When Billboard began counting iTunes sales towards its Hot 100 singles chart, it democratized an area of the chart that had long been ruled by the whims of the radio industry. Hit songs still functioned the same way, but an artist with a strong fan base could now more easily prevail over a lesser known artist’s breakout track, at least in the short run. Soon, certain buying habits of the iTunes demographic started to warp how popular music looked and sounded. When 2013 became the first year in Hot 100 history that no African-American artist topped the chart, the way iTunes single sales seemed to be disproportionately low for hip-hop and R&B artists was frequently pointed out as a possible cause.