Billboard (magazine)

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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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Billboard charts 1.2 Radio countdown programs 2 Billboard today 3 Corporate ownership 4 Further reading 5 External links

History

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 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.

It was the development of the juke box industry during the 1930s which led 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. 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.

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.

Billboard charts

Main article: 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 the Billboard charts are The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Bee Gees, The Supremes, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Bing Crosby, Pink Floyd and Elton John.

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 1991, it switched to using the Billboard Radio Monitor top 40 chart. Later, in 1993, it began using the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart, which it used 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 uses the top 40 songs of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

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 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. However, despite their extensive coverage of the entertainment business, they remain best known for their charts. The editorial coverage and broader strategy is guided by its editorial director, Scott A. McKenzie

Online Video: Billboard.com carries a 60-second news video about the world of music hosted by Danielle Flora called "Billboard In Sixty" [1]. Another program is "Billboard Underground" [2] which is artist interviews, performances and out-takes. Artists have included Ace Young, Wes Hutchinson, and Ryan Starr. Billboard Underground is also on MySpace at [3]

Corporate ownership

As of 2007, Billboard is owned by the Dutch conglomerate The Nielsen Company.

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.

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