1. Editions that stay available
Public submissions are reviewed by the editors. Each approved recording joins the current open edition immediately. Only approved public submissions count towards its 100 places. When the hundredth entry is added, that edition closes to public additions and the next edition opens. Existing tracks remain available in their original edition; they are never moved or deleted just because the edition fills up.
The same Spotify track cannot be submitted again. Different recordings may enter later editions after review. These editions are collections on the Instrumental website, with embedded Spotify players; they are not automatically created playlists in a Spotify account.
2. Vote immediately
Confirm your email through a one-hour link. No account or Spotify sign-in is required and voting does not subscribe you to email marketing. You may support up to five different tracks each UTC day, once per track per day. You can return the following day and support the same track again. A keyed email hash enforces the limits.
3. Weekly Top 10 and Monthly Top 15
Each edition has its own contests. Weekly totals run from Monday 00:00 UTC to the next Monday. Monthly totals run from the first day of a calendar month at 00:00 UTC to the first day of the next month. An approved track enters the current periods immediately, with no waiting for the edition to fill up.
When an edition closes, its current weekly and monthly contests continue to their scheduled ends. The next edition starts its own contests immediately. After those final periods, tracks in the completed edition participate only in the global chart.
4. Global Top 100
The global live chart includes approved tracks from every edition. Its score uses valid votes received during the preceding 30 days, so historic totals do not permanently reserve the top places. A dated global result is recorded each week using the 30 days ending at that week’s closing time.
5. Scores and results
Each accepted vote has equal weight. Streams, followers, shares, purchases and editorial preferences do not add points. Tracks with no valid votes are not ranked. Ties are ordered by the time the track joined, then its internal identifier. The charts contain at most 10, 15 and 100 tracks respectively.
Completed results are saved when the chart is next visited after the period ends. Published snapshots remain available and are not silently overwritten. Existing results published under the previous rules remain accessible at their original addresses.
6. Artist pages and badges
A first published Top 5 result qualifies the track for a permanent artist feature page. Editors can add supplied biography and photographs. Repeat achievements add dated history and counters, such as Top 5 ×3. Badges recognise debut, first places, chart returns and consecutive results. A live position alone does not earn an award.
7. Partner placements
Editors may add clearly labelled partner placements to completed editions. These do not take one of the original 100 public places and cannot enter that edition’s weekly or monthly contests. They may compete in the global chart through genuine reader votes. A commercial placement does not buy votes, a rank or an achievement badge.
8. Fair play and enquiries
Automated, purchased and exchanged votes are prohibited. Editors can review and exclude invalid votes from totals before results are finalised. Each published result is a dated record; report suspected abuse or request a correction through our contact page. Voting opens only when email verification and the security check are connected.