Billboard charts

Music sales rankings by the trade magazine Billboard

Billboard logo

The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in Billboard magazine. Billboard biz, the online extension of the Billboard charts, provides additional weekly charts,^[1] as well as year-end charts.^[2] The charts may be dedicated to a specific genre such as R&B, country, or rock, or they may cover all genres. The charts can be ranked according to sales, streams, or airplay, and for main song charts such as the Hot 100 song chart, all three data are used to compile the charts.^[3] For the Billboard 200 album chart, streams and track sales are included in addition to album sales.^[4]

The weekly sales and streams charts are monitored on a Friday-to-Thursday cycle since July 2015; previously it was on a Monday-to-Sunday cycle. Radio airplay song charts, however, follow the Monday-to-Sunday cycle (previously Wednesday-to-Tuesday).^[5] The charts are released each Tuesday with an issue date the following Saturday.

History, methods and description

‹ The template below (More citations needed section) is being considered for merging. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. ›

‹ The template below (More citations needed) is being considered for merging. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. ›

On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade.^[6] The first Music Popularity Chart was calculated in July 1940. A variety of song charts followed, which were eventually consolidated into the Hot 100 by mid-1958. The Hot 100 currently combines singles sales, radio airplay, digital downloads, and streaming activity (including data from YouTube and other video sites). All of the Billboard charts use this basic formula. Which stations and stores are used separates the charts; each musical genre has a core audience or retail group. Each genre's department at Billboard is headed up by a chart manager, who makes these determinations.

For many years, a song had to be commercially available as a single to be considered for any of the Billboard charts. At the time, instead of using Nielsen SoundScan or Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS), Billboard obtained its data from manual reports filled out by radio stations and stores. According to the 50th-anniversary issue of Billboard, prior to the official implementation of SoundScan tracking in November 1991, many radio stations and retail stores removed songs from their manual reports after the associated record labels stopped promoting a particular single. Thus, songs fell quickly after peaking and had shorter chart lives. In 1990, the country singles chart was the first chart to use SoundScan and BDS. They were followed by the Hot 100 and the R&B chart in 1991. Today, all of the Billboard charts use this technology.

Originally, Billboard had separate charts for different measures of popularity, including disc jockey playings, juke box song selection, and best selling records in retail stores. The final accolade of a successful single was a position on the Honor Roll of Hits. The chart was introduced in the March 24, 1945, issue, ranking the most popular songs comprised by record and sheet sales, disk jockey, and jukebox performances as determined by Billboard's weekly nationwide survey.^[7] The jukebox chart ceased publication after the June 17, 1957, issue, the disk jockey chart after the July 28, 1958, issue, the best-seller chart after the October 13, 1958, issue, and the Honor Roll of Hits after the November 16, 1963, issue.^[8] A composite standing chart that combined these gradually grew to become a top 100, the predecessor to the current Hot 100 chart. The July 28, 1958, issue was the last to call the composite chart the "Top 100"; the following week began the "Hot 100." Billboard publishes many different charts, with the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 being the most famous. Billboard also has charts for these music styles: rock, country, dance, bluegrass, jazz, classical, R&B, rap, electronic, pop, Latin, Christian music, comedy albums, catalog albums^{[disambiguation needed]}, and even ringtones for mobile (cell) phones. In 2009, Billboard partnered with MetroLyrics to offer top-10 lyrics for each of the charts.

At the end of each year, Billboard tallies the results of all of its charts, and the results are published in a year-end issue and heard on year-end editions of its American Top 40 and American Country Countdown radio broadcasts. Between 1991 and 2006, the top single/album/artist(s) in each of those charts was/were awarded in the form of the annual Billboard Music Awards, which were held in December until the awards went dormant in 2007. The awards returned in May 2011.

Before September 1995, singles were allowed to chart in the week they first went on sale based on airplay points alone. The policy was changed in September 1995, to only allow a single to debut after a full week of sales on combined sales and airplay points. This allowed several tracks to debut at number one.

In December 1998, the policy was further modified to allow tracks to chart on the basis of airplay alone without a commercial release. This change was made to reflect the changing realities of the music business. Previous to this, several substantial radio and MTV hits had not appeared on the Billboard chart at all, because many major labels chose not to release them as standalone singles, hoping their unavailability would spur greater album sales. Not offering a popular song to the public as a single was unheard of before the 1970s. The genres that suffered most at the time were those that increasingly impacted pop culture, including new genres such as trip hop and grunge. Among the many pre-1999 songs that had ended up in this Hot 100 limbo were The Cardigans' "Lovefool", Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" (which peaked at 42), Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" (which hit number 9), OMC's "How Bizarre", Sugar Ray's "Fly", and No Doubt's "Don't Speak".

On June 25, 2015, Billboard made changes in its chart requirements. The official street date for all new album releases was moved from Tuesday to Friday in the United States. For all sales-based charts (ranking both albums and tracks), Billboard and Nielsen changed the chart reporting period to cover the first seven days of an album's release. As a result of the changes, The Billboard 200, top albums sales, genre-based albums, digital songs, genre-based downloads, streaming songs, and genre-focused streaming surveys ran on a Friday-to-Thursday cycle. Radio Songs, which informs the Hot 100, synched to the Monday-to-Sunday period after formerly covering Wednesday to Tuesday. All other radio charts and genre tallies followed the Monday-to-Sunday cycle. The move was made to coincide with the IFPI's move to have all singles and albums released globally on Fridays.^[5]

Incorporating digital platforms

Starting in 2005, Billboard changed its methodology to include paid digital downloads from digital music retailers such as Rhapsody, AmazonMP3, and iTunes. This change also allowed songs to chart with or without the help of radio airplay. This meant that a song did not need radio airplay to be eligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. With this policy change, a song could chart based on digital downloads alone.^[9]

On July 31, 2007, Billboard changed its methodology for the Hot 100 chart to include digital streams. The digital information at the time was obtained from Yahoo and AOL's streaming platforms. This change was made exclusively to the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The effect of this chart change was minuscule at the time because it was estimated to account for 5% of the chart's total points.^[10]

In October 2012, Billboard significantly changed the methodology for their country, rock, Latin, and rap charts, when it incorporated sales of digital downloads and streaming plays into what had been airplay-only charts. Another change was that rather than measuring airplay only from radio stations of the particular genre, the new methodology measures airplay from all radio formats.^[11] This methodology was extended to their Christian and gospel charts in late 2013.^[12] These methodology changes resulted in higher positions on the genre charts for songs with crossover appeal to other genres and radio formats (especially pop) at the expense of songs that appeal almost exclusively to core fans of the given genre, which was controversial with those devotees.^[13]

On February 20, 2013, Billboard announced another change in the methodology for its charts that incorporated YouTube video streaming data into the determination of ranking positions on streaming charts. The incorporation of YouTube streaming data enhanced a formula that includes on-demand audio streaming and online radio streaming. The YouTube video streams that used in this methodology are official video streams, Vevo on YouTube streams, and user-generated clips that use authorized audio. Billboard said this change was made to further reflect the divergent platforms of music consumption in today's world.^[14]

Singles and tracks

All-genre

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Billboard Hot 100	sales + airplay + streaming	100	The US music industry standard song popularity chart
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles		25	Ranks the top 25 songs below #100 that have not previously appeared on the Hot 100. Positions do not directly correspond to positions 101-125 of an extended Hot 100, but many sources use this notation
Heatseekers Songs		25	Ranks songs from new artists/bands that have never attained the top 50 of the Hot 100. If a song reaches the top 50, it and any of the artist's/band's subsequent singles are ineligible for the chart.
Radio Songs	airplay (audience)	50	Measures radio airplay audience impressions on 1,233 radio stations encompassing all formats. One of the component charts of the Hot 100
Hot Singles Sales	physical sales	15	Measures sales of commercial singles One of the component charts of the Hot 100 No recurrent chart
Digital Song Sales	digital sales	50	Ranks top-selling digital song sales Combines different versions of songs for a summarized figure One of the component charts of the Hot 100
Hot Digital Tracks		75	Ranks digital song sales with different versions of songs listed No recurrent chart
Streaming Songs	streaming	50	Ranks top-streaming songs Combines different versions of songs for a summarized figure One of the component charts of the Hot 100

R&B/Hip-Hop

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	airplay + sales + streaming	50[A]	Ranks the most popular by combining airplay from all formats of radio stations, digital download sales, streaming data and YouTube views of R&B and hip-hop songs.
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay	airplay (audience)	50	Measures airplay based on audience impressions from various R&B/hip-hop stations.
R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales	digital sales		Top-downloaded R&B and hip-hop songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs	streaming		Top-streamed R&B and hip-hop songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop	airplay (spins)	40	Ranks songs by combining airplay base on radio plays (spins) from 76 R&B/hip-hop stations.
Adult R&B Songs	airplay (spins)	30	Measures airplay from 65 Urban AC radio stations.
R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales	digital sales	25	Top-downloaded R&B/hip-hop songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles	airplay + sales + streaming	15	Ranks the top 15 songs below #50 that have not previously appeared on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Rhythmic Top 40	airplay (spins)	40	Measures airplay spins on 72 rhythmic stations. Rhythmic is a music radio format that includes of a mix of dance, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and R&B hits. These stations also contribute to Dance/Mix Show Airplay panel
Hot Rap Songs	airplay + sales + streaming	25	Ranks the top 25 hip-hop/rap songs by combining airplay from all formats of radio stations, digital download sales, streaming data and YouTube views of rap songs.
Rap Airplay	airplay (spins)	25	Ranks the top 25 hip-hop/rap songs by airplay spins from R&B/hip-hop and rhythmic radio stations
Rap Digital Song Sales	digital sales		Top-downloaded rap songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Rap Streaming Songs	streaming		Top-streamed rap songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrents	airplay (spins)	20	Ranks songs that have fallen below No. 50 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and have been on that chart for over 20 weeks.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay	airplay (spins)	20	Ranks the songs that have fallen below No. 25 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and have been on that chart for over 20 weeks.
Hot R&B Songs	airplay + sales + streaming	25	Ranks the top 25 R&B songs by combining airplay from all formats of radio stations, digital download sales, streaming data and YouTube views of R&B songs.
R&B Digital Song Sales	digital sales		Top-downloaded R&B songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
R&B Streaming Songs	streaming		Top-streamed R&B songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Adult/Pop

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Mainstream Top 40 (also Pop Songs)	airplay (spins)	40	Measures airplay detections (spins) on 157 Contemporary hit radio stations. These stations also contribute to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay panel
Adult Top 40 (also Adult Pop Songs)		40	Measures airplay spins on 90 Hot adult contemporary stations
Adult Contemporary		30	Measures airplay spins on 85 adult contemporary stations

Country

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Hot Country Songs	sales + all format airplay + streaming	50	Combines sales, airplay from all radio formats and streaming data
Country Airplay	airplay (audience)	60	Measures airplay audience impression on 128 country music stations
Country Digital Songs	digital sales	50	Top-downloaded country songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Country Streaming Songs	streaming	50	Most streamed country songs.

Rock

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Hot Rock & Alternative Songs	Sales, airplay, and streaming	50	Ranks the top rock and alternative songs based on radio airplay across all formats, sales data, and streaming activity
Rock & Alternative Airplay	Airplay (audience)	50	Airplay audience impressions on mainstream rock, alternative, and Triple A radio stations
Rock Digital Song Sales	Digital sales	50	Top-downloaded rock songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan
Rock Streaming Songs	streaming	25	Top-streamed rock songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Hot Alternative Songs	Sales, airplay, and streaming	25	Ranks the top alternative songs based on radio airplay across all formats, sales data, and streaming activity
Alternative Airplay	Airplay (spins)	40	Measures airplay spins on 50 alternative/modern rock stations
Alternative Digital Song Sales	Digital sales	25	Top-downloaded songs classified as alternative (or a combination of alternative and another genre), ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. Component of Rock Digital Songs.
Alternative Streaming Songs	streaming	25	Top-streamed songs classified as alternative, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Mainstream Rock Airplay	Airplay (spins)	40	Measures airplay spins on 77 mainstream rock radio stations encompassing active rock and heritage rock
Adult Alternative Airplay (Triple A)		40	Measures airplay spins on 24 adult album alternative radio stations
Hot Hard Rock Songs	Sales, airplay, and streaming	25	Ranks the top hard rock songs based on radio airplay across all formats, sales data, and streaming activity
Hard Rock Digital Song Sales	Digital sales	25	Top-downloaded songs classified as hard rock, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Hard Rock Streaming Songs	streaming	25	Top-streamed songs classified as hard rock, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Dance/Electronic

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Dance Club Songs	reports from DJs	50	Compiled exclusively from playlists submitted by nightclub disc jockeys, who must apply and meet certain criteria to become Billboard-reporting DJs.
Hot Dance/Electronic Songs	Continuous airplay, single sales, digital downloads, online streaming	50	A chart which uses the same methodology as the Hot 100, which tracks the top dance/electronic songs based on monitored airplay, single sales, digital downloads and monitored online streaming. The songs will be used to determine eligibility for entry into the Hot 100. Criteria will be based on the song's tempo. Remixed versions of pop, rock, R&B, hip-hop and/or songs of other genres are ineligible for this chart.
Dance/Mix Show Airplay	Continuous airplay (Spins from exclusive reporters) Mix show airplay (Spins from Mainstream and Rhythmic stations)	40	Originally called Hot Dance Airplay when it was launched in 2003. A monitored dance music radio chart of 6 dance stations that came about as a result of the small but influential impact of dance music on the radio and the stations that program it. Renamed Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart on November 19, 2011. The chart now includes the 157 Mainstream Top 40 and 67 Rhythmic Top 40 reporters that features mix shows in their programming. Expanded to 40 positions, effective with the December 6, 2014 issue.
Dance/Electronic Digital Songs	digital sales	50	A chart that tracks the digital download sales of dance/electronic music singles, including tracks that are exclusively available online only. This chart also includes previously released dance and disco songs that became available for downloading.
Dance/Electronic Digital Streaming Songs	streaming	25	A chart that tracks the week's top Dance/Electronic streamed radio songs and on-demand songs and videos on leading online music services.

Latin

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Hot Latin Songs	Sales + airplay + streaming	50	Ranks the top fifty Spanish-language singles in the American music market. It was established as an airplay-only chart by Billboard in 1986. As of October 11, 2012, the chart is based on airplay across all formats, digital downloads, and streaming of Latin songs. Only predominately Spanish-language songs are eligible to rank on the chart.
Latin Airplay	Airplay (spins)	50	Ranks the most played songs on Latin radio stations in the United States and Puerto Rico regardless of genre or language.
Latin Digital Song Sales	Digital sales	50	Ranks the best-selling Spanish-language from digital music retailers as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Latin Pop Airplay	Airplay (audience)	25	Ranks the most-listened to Spanish-language pop songs on Latin music radio stations. It was established in 1994, initially measuring airplay of songs being played on Latin pop radio stations.
Regional Mexican Airplay	Airplay (spins)	40	Ranks the most performed song on Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States. It includes musical styles originating from Mexico as well as the Mexican-American community in the US such as Tejano. This chart is based on airplay from 65 regional Mexican radio stations compiled using information tracked by from BDS. It was established in 1994.
Tropical Airplay	Airplay (audience)	25	Ranks the most-listened to Spanish-language tropical music songs on 140 Latin music radio stations. It was established by the magazine in 1994, initially measuring airplay of songs played by a small panel of tropical music radio stations.
Latin Rhythm Airplay	Airplay (audience)	25	Ranks the most-listened to Spanish-language Latin rhythm songs. Latin rhythm is a music radio format that includes Spanish-language urban genres such as Latin hip hop and reggaeton. Established in 2005, it initially measured airplay of songs being played on 15 Latin rhythm radio stations.
Latin Streaming Songs	Streaming		Ranks play of Spanish-language streamed radio songs and on-demand songs and music videos on leading online music services.

Christian

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Hot Christian Songs	Sales, streaming, all format airplay	50	Combines sales, airplay from all radio formats, and streaming data
Christian Digital Songs	Digital downloads	50	Top-downloaded Christian songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan
Christian Streaming Songs	Streaming	50	Most streamed Christian songs
Christian Airplay	Airplay (audience)	50	Audience impressions from Christian AC, Hot AC/CHR, Soft AC, and Christian Rock stations
Christian AC Songs	Airplay (spins)	30	Measures airplay spins on Christian adult contemporary stations
Christian Hot AC/CHR	Airplay (spins)	30	Measures airplay spins on Christian CHR stations
Christian Soft AC	Airplay (spins)		Measures airplay spins on Christian Soft ACstations
Christian Rock	Airplay (spins)		Measures airplay spins on Christian rock stations
Christian AC Indicator	Airplay (spins)
Gospel Songs	Sales, streaming, allformat airplay	30
Gospel Airplay Songs	radio (airplay)
Gospel Digital Song Sales	digital sales		Top-downloaded Gospel songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Gospel Streaming Songs	streaming		Top-streamed Gospel songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Jazz

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Smooth Jazz Airplay	airplay (spins)	30	Measures airplay spins on 14 smooth jazz stations

Holiday

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Holiday 100[15]	Sales, streaming and airplay	100	Combines sales, airplay and streaming data. Only in November to December.
Holiday Digital Songs	Digital downloads	50	Top-downloaded Holiday songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Holiday Streaming Songs	Streaming	50	Most streamed Holiday songs. Only in November to December.
Holiday Airplay	Airplay (audience)	50	Audience impressions from all radio stations. Only in November to December.

Ringtones

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Hot Ringtones	ringtone sale	40	Ranks weekly sales of polyphonic ringtones for mobile phones, launched in 2004[16]
Hot RingMasters		40	Ranks weekly sales of master ringtones for mobile phones.
Hot Videoclips	Digital sales + tv play	25	Ranks top 25 most popular music videos according to digital sales and TV play on shows such as TRL and 106 & Park

Spotify

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Spotify Velocity	streaming	30	Ranks top-streaming songs on Spotify[17]
Viral 50		50	Ranks top-streaming independent songs on Spotify[18]
Spotify Rewind		30	Ranks top-streaming old/classic songs on Spotify[17]

Canadian charts

Chart title	Chart type	Number of positions	Description
Canadian Hot 100	airplay + sales + streaming[19]	100	Canadian music industry standard singles popularity chart
Emerging Canadian Artist	airplay + sales + streaming	30	Ranks most popular songs by emerging Canadian artists Artists are considered emerging until 12 months after the date their first Canadian Hot 100 charting entry reaches the top 40. No recurrent chart
Hot Digital Songs	digital sales	75	Ranks top-selling digital song sales Combines different versions of songs for summarized figure one of the component charts of Canadian Hot 100 No recurrent chart
Hot 100 Airplay	airplay (audience)	75	Measures radio airplay audience impressions on 137 radio stations from five different formats One of the component charts of Canadian Hot 100
All-format Airplay	airplay (spins)	50	Measures radio airplay spins on 137 radio stations from five formats. A 100-position chart was previously available at Jam! Canoe website.
CHR/Top 40 Airplay		50	Measures radio airplay spins on 25 CHR radio stations
AC Airplay		50	Measures radio airplay spins on 28 AC radio stations
Hot AC Airplay		50	Measures radio airplay spins on 24 Hot AC radio stations
Country Airplay		50	Measures radio airplay spins on 31 country radio stations
Rock Airplay		50	Measures radio airplay spins on 29 rock radio stations

International charts

Chart title	Description
Argentina Hot 100	Ranks the top 100 singles in Argentina based on airplay, digital downloads, and streaming.
China Top 100	Ranks the best-selling local singles in China.
Euro Digital Song Sales	Ranks the best-selling digital singles and tracks in Europe.
Billboard Global 200[20]	Ranks the top songs based on sales and streaming data from more than 200 territories worldwide.
Billboard Global Excl. U.S.[20]	Ranks the top songs based on sales and streaming data from territories outside the United States.
Indonesia Top 100	Ranks the top 100 singles in Indonesia based on digital downloads, airplay, streaming, and karaoke play.
Japan Hot 100	Ranks the best-selling singles and tracks in Japan.
Korea K-Pop Hot 100	Ranks the best-selling singles in South Korea.
Mexican Airplay	Ranks the most listened singles in Mexico.
Mexico Espanol Airplay	Ranks the most listened singles in Spanish-language in Mexico.
Mexico Ingles Airplay	Ranks the most listened singles in English-language in Mexico.
Billboard Switzerland Digital Sales	Ranks the best-selling digital singles and tracks in Switzerland.
World Digital Song Sales	Ranks the best-selling international/foreign-language digital singles in the US.

Discontinued charts

Chart title	Discontinuation date	Description
Comprehensive Music Video	2012 (?)	Ranked the best-selling music DVDs, including those not in full retail distribution
Country Singles Sales	2005	Ranked the best-selling commercial country singles
Best Seller in Stores	October 13, 1958	Ranked records in order of national selling importance at the retail level. [21] Three charts: Popular Records, Rhythm & Blues Records, Country & Western Records
Brasil Hot 100 Airplay	2019	Ranked the most listened singles and tracks in Brazil. Discontinued in January 2019, after weeks without publishing on the site. Subsequently, it announced the end of Billboard Brazil (which had previously stopped publishing the magazine in print).[22] The chart continued to be published by Crowley Broadcast Analysis, which already launched Crowley Charts in 2018 and released the chart with the name Top 100 Brazil.[23]
Euro Digital Tracks	November 29, 2014	Ranked the best-selling digital tracks in Europe
European Hot 100 Singles	December 11, 2010	Ranked the best-selling singles in Europe by combining sales from various countries in Europe.
Global Dance Tracks	June 29, 2013	A weekly international survey of the songs that were popular in dance clubs globally.
Honor Roll of Hits[7]	November 16, 1963[8]	Comprised the nation's top tunes according to record sales and disk jockey performances as determined by Billboard's weekly nationwide survey.[24]
Hot Dance Singles Sales	2013	A chart that measured the sale of commercially released singles in the dance music market, including remixes. It was formerly known as Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, when the chart was restricted to sales of the 12-inch maxi single and CD maxi single format. In recent years, singles only released in the CD single format have apparently been counted too.
Luxembourg Digital Song Sales	2020	Ranked the most downloaded songs digitally in the country of Luxembourg for the week
Most Played by Jockeys	July 28, 1958	Ranked records in order of the greatest number of plays on disk jockey radio shows throughout the country.[21] Three charts: Popular Records, Rhythm & Blues Records, Country & Western Records
Most Played in Juke Boxes	June 17, 1957	Ranked records in order of the greatest number of plays nationally in juke boxes.[21] Three charts: Popular Records, Rhythm & Blues Records, Country & Western Records
Philippine Hot 100	January 15, 2018	Ranked the best-performing songs in the Philippines.
Philippine Top 20		Ranked the best-performing local songs in the Philippines.
Pop 100	June 13, 2009	Ranked songs by combining airplay focused on pop radio and sales The chart's importance is replaced by the Mainstream Top 40 chart
Pop 100 Airplay		Measured airplay on pop music radio One of three component charts of the Pop 100
Top 40 Tracks	March 2005	Debuted in December 1998 ranking songs by audience impressions on Mainstream, Adult, and Rhythmic Top 40 radio stations Discontinued with the introduction of the Pop 100 and Pop 100 Airplay charts
Pop Digital Song Sales	January 2020	Top-downloaded pop songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Jazz Digital Song Sales	January 2020	Top-downloaded jazz songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Classical Digital Song Sales	January 2020	Top-downloaded classical songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
New Age Digital Song Sales	January 2020	Top-downloaded new age songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Blues Digital Song Sales	January 2020	Top-downloaded blues songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Reggae Digital Song Sales	January 2020	Top-downloaded reggae songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Kid Digital Song Sales	January 2020	Top-downloaded children's songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Comedy Digital track Sales	January 2020	Top-downloaded comedy songs, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Notes

1. 100 positions prior to October 2012.

Albums

Chart title		Description
Billboard 200	200	Industry standard, includes albums from any genre. Includes both new and catalog albums. Includes data from on-demand streaming services[4]
Top Album Sales	100	A pure album sales chart.
Top Current Albums	100	The same chart as Top Album Sales, with catalog titles removed
Top Pop Catalog Albums	50	An album becomes a catalog title when it is more than 18 months old and has fallen below position 100 on the Billboard 200.
Top Internet Albums	40	Ranks physical albums ordered through Internet merchants.
Tastemakers		Ranked albums based on "an influential panel of indie stores and small regional chains."[25]
Digital Albums	50
Heatseekers Albums	25	Ranks albums from new artists/bands that have never attained the top 100 of the Billboard 200. If an album reaches the top 100, it and any of the artist's/band's subsequent albums are ineligible for the chart.
Heatseekers Albums (East North Central)
Heatseekers Albums (Middle Atlantic)
Heatseekers Albums (Mountain)
Heatseekers Albums (Northeast)
Heatseekers Albums (Pacific)
Heatseekers Albums (South Atlantic)
Heatseekers Albums (South Central)
Heatseekers Albums (West North Central)
Independent Albums	50	Ranks top 50 albums released through independent record labels.
Top Rock Albums	50	Ranks the most popular rock albums of the week, as compiled by Nielsen Music. Based on multi-metric consumption (blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums, and streaming equivalent albums)
Alternative Albums	25
Hard Rock Albums	25
Americana/Folk Albums	25
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	50
R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums	25
Rap Albums	25
R&B Albums	25	Ranks top R&B albums by sales as compiled by Nielsen Music. Albums must be less than 18 months old, or if older than 18 months then they must reside on the Billboard 200's top 100.[26]
Top Country Albums	50
Country Catalog Albums	25
Bluegrass Albums	15
Top Latin Albums	50	Ranks the best-selling Latin albums weekly. An album must have at least 51% of its content recorded in Spanish to rank on this chart.
Regional Mexican Albums	20
Latin Pop Albums	20
Tropical Albums	20
Latin Rhythm Albums	15
Classical Albums Top Classical Albums
Traditional Classical Albums
Classical Crossover Albums
Classical Budget/Midline Albums
Christian Albums	50
Gospel Albums	40
Christian & Gospel Albums
Jazz Albums	35
Traditional Jazz Albums	15
Contemporary Jazz Albums	15	Debuted on February 28, 1987 with 25 positions.[27]
Dance/Electronic Albums	25
Dance/Electronic Album Sales	25	Similar to Dance/Electronic Albums, but more focused on core Dance/Electronic artists
Blues Albums	15
Cast Albums		Measuring sales of cast recordings
Comedy Albums	10
Compilation Albums	20
Holiday Albums	50	see Best-selling Christmas/holiday albums in the United States
Kid Albums	15
New Age Albums	10
Reggae Albums	10
Soundtracks	30
Vinyl Albums	25
World Albums	15	Debuted on May 19, 1990.[28] Ranks biggest-selling world music albums, including catalog titles.
Canadian Albums	100

Video

Chart title	Number of positions	Description
Music Video Sales	100	Industry standard, includes video albums from any genre.[29]

Other charts

In December 2010, Billboard announced a new chart titled Social 50, which ranks the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites. The Social 50 chart tallies artists' popularity using their weekly additions of friends/fans/followers, along with weekly artist page views and weekly song plays on Myspace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and iLike.^[30]

In January 2011, Billboard introduced another chart called Uncharted, which lists new and developing artists, who are yet to appear on any major Billboard chart, "...regardless of their country of origin."^[31] The ranking is based on the views and fans on social networking websites like Myspace and Facebook. It has since been discontinued.

In May 2014, after the Korea K-Pop Hot 100 chart was discontinued in the U.S., the Billboard K-Town column continued to provide chart information for K-pop artists on all Billboard charts.^[32][33]

The Artist 100 debuted in July 2014.

In June 2019, Billboard launched the Top Songwriters Chart and the Top Producers Chart, based on weekly activity on the Hot 100 and other "Hot" genre charts.^[34]

Further reading

• Durkee, Rob. "American Top 40: The Countdown of the Century." Schriner Books, New York City, 1999.
• Battistini, Pete. "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem The 1970s." Authorhouse.com, January 31, 2005. ISBN 1-4184-1070-5
• Parker, Martin (1991). "Making Sense with the Hit Parade". Popular Music. 10 (2): 205–17. doi:10.1017/s0261143000004517.
• Hakanen, Ernest (1998). "Counting Down to the Number One:Evolution of the Meaning of Popular Music Charts". Popular Music. 17 (1): 98–111. doi:10.1017/s0261143000000507.
• "About Us". Nielsen Business Media Inc. 2009.
• "Billboard.com FAQ". Nielsen Business Media Inc. 2009.
• "Billboard Latest Charts Lyrics". MetroLyrics. Retrieved September 5, 2010.

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External links

• Billboard popular charts (subscription only except Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Artist 100)
• Billboard complete artist/chart search (subscription only)
• Billboard current boxscore (lists one week only)
• Billboard charts archive Archived December 17, 2019, at the Wayback Machine (archive of number ones for select charts)