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The current number-one album (as of the issue dated April 14 2007) on the Billboard 200 is Let It Go by Tim McGraw [1].
HistoryBillboard began publishing an album chart in 1945. Initially only five positions long, the album chart was not published on a weekly basis, sometimes three to seven weeks passing before it was updated. With the explosion of rock and roll music, Billboard premiered a weekly albums chart on March 24, 1956. The position count varied anywhere from ten to thirty albums. The first number-one album on the new weekly list was Belafonte by Harry Belafonte. Beginning on May 25, 1959, Billboard split the ranking into two charts, one for stereo albums (thirty positions) and one for mono albums (fifty positions), both given the title of Best Selling Albums and later Action Albums. The length of the two charts varied over the next several years, ultimately ending in 1963 with a fifty-position stereo albums chart and a 150-position mono albums chart.
Catalog albumsIn 1960 Billboard began concurrently publishing album charts which ranked sales of older or mid-priced titles. Usually containing no more than twenty or thirty positions, the Essential Inventory charts were divided by stereo and mono albums and featured titles that had already appeared on the main stereo and mono album charts. Albums were moved to the Essential Inventory chart after spending either twenty weeks on the main stereo albums chart or forty weeks on the main mono albums chart. Billboard changed this policy in January 1961. At that time, two album charts existed (Action Albums, one for stereo, one for mono). Albums appeared on either chart for up to nine weeks, then were moved to an Essential Inventory list of approximately 200 titles, with no numerical ranking. This format continued until the combined stereo and mono chart premiered. In 1982 Billboard began publishing a Midline Albums chart which ranked older or mid-priced titles. The chart held fifty positions and was published on a bi-weekly (and later tri-weekly) basis. On March 25, 1991 Billboard premiered the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. Current criteria for this chart are albums that are more than two years old and have fallen below position 100 on the Billboard 200. An album need not have charted on the Billboard 200 at all to qualify for catalog status. Holiday albumsBillboard has adjusted its policies for holiday albums several times. Holiday albums were eligible for the main album charts until 1963, when a Christmas Albums list was created. Albums appearing here were not listed on the Top LPs chart. In 1974 this rule was reverted and holiday albums again appeared within the main list. In 1983 the Christmas Albums chart was resurrected, but a title's appearance here did not disqualify it from appearing on the Top Pop Albums chart. In 1994 the chart was retitled Top Holiday Albums. As of 2006 the chart holds fifty positions and is run for several weeks during the end-of-calendar-year holiday season. Its current policy allows holiday albums to concurrently chart on the Top Holiday Albums list and the Billboard 200, but only during the album's first year of release. After a holiday album's first year, it can return to Top Holiday Albums in future years but then is only eligible to concurrently appear on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. Nielsen SoundscanSince May 26, 1991, the Billboard 200's positions have been derived from Nielsen SoundScan sales data, as of 2007 contributed by approximately 14,000 music sellers. Because these numbers are supplied by a subset of sellers rather than record labels, it is common for these numbers to be substantially lower than those reported by the Recording Industry Association of America when Gold, Platinum and Diamond album awards are announced (RIAA awards reflect wholesale shipments, not retail sales). Year-end chartsBillboard’s "chart year" runs from the first week of December to the final week in November. This altered calendar allows for Billboard to calculate year-end charts and release them in time for its final print issue on the last week of December. Prior to Nielsen SoundScan, year-end charts were calculated by an inverse-point system based solely on an album's performance on the Billboard 200 (for example, an album would be given one point for a week spent at position 200, two points for a week spent at position 199… up to 200 points for each week spent at number one). Other factors including the total weeks on the chart and at its peak position were calculated into an album's year-end total. After Billboard began obtaining sales information from Nielsen SoundScan, the year-end charts are now calculated by a very straightforward cumulative total of yearlong sales. This gives a more accurate picture of any given year’s best-selling albums, as a title that hypothetically spent nine weeks at number one in March could possibly have sold fewer copies than one spending six weeks at number three in January. Interestingly, albums at the peak of their popularity at the time of the November/December chart-year cutoff many times end up ranked lower than one would expect on a year-end tally, yet are ranked on the following year's chart as well, as their cumulative points are split between the two chart-years. UsesThe Billboard 200 can be helpful to radio stations as an indication of the types of music listeners are interested in hearing. Retailers can also find it useful as a way to determine which recordings should be given the most prominent display in a store. Other outlets, such as airline music services, also employ the Billboard charts to determine their programming. LimitationsThe chart omits unit sales for listed albums and total recorded sales, making it impossible to determine, for example, if the number one album this week sold as well as the number one from the same period in the prior year. It is also impossible to determine the relative success of albums on a single chart; there is no indication of whether the number one album sold thousands more copies than number fifty, or only dozens more. All music genres are combined, but there are separate Billboard charts for individual market segments. The complete sales data broken down by location is made available, but only in the form of separate SoundScan subscriptions. Declining CD sales and the widespread sale of singles via the internet further reduce the relevance of the Billboard 200. Artist milestonesMost charted albums
Most top-ten albums
Most number-one albums
Most cumulative weeks at number one
Album milestonesMost weeks at number-one
Most weeks on the chart
Highest RIAA certification
Additional trivia
Sources
References
See also
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