The Top 40 format was built around a core music library of 40 songs which was freshened each week. Some songs were added to the playlist and played just enough for us to get to know them. As we began to love them, the station knew to move them up into categories that were played more often.

Every 10 minutes or so, we knew we’d hear one of our very favorite songs and then, when we started to tire of them, the station knew to move them down into categories that were played less often and eventually out of the core library.

The 40 songs weren’t played in the same order over and over, and they weren’t played in a random order. The mix was always fresh and each hour was different.

The top 10 songs repeated about every 90 minutes. The next 10 repeated every 3 hours, the next 10 every 4 hours, and the bottom 10 repeated every 6 hours. Sprinkled in now and then were the songs our favorite DJs retrieved from the music vault.

Top Tracks puts you in charge of as many stations as you want to create. The app lets you create two kinds of stations - it all depends on whether your station is based on a chart or a playlist.

If you start with a Top 25 City Chart or a Daily Global Top 100 Chart, Top Tracks automatically creates a station for you and updates it every day.

A Top 25 station rotates the music a little more quickly than most stations, but then again, the music refreshes every day and songs move on and off and up and down the charts.

A Top 100 station rotates the top 40 songs just like a classic Top 40 station and treats the remaining 60 songs as songs that can be added to spice up the mix once an hour.

Want a little more control?

If you build your station from an Apple Music Playlist, you can influence whether a song is played more often or less often and rotate the music on your schedule.

Choose a playlist by checking out the top ranked playlists, or look for playlists by selecting a top genre, a particular mood or activity, a favorite decade, a particular International vibe, or try your luck with a search.

As you listen to these playlist stations, take the time to rate the songs, and the next time you choose to rotate the music in the station, your favorite songs will move up, others will move down, and music from the vault will enter the Top 40 rotation.

As Apple Music refreshes these playlists, you’ll be able to add new music to your station.

Share your favorite stations with friends, and they can build their own stations from the same playlists and charts.

Create and enjoy as many stations as you’d like.

This app requires that you have an Apple Music Subscription.