Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly
American magazine devoted to the music industry. It maintains several internationally recognized music
charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis. Its most famous chart, the "
Billboard Hot 100", ranks the top 100 songs regardless of genre and is frequently used as the standard measure for ranking songs in the United States. The "
Billboard 200" survey is the corresponding chart for
album sales.
When founded in
1894,
Billboard magazine was a
trade paper for the bill posting industry, hence the magazine's name. Within a few years of its founding, it began to carry news of outdoor amusements, a major consumer of billboard space. Eventually the cart went before the horse and Billboard became the paper of record for
circuses,
carnivals,
amusement parks,
fairs,
vaudeville,
minstrels,
whale shows and other live entertainment. The magazine made a huge strategic mistake in the early 1900s when it ceded
motion picture news to
Variety, founded in
1905. Beginning with the first issue of
1961, Billboard spun off all its departments except music, devoting the entire book to
that industry. The outdoor departments were transferred to a start-up magazine called
Amusement Business which continues to this day, mainly as a carnival trade publication.
Billboard charts
On
January 4,
1936 Billboard magazine published its first music
hit parade and on
July 20,
1940 the first
Music Popularity Chart was calculated. Since
1958 the
Hot 100 has been published, combining
single sales and radio
airplay.
To this day, the most successful acts on Billboard's charts are
Mariah Carey,
Bing Crosby,
Madonna,
Elvis Presley,
Diana Ross and
The Supremes,
The Beatles,
Janet Jackson, and
Michael Jackson.
Radio countdown programs
For many years, the weekly syndicated radio program "
American Top 40," hosted by
Casey Kasem (1970 to August 1988 and the middle of 1998 to 2004) and
Shadoe Stevens (August 1988 to Feb. 1994), played the
top 40 songs on that Billboard chart in reverse order; in
2004, Kasem was replaced with
American Idol host
Ryan Seacrest.
A country music version of "
American Top 40", called "
American Country Countdown", has been on the air since
1973. The show is hosted each week by
Kix Brooks of the country superstar duo
Brooks & Dunn, who replaced radio legend
Bob Kingsley in January 2006.
Billboard magazine covers every aspect of the entertainment business, from to
video cassette sales to
internet music downloads. It features news stories and opinion articles. For the most part, Billboard is intended for music professionals, such as
record label executives and
DJs. It is generally not intended for the general public, although it can occasionally be found at bookstores. But despite their extensive coverage of the entertainment business, they are best known for their charts.
As of 2005,
Billboard is owned by the
Dutch conglomerate VNU.
* 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 1418410705.
*
Billboard official site*
Billboard history, at Billboard.com
