USA & UK Charts
USA Charts
Information from sixteen Billboard charts is detailed for the States:
The mainstream pop chart, that is, the Hot 100 singles/tracks chart.
The Christmas Singles chart.
The Billboard 200 pop albums chart.
The Christmas/Holiday Albums chart.
The Top Catalog albums chart.
The R&B singles/tracks chart.
The R&B albums charts.
The R&B Catalog albums chart.
The Hot 100 Airplay chart.
The Hot 100 Sales chart.
The Hot 100 Recurrent Singles charts.
The Hot R&B Recurrent Singles chart.
The Dance Music Club Play chart.
The Dance Music Maxi-Sales chart.
The Music Videos chart.
Hot Digital Songs (Top 75).
Pop Charts
In 1969 (when the Jackson 5 first charted), as the names suggest, the pop charts comprised the Top 100 singles and Top 200 albums. The singles chart was compiled using both radio station play-lists and a survey of retail sales, while the albums chart was sales-based. There have been a few significant changes since 1969:
November 1991 - to ensure greater accuracy, the Hot 100 chart was based on a combination of actual sales and computer-monitored airplay (the information was collected by SoundScan & Broadcast Data Systems, respectively), and the Billboard 200 on actual across-the-counter sales.
December 1998 - for the first time, songs not commercially issued as singles were allowed to chart, on the strength of airplay alone.
February 2005 - legal downloads counted towards the Hot 100.
Billboard has, over the years, published lists of singles and albums 'bubbling under' the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 as well.
R&B Charts
In 1969, the R&B singles chart was called the Best Selling Soul Singles, and was a Top 50. There have been numerous changes since then:
June 1973 - chart extended to a Top 60.
July 1973 - chart extended to a Top 100 and re-named Hot Soul Singles.
June 1982 - chart re-named Black Singles.
October 1984 - chart re-named Hot Black Singles.
October 1990 - chart re-named Hot R&B Singles.
December 1992 - chart based on a combination of actual sales and computer-monitored airplay.
January 1999 - for the first time, songs not commercially issued as singles were allowed to chart, on the strength of airplay alone. Chart re-named Hot R&B Singles & Tracks.
December 1999 - chart re-named Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
February 2005 - legal downloads counted towards the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
The Best Selling Soul LP's chart was also a Top 50 in 1969. Significant changes since then are:
July 1973 - chart extended to a Top 60 and re-named Soul LP's.
November 1978 - chart extended to a Top 75.
June 1982 - chart re-named Black LP's.
October 1984 - chart re-named Top Black LP's.
September 1988 - charted extended to a Top 100.
October 1990 - chart re-named Top R&B Albums.
December 1999 - chart re-named Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Recurrent Singles & Catalog Albums Charts
Since 1991 - the SoundScan era - singles that drop below no.50 are removed from the singles charts after 20 weeks, and albums falling below no.100 on the Billboard 200 are removed from the chart after two years. Such singles and albums are consigned to the 'Recurrents' singles charts and the 'Catalog' albums charts.
The Top Catalog Albums chart began in May 1991, as a weekly Top 50 - as it is today. Prior to this date, however, Billboard published:
July to October 1982 - Midline LPs, a bi-weekly Top 50.
October 1982 to October 1988 - Top Midline Albums, a tri-weekly Top 40.
The other charts are:
Hot 100 Recurrents - Top 30.
Hot R&B Recurrents - Top 30.
R&B Catalog Albums - Top 25.
Christmas Singles Chart
From 1963 to the end of 1972, and between 1983 to 1985 inclusive, Billboard excluded festive singles from the main charts, and listed them on a special Christmas Singles chart published over the festive period.
Christmas Albums Chart
Between 1963 and 1973, festive albums were excluded from Billboard's main charts, and listed in the Christmas LP's chart, which was published weekly over the festive period. During this time, the chart varied in length from 5-117 albums.
The chart was revived in 1983, as follows:
1983-85 - Christmas Albums chart, a weekly Top 10.
1987-93 - Top Christmas Albums chart, a weekly Top 30.
1994 to date - Top Holiday Albums, a weekly Top 40.
Airplay & Sales Charts
Before 1984, when Billboard began publishing sales and airplay charts, these were compiled in the States, by Variety magazine and Radio & Records magazine.
Variety published a Bestselling Singles chart from 1976 - a Top 50 from 1976-81, but only a Top 10 from February 1982 onwards.
Radio & Records published an airplay chart as long ago as 1973 - initially a Top 20 (sometimes with a few more than 20 titles listed), then a Top 30, before increasing to a Top 40 in November 1974. The chart reduced to a Top 30 in October 1976, before becoming a Top 40 again in June 1983.
From October 1984, the data used to compile Billboard's Hot 100 each week was also used to compile two other charts: Hot 100 Airplay and Hot 100 Sales. Both charts quickly grew from Top 30s to Top 75s. Between December 1990 and May 1991, Billboard compiled a Top 40 Radio Monitor chart, from actual monitored airplay data collected by BDS (Broadcast Data Systems) - this chart continued until July 1993, when it was renamed the Hot 100 Airplay chart.
From June to November 1991 only, the airplay and sales charts used different data from the Hot 100, then in November 1991 the 'SoundScan' era began, and all the charts were compiled from actual sales/airplay, collected by SoundScan and BDS, respectively.
Today the published charts are:
Hot 100 Airplay - Top 75.
Hot 100 Sales - Top 50.
The information we detail is from the Variety and Radio & Records charts before October 1984, and from the Billboard charts after this date.
Dance Music Charts
Two Dance Music charts are published in Billboard each week: Singles Singles (formerly 12" and Maxi Singles) Sales & Club Play. Today the charts are:
Dance Music Club Play - Top 50.
Dance Music Singles Sales - Top 25.
Music Videos & DVDs
The Top Music Videos chart appears to have started around 1985, originally as a bi-weekly Top 10. In April 1993 the chart became weekly, and today a weekly Top 40 is published.
Prior to 1985, Top Videocassettes/VHS Sales chart - open to all videos, music or otherwise - was compiled, and chart action for Making Michael Jackson's Thriller is taken from this chart.
RIAA Sales Awards
The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) began certifying Gold singles in 1958, and Platinum singles in 1976, as follows:
1958-88: Gold = 1 million, Platinum = 2 million.
1988 to date: Gold = 500,000, Platinum = 1 million.
The RIAA began certifying Gold albums in 1958, Platinum albums in 1976, and multi-Platinum albums in 1984. Gold = 500,000, Platinum = 1 million.
For download singles/tracks, the certifications are:
Before June 2006: Gold = 100,000, Platinum = 200,000.
June 2006 onwards: Gold = 500,000, Platinum = 1 million.
For home videos/DVDs, the certifications are:
Gold = 50,000, Platinum = 100,000.
Some record companies - including Motown in the early 1970s - were not members of the RIAA, so singles and albums released by those labels were never certified.
UK Charts
Charts in the UK have always reflected sales, and sales alone. In 1970, when the Jackson 5 had their debut hit, the 'official' charts were compiled for the BBC and Record Retailer magazine (now Music Week) by the British Market Research Bureau. At the time, Top 50 singles and albums charts were compiled, but there have been numerous changes over the years:
From time to time, on the singles chart, chart breakers have also been listed - in the mid-1970's, for example, ten ranked 'Star Breakers' were listed, together with an alphabetical listing of other breakers.
Music Videos & DVDs
Record Mirror magazine began publishing a Music Video chart in 1980, and from 1983 the chart published in the magazine was compiled by MRIB.
BPI Sales Awards
The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) began certifying shipments (not sales) in the UK in April 1973. For singles, the awards are as follows:
Unlike in the States, awards can't be claimed retrospectively. Singles released before April 1973, unless reissued, are ineligible for any award, and singles released before January 1989 must qualify under the criteria in place at the time of release.
For albums, between April 1973 and December 1978, awards related to a monetary value and not a unit value. Thanks to inflation, this changed several times over the years:
When this system was abolished, the awards that were set remain in place today:
Multi-Platinum awards were introduced in February 1987.
There isn't, at present, any award for singles or albums to certify a shipment of 1 million.
Certifications for music videos/DVDs are as follows:
Many thanks to Colin & Robbie, for helping to clarify the history of BPI certifications.