#soundscan

[gloriousnoise]

Data: 2022 Total Music Sales and Streams

People still buy albums. Taylor Swift fans, mostly. But still. 100 million physical and digital albums sold is not nothing. And Swift is responsible for 3% of those: 1,818,000 copies of Midnights (945,000 of those on vinyl!) and at least another 1.1 million more across her catalog. Vinyl outsold CDs again, but its growth curve is leveling off, perhaps due to maxing out the existing pressing…

[musicmags]

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Whitney Houston - I Have Nothing 1993

"I Have Nothing" is a song by American singer and actress Whitney Houston, released on February 20, 1993 as the third single from The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (1992). The song was written by David Foster and Linda Thompson, and produced by Foster.

After the back-to-back successes of Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and "I'm Every Woman", "I Have Nothing" became yet another hit, peaking at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. Houston established another historic milestone in Billboard chart history with the three singles off the soundtrack, becoming the first artist to have three songs inside the top 11 of the Hot 100 chart in the same week since the chart began using Broadcast Data System and SoundScan data in 1991. The song also became a hit on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, with a number four peak, and a number-one peak on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Internationally, the song reached number one in Canada, the top five in Ireland and the UK, the top ten in Denmark and Portugal, and peaked within the top forty in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

"I Have Nothing" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 65th Annual Academy Awards in 1993. David Foster and Linda Thompson were nominated for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for the song at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards. Foster and Thompson received the award for Most Performed Song from a Film for the song at the 10th BMI Film & Television Awards in 1994. The song was also nominated for Best R&B Single, Female at the 8th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in 1994.

"I Have Nothing" received a total of 72,7% yes votes!

[tswiftupdatess]

Taylor Swift is the first artist to have the year end #1 best selling album in the US on seven occasions since the start of the Soundscan era! x

(pure sales; 2009, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022 & 2023).

[rock-and-roll-hell]

September 18, 1978

KIϟϟ release the solo albums

Studio: (Ace) The Mansion (Connecticut) and Plaza Sound Studios (New York); (paul) Electric Lady and The Record Plant, (New York) and The Village Recorder, (LA); (peter) Electric Lady Studios, (New York) and Burbank Studios (California) and Sunset Sound (Hollywood); (gene) The Manor (Oxfordshire), Cherokee (Hollywood) and Blue Rock (New York)

Genre: (ace & paul) hard rock; (peter) Rock, soul, R&B, jazz ; (gene) Hard rock, pop rock, funk rock, rock and roll

KIϟϟ has claimed that the solo albums were intended to ease rising tensions within the band, also their 1976 record contract did in fact call for four solo records, each of them counting as half an album toward the group’s five-record commitment. Each album was a solo effort (none of the group appeared on another’s album), however all were released and marketed as KIϟϟ albums (with similar cover art and poster inserts). It was the first time that all current members of a rock band had released solo albums on the same day.

it was a chance to showcase their individual musical styles and tastes outside of KIϟϟ, and in some cases to collaborate with contemporary artists. Stanley’s and Frehley’s albums were most similar to KIϟϟ’ hard rock style, while Criss’ album featured an R&B style with multiple ballads. Simmons’ was the most diverse of the four, featuring hard rock, ballads, Beatles-influenced pop and a cover version of “When You Wish Upon a Star” from the Disney film Pinocchio. 

Despite the large shipments, none of the albums sold particularly well and were later sold as cut-outs. Of the four, Simmons’s album charted the highest in the U.S., peaking at #22, while Frehley’s spawned the only resulting Top Forty hit single, a cover of “New York Groove”. Frehley’s album has gone on to be the biggest seller since the introduction of Soundscan in 1991.

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #65: 2014

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, John Legend, Iggy Azalea, OneRepublic, Jason Derulo, Magic!, Meghan Trainor, Ariana Grande, Sam Smith. End description]

More information about this blog here

As mentioned in the previous poll, we're now seeing streaming services like Spotify taking over music consumption. Much like how Billboard had to adapt to individual retail sales in the 1950's, MTV rotation in the 1980's, Nielsen SoundScan in the 1990's, and YouTube views in the early 2010's, Spotify streams are now going to be incorporated more into Billboard's charts, with their album charts adapting to this shift in late 2014.

But before we welcome in another chart, 2014 is the year we'll also have to say goodbye to one. It feels like just yesterday we were talking about the rise of the ringtone. But as musical ringtones were starting to fall out of favor in the general public (with streaming people were growing accustomed to no longer having to pay 99 cents for a song -- they weren't going to pay 2 dollars for a snippet of one), Billboard's ringtone charts were retired in 2014, with Taylor Swift's Shake It Off as the final number 1 ringtone in America.

In 2014, we're seeing the continuing rise of retro-inspired production, with the neo soul of Pharrell Williams' Happy, the doo-wop pastiche of Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass, and the funk elements of Ariana Grande's Problem. And with Jason Derulo's Talk Dirty sampling its hook from Balkan Beat Box's Hermetico, it seems like this was a pretty good year for brass samples. Also fun fact about Happy, apparently that song was Pharrell Williams' tenth attempt at writing a song for the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack. Sadly, we will never hear those other 9 versions. Or else I would have put all of them on this poll.

Speaking of musical influence, we're also starting to see trap starting to rise in mainstream popularity. Trap music is a style of rap originating out of the southern hip-hop scene, notable for its 808 drums, snares, and triple-timed hi-hats. The origins of the style can be traced back to the 1990's during the rise of southern rap, with many trap acts coming out of Atlanta and Memphis. In fact one of the guest rappers on today's poll, Juicy J on Katy Perry's Dark Horse, is one of the pioneers of this style with his group, Three 6 Mafia. While Three 6 Mafia is associated with a variety of subgenres (gangster rap, horrorcore, crunk, etc), the trajectory of trap music can often be traced back to them. I don't usually give out homework on these polls, so instead I will just strongly suggest that you check out Mystic Stylez if you haven't already. We'll have to wait a few years until we see the explosive growth of the modern trap movement in the mainstream.

[evermoredeluxe]

Her breaking the female record isn’t enough I want the all time (I actually don’t know who has the all time or how long the all time is lmao) and it’s a possible 13 for her 💳💳💳💳💳💳💳

well before the nielson soundscan era (pre-1991), albums used to spend over 15 weeks at #1 because there wasn’t a proper way to count sales, but post-1991, the record is held by morgan wallen (13 weeks)

[thesinglesjukebox]

LAINEY WILSON - "HANG TIGHT HONEY"

On the road again...

[6.78]

Alfred Soto: For a while Lainey Wilson was a secret a couple of us critics passed around. Then she enjoyed a helluva 2022 and 2023. Blessed with a twang equal parts dulcet and tensile, she's terrific inhabiting ballads and excellent on hootchie-coos like "Hang Tight Honey," good enough as a song (check out the three-note guitar screech before the chorus) but as processed through Wilson's pipes a declaration of faith. [8]

TA Inskeep: The gasoline-revved single Miranda Lambert hasn't given us in years, this moves at a crazy (especially for mainstream country) clip. Jay Joyce's aggressive production gives this a thumping, propulsive, white-funky feel — akin to, I dunno, the James Gang's "Funk #49"? — while Wilson sells the hell out of it. Save the stupid line about her lover's "blue-collar kiss," this is great. [8]

Taylor Alatorre: A bit of lost songwriting wisdom from the pre-SoundScan era: if you rock out hard enough and unapologetically enough (and competently enough, though this is optional), you can make even a line like “blue-collar kiss” sound essential, like the song would suffer irreducibly if it were taken away. “Blue-collar kiss” doesn’t mean anything, just like a miniature “Highway Star” guitar solo doesn’t mean anything, just like shouting the song’s title in the middle of that guitar solo doesn’t mean anything. What it does do is further build up the sense that the singer, and by extension the listener, can get away with almost anything here — in this sonic universe, in this honky-tonk, or a well-crafted approximation thereof. What it does is make me type the words “lainey wilson tour” into Google as I’m writing this. [9]

Mark Sinker: Idly wondering “are road-songs still much of a thing (the way they used to be)?” when the middle eight kicks into full and quite surprising glam-stomp. Would the rest of the song be better if it fed more off this sound? Glimpses of the 70s can be nostalgic lovebombs, sure, but I don’t miss them. Because they sucked.  [5]

Ian Mathers: I'm going to remember my unaccountable animus towards this perfectly decent little song the next time I'm baffled that someone finds the markers of one of my preferred genres mysteriously enraging. But in the meantime, this is the best I can do for what might as well be nails on a chalkboard to me. [5]

Jonathan Bradley: Brick-walled bonhomie that's so weighed down by forced cheer that is has no chance at delivering the momentum it promises. [4]

Nortey Dowuona: Driver Williams can rip a good guitar solo, I guess? What does Jay Joyce have against drums?  [7]

Katherine St. Asaph: Southern comfort food served with oomph and familiarity. The sort of song where my musical gut refuses to agree with my rational mind that I haven't actually heard this at a dozen barbecues throughout my life. [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I'm an absolute sucker for these kinds of country-rock road warrior songs — I stand by my prior remarks that Luke Combs' "Doin' This" is a [10] — but this is more fun than most takes on the style. It breaks from Skynyrd-esque power balladry to harken back to something older and weirder, drawing on the loose, frenetic energy of Stax party records. It's a triumphant record, the organ stabs and guitar riffs and even that incessant "ooh-ooh-ooh" hook coming together to sound like a coronation while never losing the joy of its groove.  [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[cyarskaren52]

Happy 30th birthday to the talented Harry Styles.

The Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and actor holds the record for biggest album debut by a British male artist in SoundScan history. He has six BRITs, an Album of the Year Grammy, and a record 15 sold out shows at both The Forum and Madison Square Garden.

What’s your favorite song ?

[cyarskj1899]

| 1989 (Taylor's Version)' ends 2023 as the #1 best selling album of the year in the US in pure sales (1.975 million).

Taylor is the first artist to have the year end #1 best selling album in the US on seven occasions since the start of the Soundscan era (pure sales; 2009, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022 & 2023).

[louisupdates]

BILLBOARD

By Keith CAULFIELD, 23 November 2022

Louis Tomlinson’s second solo album Faith in the Future debuts at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales (dated Nov. 26), scoring the pop star his highest-charting set yet on the list, and best sales week (37,500 sold in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Luminate).

Faith in the Future also bows at No. 2 on Top Current Album Sales, Independent Albums and Vinyl Albums, No. 3 on Tastemaker Albums and No. 5 on the Billboard 200.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Top Current Album Sales lists the week’s best-selling current (not catalog, or older albums) albums by traditional album sales. Independent Albums reflects the week’s most popular albums, by units, released by independent record labels. Vinyl Albums tallies the top-selling vinyl albums of the week. Tastemaker Albums ranks the week’s best-selling albums at independent and small chain record stores.

Of Faith in the Future’s 37,500 sold, physical sales comprise 31,500 (with 16,500 on vinyl; 14,000 on CD and 1,000 on cassette) and digital album download sales comprise 6,000.

Faith’s first-week sales figure was bolstered by its availability across multiple collectible physical variants of the album. It was issued in 10 vinyl variants (including exclusive editions for Amazon and Barnes & Noble; as well as two indie retail-exclusive versions, one of which was signed), four CD variants (including a deluxe Zine/CD package, a Target-exclusive edition with two bonus tracks and a lenticular cover, and a signed Newbury Comics-exclusive CD) and three cassette tapes.

The set was preceded by the single “Bigger Than Me,” which became Tomlinson’s fourth solo hit on the Pop Airplay chart (outside his tenure in One Direction).

MORE

[randomberlinchick]

Watch "David Bowie • Fame • Live 1978" on YouTube

Okay, this was released in the summer of 1975, just before I turned 15. I was at a dance in the community center the first time I heard it, and we all went nuts... Apparently, "Fame" peaked at 21 on the RnB chart, but I would have guessed much higher - but that was also before Soundscan, so who knows?... In any case, it's still funky as fuck.

[fugengulsen]

In 1979, Frank Zappa took a shine to an Eastern Indian rock/jazz violinist, L. Shankar. So much so that he produced an album with him, "Touch Me There." Not only does Frank produce, but he also co-writes half of the album and performs on one cut, "Dead Girls of London." So, not surprisingly, this disc sounds like much of the material Zappa was releasing around that time, even though it is technically a "Shankar" album. After obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Physics in India, Shankar moved to America in 1969 and earned a doctorate in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University. Here he met jazz musicians Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Garrison, and John McLaughlin while working as a teaching assistant and concert master of the University Chamber Orchestra. In 1975 Shankar and McLaughlin founded Shakti, a pioneering, groundbreaking and highly influential east-meets-west collaboration, with a fluid sound that managed to successfully combine seemingly incompatible traditions. His first solo album, Touch Me There, was produced by Frank Zappa in 1979.[3] Shankar founded his own band - The Epidemics, in 1982, with the composer Caroline. He released three albums with the band. During the 1980s, Shankar recorded periodically as a leader, doing both jazz-based material and Indian classical music. His 1980 release of the album Who's To Know on ECM introduced the unique sound of his own invention, the ten-string, stereophonic double violin. This instrument, designed by Shankar and built by noted guitar maker Ken Parker, covers the entire orchestral range, including double bass, cello, viola and violin. He has recently developed a newer version of his instrument which is much lighter than the original.[3] 1990 saw Shankar co-producing a one hour film directed by H. O. Nazareth, which went on to be nominated for Best Documentary film at the Cannes film festival. Shankar worked on the score of the film The Last Temptation of Christ (1988),composed by Peter Gabriel, with his music ending up on both albums of the score - Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ and Passion - Sources. He won a Grammy for his work on the latter in 1994. 1996 saw a Grammy nomination for the album Raga Aberi.[1] Shankar has performed on several of Peter Gabriel's records such as So and Us. Since 1996, Shankar has toured internationally with fellow-violinist (and his niece) Gingger as "Shankar & Gingger", garnering critical acclaim and popularity.[4] The two performed at events including the Concert for Global Harmony and Nelson Mandela's 80th birthday celebrations. Shankar & Gingger released their first DVD One in a Million in 2001. After a critically successful tour of North America, the DVD went to number 1 on the Neilsen Soundscan DVD charts and stayed there for four weeks.[3] In 2004, Shankar composed additional music with Gingger Shankar for John Debney and performed on the score for the film The Passion of the Christ (2004). Shankar has played with some of the greatest musical contemporaries of his time, including Lou Reed, Echo & the Bunnymen, Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Charly García, Jonathan Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Stewart Copeland, Yoko Ono, A. R. Rahman, John Waite, Steve Vai, Ginger Baker, Toto, Nils Lofgren, Mark O'Connor, and Sting.[3] Shankar has been praised for his ability to mix Eastern and Western influences, assimilating Carnatic music with pop, rock, jazz and contemporary world music.[5] He admits "Ultimately, I would like to bring the East and West together. That, I think, is my role," he says. More recently, Shankar has used a new stage name, Shenkar, and has created recordings under this name. In 2006  2007, Shenkar provided the vocals for the opening credit music and other themes for all episodes of the hit TV series Heroes. He has been lately working in Jonathan Davis', Stephen Day and Ana Maria Lombo's next records.

[jbirdwriting]

A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE 90S LET HAPPEN IN MUSIC: 2001

EXCUSE ME, HERE CONVENES MY TEDTALK TITLED "A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE 90S LET HAPPEN IN MUSIC: 2001"

Note: I'm not an expert on anything. One night I heard a song that I hadn't heard in a while and I fell down a rabbit hole and I wrote my journey down and shared it with a small group of friends. …now, you can have it. I wrote this in August 2022.

~~~

In 2001, Enya's Only Time broke onto the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, debuting on that chart at #88. In July. It lingered on the charts for thirty-two weeks in total. If you don't know this song--Yes you do. I mean, if you didn't, you will. (Apparently it's in the new Thor film.) But here, experience it and its official music video: Enya - Only Time

Celtic Pop New Age World Music--these are the major headings Enya existed under. Only 4 other Enya songs ever broke onto the US Billboard Hot 100 - 1989 Orinoco Flow (Sail Away), 1992 Caribbean Blue, 1998 Only If…, and 2004 I Don't Wanna Know (w Mario Winans ft P.Diddy).) In November 2001, Only Time peaked at the #10 position. That's right! Top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. I keep giving the name of the list because it is a non-niche'd/non-genre'd list. Unlike other lists such as… Adult Contemporary, Adult Alternative, etc.

Now, let's see what else was going on in the US Billboard Hot 100. And you should absolutely think about Only Time laid out (metaphorically) next to each of these songs.

We'll move down the chart a little for a couple movers/shakers coming up the charts under Enya for context. We'll start at number 12.

Number 12: Michelle Branch - Everywhere

This was the big breakout on a major label for Michelle Branch. Not much to say here. It was solid song and yes, I know it. But who was at number 11?

One of my favorite examples of cognitive dissonance in American music: Nickelback - How You Remind Me - and oh yes I linked it.

For a song/band that no one liked/everyone hated, they sure did really well! Nielsen Soundscan declared this song to be the number one most played song on US radio in the entire 2000s decade. Played over 1.2 million times on the radio from 2001 - 2009. I'd like to point out that the above linked music video has been played 131,205,632 times since March 2010.

Fun Bonus fact: Avril Lavigne recorded a cover of the song that was used for One Piece Film: Z (2012).

So then there's Enya doing her chill thing here at number 10. And the top of the alt-rock sandwich she's in at number 9? Staind - It's Been Awhile

Then we take a sharp turn and at number 8 is Ja Rule (ft Case) - Livin' It Up

This song peaked at some point on the list at #6 (but for this week it was #8 and moving up). Incidentally, this is around the era in time where I was not listening to as much rap, so I'm not familiar with this song. But! The album this song is from went triple platinum! Which… dang.

Then, the number 7 position, which was slipping, brought us Ginuwine - Differences

Another third-album release (by that, I mean that Differences was from Ginuwine's third album and Livin' It Up was from Ja Rule's third album) and a solid success. Differences peaked at number 4. Interesting fact--it was the first track on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart to reach the #1 spot without a physical single being available for retail. (That was a thing.)

A pause here! Let me remind you!

These are the top 10 colleagues of Enya's Only Time. A song for all your fantasy wistfulness needs.

…but now my hyperfixation is wearing off, so I'm not going to keep showing off as much.

Number 6 is Usher - U Got It Bad U Got It Bad was #1 on the Hot 100 chart for one week before getting bumped out for 4 weeks… Who bumped Usher out of the spot? The band everyone swore they hated for so long -- Nickelback. They battled it out with Usher topping Nickelback again for a few weeks longer. Usher was notably the only solo male act to have a #1 in the US Hot 100 in 2001. (Hey, I hate copying these statements from Wikipedia, but they are pretty succinct and factual.)

This song also performed very well in Australia, New Zealand, and Belgium.

Though this number 6 position was in November 2001, it went on to chart in 2002 as well.

Then came number 5, Nelly Furtado - Turn Off the Light

This song is a very vague memory in the haze of my mind. The only two songs I can think of and associate immediately with Nelly Furtado are… I'm Like A Bird and Big Girls Don't Cry. But Turn Off The Light is from her debut studio album and did quite well for her all over the world. At a glance, it performed better on mainstream charts than on R&B lists in the US.

The video is extremely 90s. Please watch it for your neon outfit desires.

Following up this perky number -- and remember, sharing the top 10 with Enya -- came number 4: Enrique Iglesias - Hero

Before we have to get serious - Look at baby Enrique and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

This is one of the best selling singles of all time, apparently, selling - as a single - over 8 million copies worldwide. I would not have guessed that. Except … it released on Sept 3rd, 2001. 8 days later, the World Trade Center buildings were attacked and collapsed. The song gained a life of its own because of that -- overtaking all of Enrique's previous successes. Eventually the song fell off the charge completely but re-entered later - not something songs typically do.

At number 3: Alicia Keys - Fallin'

R&B was a real sweet spot (for me personally) during chunks of the 90s, and I credit all those works for leading to the place where we find Alicia Keys. This song won three Grammy Awards. It was nominated for the Hot 100 Single of the Year but lost to Lifehouse's Hanging By A Moment. Don't think about that too long. I'll do that later. (Narrator: This was a lie. She never did - and cannot remember now where she meant to go with this side trail. I can only guess that she - she being I - meant to talk about how this song was the most successful song of 2001. It spent 54 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...)

Number two? Jennifer Lopez (ft Ja Rule) - I'm Real

This song feels bit like an 80s jam if we're honest with ourselves. It evokes not a little bit of early Whitney Houston and Paula Abdul. One of the songwriters on this song ALSO worked on Ginuwine's Differences. Maybe Troy Oliver should be credited for being on the charts.

And topping off this whole week at number one? Remember - in context with Enya's Only Time at number 10? Mary J. Blige - Family Affair

Personal anecdote; I was listening to Mary J. Blige back with What's the 411? (released in 1992… 30 years before I'm writing this) and it seemed to me like she didn't really land on the more mainstream lists until this song.

In fact, the song which I know Mary J. Blige for best is Reminisce, which peaked at 57 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 6 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. I'm going to link it and I encourage you to have a listen if you don't know the song - but be warned! Flashing images! - there's fake lightning for the music video and it is rough - Are you forewarned? Okay... here you go. Mary J. Blige - Reminisce

Anyway, back on track!

This list of music all happened in late 2001, but I just wanted to share my journey through 'wait, remember when Enya got on the top 100 charts?' moment. And the memory of how completely and wildly diverse the range of music was that I listened to and was exposed to through general radio play. It wasn't the wildest music experience I had and I know that the 1990s had some weirder things going on (anyone remember when a compilation album of Benedictine monk chants hit number three on the Billboard music charts and was certified double platinum?), but… Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk (not really a TEDTalk). Or not. I had fun doing it anyway.

[rock-and-roll-hell]

November 15, 1988

Smashes Thrashes and Hits

The two new songs on Smashes, Thrashes & Hits were "Let's Put the X in Sex" and "(You Make Me) Rock Hard," which featured a similar polished production style as 1987's Crazy Nights. They were both produced and co-written by guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley and were accompanied by videos that received moderate airplay on MTV. Unusual for Kiss videos, Paul Stanley never plays the guitar in either video for the new songs.

Nearly all of the songs recorded by the band's original lineup were altered in one way or another, and the Axeology website has made a detailed walkthrough of the alterations, which include a different bass line, recorded by Gene Simmons in 1975, for the song "Rock and Roll All Night". "Beth" was re-recorded with lead vocals by drummer Eric Carr, who had replaced the original drummer Peter Criss in 1980. It was Carr's first lead vocal on a Kiss album. The cover art was done by Amy Guip and directed by Mitchell Kanner.

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA on February 26, 1996.

In the United States Smashes, Thrashes & Hits is the best-selling Kiss album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking record sales in 1991 with 830,000 copies sold until March 4, 2012

[hit-song-showdown]

My favorite poll write-ups

Hello. So for each poll, I included a little blurb/ramble going into some historical or musical context behind each year. Most of these were written the day I posted them and some years didn't give me a lot to work with. But there were years that really gave me an opportunity to expand on areas of music history/business I'm truly passionate about.

So I decided to compile all of my favorite write-ups into one post.

1956: The rise of Elvis Presley and rock & roll on the Billboard charts

1959: The Grammy Awards vs Black music

1966: The Vietnam War effect on the pop charts

1970: The traumatic dawn of the new decade

1972: Cultural shifts in the 1970's and the last stretch of the Vietnam War

1973: Watergate, Philly soul, and the birth of hip-hop

1979: Disco Demolition Night and the death (and by "death" I mean "gentrification") of disco

1980: Punk rock, new wave, and the sudden end of the 1970's

1983: MTV vs Black music

1987: Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center vs rock music and the creation of the parental advisory label

1991: Nielsen SoundScan's effect on the Billboard charts, and the controversy of 2 Live Crew and Miami bass

1993: The birth of West Coast hip-hop and the coast wars

1999: Y2K and the MP3 breaches containment

2002: Nu metal's place in music marketing

2004: The South got something to say

2007: The controversy of "ringtone rap" and Auto-Tune

2008: Partying and pirating during the financial crisis

2009: Electropop and Auto-Tune's change in perception

2012: Psy was robbed

2013: The death of club music and the Blurred Lines lawsuit

2016: Streaming killed the MP3 star

2017: The mainstream rise of reggaeton in white America and the "monogenre"

2019: Old Town Road, TikTok, and the question of genre and marketing continues

2021: Covid-19's shadow over the pop charts

2022: The current state of pop music in a splintered musical landscape