Billboard is a weekly American
magazine devoted to the
music
industry. It is often considered to be one of the 'holy grails' of
the entertainment industry, and the official trade publication of
the music industry; it is typically regarded as one of the most
relevant and unbiased sources of information on the music industry,
as opposed to others that can have a significant
bias. It maintains several internationally recognized
music charts that track the most
popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis.
Among the two most important charts, 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, while the
Billboard 200 survey is the
corresponding chart for
album sales.
History
When
founded in Cincinnati
in 1894, Billboard Advertising 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
Billboard became
the paper of record for
circuses,
carnivals,
amusement
parks,
fairs,
vaudeville,
minstrels,
whale shows and other live entertainment. The
magazine began coverage of
motion
pictures in 1909 and of
radio in the
1920s.
Image:Billboard01_FirstIssue.jpg|First
IssueImage:Billboard03_1896.jpg|Christmas,
1896Image:Billboard02_10thAnniv.jpg|10th Anniversary Issue
It was the development of the
juke box
industry during the 1930s which led
The Billboard to begin
publishing the music charts for which it ultimately became famous.
This also began the process which would lead the magazine to
gradually cede coverage of other parts of the entertainment
industry to such publications as
Variety and
The Hollywood Reporter. In the
1950s it introduced a section covering the television industry,
including ratings charts for programs. It continued to carry news
of fairs, carnivals, theme parks and other outdoor entertainments
until 1961 when these departments were transferred to a new weekly
magazine called
Amusement Business. By this time
television coverage had also been transferred to another
publication.
From 1961 until 2005,
Billboard was devoted entirely to
the
music industry. In 2005, the
magazine and its web sites were repositioned to provide coverage of
all forms of digital and mobile entertainment.
Amusement
Business prospered for a few decades, but was struggling by
the beginning of the new century. Shortly after that its frequency
of publication was reduced to monthly, and it finally ceased
publication altogether following its May, 2006 issue.
Billboard charts
On January 4, 1936
The Billboard 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.
Billboard currently puts out over 100 charts each week,
the most popular ones being
Hot 100,
Billboard 200, and
Hot 100 Airplay.
Radio countdown programs
For many years, the weekly syndicated radio program
American Top 40, hosted by
Casey Kasem (July 4, 1970 to August 6, 1988),
and
Shadoe Stevens (August 13, 1988
to January 28, 1995), played the
top 40 songs
on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart in
reverse order; in late November 1991, it switched to using the top
40 portion of the
Hot 100
Airplay chart. Later, in early 1993, it began using the
Top 40 Mainstream chart until it
temporarily went off the air in 1995. When the show returned in
1998, it no longer used
Billboard charts as its
source.
A country music version of
American
Top 40, called
American Country Countdown,
has been on the air since October 1973. The show is hosted each
week by
Kix Brooks of the country duo
Brooks & Dunn, who replaced
radio legend
Bob Kingsley in January
2006.
American Country Countdown used the top 40 songs of
the
Hot Country Songs chart until
August 2009.
Billboard today
Billboard magazine covers every aspect of the music
business, from radio and television to
CD,
DVD and
video
cassette sales and
internet music
downloads. It features charts, news stories, features and opinion
articles. For the most part,
Billboard is intended for
music professionals, such as
record
label executives and
DJs. It is
generally considered a business-to-business magazine, for music
industry professionals, though it can be found at many bookstores.
The magazine extensively covers the entertainment business, but
Billboard remains best known for its charts. The editorial coverage
and broader strategy is guided by its editorial director, Bill
Werde.
Much of the magazine, in addition to up-to-the-minute coverage, is
available at Billboard's B2B site, Billboard.biz. Billboard.com is
the consumer-centered site, and includes artist interviews, daily
news and, of course, charts.
Billboard.com also features video programming, including artist
interviews, performances and event coverage. For instance,
Billboard has red carpet footage from the 2009 Grammy Awards and
intimate interviews with acts like
Keyshia
Cole,
Adele and
30 Seconds to Mars.
Billboard Books
The group behind the magazine has an
imprint
of the
Crown Publishing Group
(itself a part of
Random House) known
as
Billboard Books. Their publishing agency describes
itself as "a leading publisher of music and entertainment
titles".
Corporate ownership
As of
2007, Billboard is owned by the Dutch
conglomerate The Nielsen Company.
Lottery
The New Hampshire Lottery has a
Billboard scratch
ticket.
See also
References
- http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/billboard-books/
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.
External links
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