Music and fandom are deeply fragmented in the second full year of the Soundscan era on the Billboard charts as Gen-X takes charge of pop culture and Bill Clinton is inaugurated President. But genres are flowering in their silos, the music biz is prospering, and CD-single genres, especially Hip-Hop and R&B, are ruling the Hot100.

#1 Song of the Year   The top song according to our Chartcrush ranking of all Hot100 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year

Artists of the Year   The top three artists based on all charted songs during the calendar year

1. SWV
2. Whitney Houston
3. Shai

Artist with Most Charting Songs   Artist(s) with the most Hot100 charting songs during the year (song count in parentheses)

• TIE: Whitney Houston/SWV (4)

Average #1 Artist Age   The average of how old artists who scored #1 Hot100 hits during the year were when their songs first reached #1

• 28.6 years

#1 Songs   List of Hot100 #1 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year, and (in parentheses), the month the song first hit #1 and the total number of weeks it was #1

1. Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You (November ’92, 14 wks)
2. Peabo Bryson & Regina Bell – A Whole New World (March, 1 wk)
3. Snow – Informer (March, 7 wks)
4. Silk – Freak Me (May, 2 wks)
5. Janet Jackson – That’s the Way Love Goes (May, 8 wks)
6. SWV – Weak (July, 2 wks)
7. UB40 – Can’t Help Falling in Love (July, 7 wks)
8. Mariah Carey – Dreamlover (September, 8 wks)
9. Meat Loaf – I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) (November, 5 wks)