition a very precise under-representation of the file sharing phenomenon.

There’s no way anyone will ever empirically observe "all activity" on p2p (any more than Big Brother will ever get his watchful eye on all of the activity on the Internet itself), for the reasons your Reader so succinctly outlines.

Big Champagne chart reporting is based only on what our company observes on p2p, and so is necessarily under-reporting file sharing activity, as any source is. There is, of course, absolutely no way that anyone can measure file sharing that occurs via email, IM, private servers and so forth.

Again, well done by your reader.

As to Big Champagne’s methodology, we’re not basing these charts off of search activity, but rather the proliferation of files on public p2p over time, which we measure very accurately. (We also measure search activity and use that information in other contexts, but the charts on p2pnet.net are based on what we observe - it’s simply "what we see.") Having said that, what we see is quite a lot! Millions of users sharing billions of files, in fact. Our monitoring technologies collect p2p data in real time, 24/7, and ceaselessly as we’ve done for more than four years now.

We strongly agree with your reader, who points out that the "actual number" of files transferred on internet using a variety of technologies (IRC, Newsgroups, email, Instant messages, and private servers) is "anybody’s guess." So rather than guess at that, we report on public p2p activity among the great, unwashed masses. And we sincerely hope that p2pnet readers enjoy gnashing their teeth at the typical p2p user’s bad taste in movies, music - and likely even "business casual" attire, I’d be willing to wager.

==========

If you want even more detail see our Q&A with Garland here.

Something you think we should know about? tips[at]p2pnet.net

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 1st, 2005 at 6:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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