This week, Apple announced a new take on the charts by debuting a city-specific series of rankings that goes around the world and back again. The charts are available for over 100 cities and are compiled not by traditional play counts, but rather through a sort of algorithm that takes into consideration social media buzz, popularity, and other aspects. It's a bit of an interesting departure from the earlier internet ideal of bringing everyone together to a central place at the expense of local scenes and communities. Not just in music, but across the board for culture, it seems people are retreating back to their own parts of the world a bit, and this tool perfectly supports it.

The charts represent the artists that are most popular across a huge swath of the world. From Tel Aviv to Melbourne and Medellin to Lagos, it's a very comprehensive look at who trending where. For instance, Justin Bieber is holding down the top spot in Bangkok but can't break the top three in Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York City. Meanwhile, Chicago is pushing their hometown kid Polo G more than anyone. 

Billboard has long held the title of the most important music charting service. A recent merger with Rolling Stone and Vibe however gave the joint venture more weight to throw around in the arena, given the fact that both Billboard and RS had charts of their own. Apple seems to be doing what Apple does and looking forward to what's next. I can't say I'm mad at it either. The communities that form around regional sounds or pride is what makes music fun and after spreading out across the world with the Internet, this might be one small way to bring back a local feel while also broadcasting it to the world. We embedded a few below to take a look at, for the full list, click here. 

New York

Chicago

Los Angeles

Bangkok

Medellin