So, there's this interesting (or not) discussion going on over at Metafilter about this new program that analyzes musical trends of chart toppers, and I guess it will let the record companies craft more chart toppers.

But this is totally farked up, because the charts aren't really decided by market economics. Ever heard of payola? The record companies PAY to have their big pop stars at the top of the charts. There's nothing natural about it at all. It's a manufactured phenomenon. So really, the program predicts nothing.