The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. The two primary charts – the Hot 100 (top 100 singles) and the Billboard 200 (top 200 albums) – factor in airplay, as well as music sales in all relevant formats.

On January 4, 1936, ''Billboard'' magazine published its first music hit parade. The first Music Popularity Chart was calculated in July 1940. A variety of song charts followed, which were eventually consolidated into the Hot 100 by mid-1958. The Hot 100 currently combines single sales, radio airplay and digital downloads.

All of ''Billboard's'' charts use this basic formula. What separates the charts is which stations and stores are used – each musical genre having a core audience or retail group. Each genre's department at ''Billboard'' is headed up by a chart manager, who makes these determinations.

For many years, a song had to be commercially available as a single to be considered for any of ''Billboard's'' charts. At the time, instead of using SoundScan or BDS, Billboard obtained its data from manual reports filled out by radio stations and stores. According to the 50th Anniversary issue of ''Billboard'', prior to the official implementation of Nielsen SoundScan tracking in November 1991, many radio stations and retail stores removed songs from their manual reports after the associated record labels stopped promoting a particular single. Thus songs fell quickly after peaking and had shorter chart lives. In 1990, the country singles chart was the first chart to use SoundScan and BDS. They were followed by the Hot 100 and the R&B; chart in 1991. Today, all of ''Billboard's'' charts use this technology.

Before September 1995, singles were allowed to chart in the week they first went on sale based on airplay points alone. The policy was changed in September 1995 to only allow a single to debut after a full week of sales on combined sales and airplay points. This allowed several tracks to debut at number one.

In December 1998, the policy was further modified to allow tracks to chart on the basis of airplay alone without a commercial release. This change was made to reflect the changing realities of the music business. Previous to this, several substantial radio and MTV hits had not appeared on the ''Billboard'' chart at all, because many major labels chose not to release them as standalone singles, hoping their unavailability would spur greater album sales. Not offering a popular song to the public as a single was unheard of before the 1970s. The genres that suffered most at the time were those that increasingly impacted pop culture, including new genres such as trip hop and grunge. Among the many pre-1999 songs that had ended up in this Hot 100 limbo were The Cardigans' "Lovefool", Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn", Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris", OMC's "How Bizarre", Sugar Ray's "Fly" and No Doubt's "Don't Speak".

Starting in 2005, ''Billboard'' changed its methodology to allow paid digital downloads from digital music stores such as iTunes to chart with or without the help of radio airplay.

A variety of charts

Originally, ''Billboard'' had separate charts for different measures of popularity, including disk jockey playings, juke box song selection, and best selling records in retail stores. A composite standing chart that combined these gradually grew to become a top 100, the ancestor of the current Hot 100 chart. The juke box chart ceased publication after the June 17, 1957 issue, the disk jockey chart, after the July 28, 1958 issue, and the best seller chart, after the October 13, 1958 issue. The July 28, 1958 issue was also the last issue that called the composite chart the ''Top 100''; the following week began the ''Hot 100''.

Currently, ''Billboard'' publishes many different charts, with the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 being the most famous. ''Billboard'' also has charts for the following music styles: rock, country, dance, bluegrass, jazz, classical, R&B;, rap, electronic, pop, Latin, Christian music, comedy albums, and even for ringtones for mobile (cell) phones. In 2009 Billboard partnered with MetroLyrics to offer top 10 lyrics for each of the charts.

At year's end

At the end of each year, ''Billboard'' tallies the results of all of its charts, and the results are published in a year-end issue and heard on year-end editions of its ''American Top 40'' and ''American Country Countdown'' radio broadcasts, in addition to being announced in the press. Between 1991 and 2006, the top single/album/artist(s) in each of those charts was/were awarded in the form of the annual Billboard Music Awards, which were annually held in December until the awards went dormant in 2007 (plans for a new version of the awards in 2008 fell through, and no awards have been held since 2007). The year-end charts cover a period from the first week of December of the previous year to the last week of November of the respective year.

Singles and tracks

All-genre

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
				* The US music industry standard singles popularity chart
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles			* Ranks the top 25 songs below #100 that have not yet appeared on the Hot 100.	* Can also be considered a 25-position addendum to the Hot 100.	* But a song cannot appear on the Bubbling Under chart if it has appeared on the Hot 100.
			Billboard Hot 100>Hot 100.	* If a song reaches the top 50, it and any of the artist's/band's subsequent singles are ineligible for the chart.
				* Measures radio airplay audience impressions on 1,233 radio stations encompassing all formats.	* One of three component charts of the Hot 100
Hot Singles Sales				* Measures sales of commercial singles	* One of three component charts of the Hot 100	* No recurrent chart
Hot Digital Songs				* Ranks top-selling digital song sales	* Combines different versions of songs for a summarized figure	* One of the three component charts of the Hot 100	* No recurrent chart
Hot Digital Tracks			* Ranks digital song sales with different versions of songs listed	* No recurrent chart

R&B;/Hip-Hop

Chart Title	! Description
Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Airplay
Mainstream R&B;/Hip-Hop
Hot Adult R&B; Airplay	The Hot Adult R&B; Airplay measures airplay from 65 Urban AC radio stations.
Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles Sales	The Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles Sales is the sales component of Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. It is a separate panel of sales of commercial 12" Maxi singles in the urban market.
Bubbling Under R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles	The Bubbling Under R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles ranks the top 25 singles gaining poins to debut inside the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The top 25 positions are the twenty-five space below the one-hundred point on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs.
	Measures airplay spins on 73 rhythmic stations. Rhythmic is a music radio format that includes of a mix of dance, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and R&B; hits.
Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Recurrents	The Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs ranks songs that have fallen below #50 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs and have been on that chart for over 20 weeks.
Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay	The Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Recurrent Airplay ranks the songs that have fallen below #25 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Airplay and have been on that chart for over 20 weeks.

Adult/Pop

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
Top 40 Mainstream				* Measures airplay detections (spins) on 132 Contemporary hit radio stations
			* Measures airplay spins on 90 Hot adult contemporary stations.
			* Measures airplay spins on 85 adult contemporary stations

Country

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
Hot Country Songs				* Measures airplay audience impression on 126 country music stations

Rock

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
Rock Songs				* Measures airplay audience impression on 180 radio stations encompassing mainstream rock, alternative, active rock, heritage rock, and Triple A stations
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks				* Measures airplay spins on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music but are not modern rock (i.e., alternative).
Alternative Songs			alternative rock>alternative or "modern rock" stations
Active Rock			* Measures airplay spins on 57 active rock radio stations, which plays current rock artists with a mix of classic rock songs
Heritage Rock			* Measures airplay spins on 22 heritage rock radio stations
Triple A			* Measures airplay spins on Adult album alternative (also known as "Triple A") radio, most of which are alternative rock songs that skew towards an older audience

Dance

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
Hot Dance Club Songs				* Compiled exclusively from playlists submitted by nightclub disc jockeys, who must apply and meet certain criteria to become ''Billboard''-reporting DJs
Hot Dance Airplay				* A monitored dance music radio chart of 5 dance stations that came about as a result of the small but influential impact of dance music on the radio and the stations that program it
Hot Dance Singles Sales				* A chart that measures the sale of commercially released singles in the dance music market, including remixes. It was formerly known as Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, when the chart was restricted to sales of the 12" Maxi Single and CD Maxi Single format, but in recent years, singles only released in the CD Single format have apparently been counted too.
Hot Dance/Electronic Digital Songs				* A chart that tracks the digital download of dance music singles, including tracks that are exclusively available online only. This chart also includes previously released dance and disco songs that became available for downloading.

Latin

Billboard Chart Title	! Description
Hot Latin Songs	The Hot Latin Songs (a.k.a., Hot Latin Tracks) is a weekly music chart for Spanish language singles in the American music market. It was established by the magazine in 1986, when music labels and Billboard realized that Spanish-language songs had a great potential to the American audiences. The chart is based on airplay on 123 Latin music stations. Songs on the chart are not necessarily in Spanish language.
Latin Pop Airplay	The Latin Pop Airplay is a weekly monitored Latin pop music radio chart that ranks the most played Latin pop songs on Latin music stations. It was established by the magazine in 1994.
Latin Regional Mexican Airplay	The Latin Regional Mexican Airplay is a weekly chart that ranks Regional Mexican music information from different genres like Mariachi, Norteño (music)
[[Latin Tropical Airplay	The Latin Tropical Airplay (a.k.a., Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay) is a weekly monitored chart that ranks Tropical music information from different genres like Merengue, Salsa, Bachata, Guaracha and others on 18 Latin music stations. It was established by the magazine in 1994.
Latin Rhythm Airplay

Christian

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
Christian Songs				* Measures airplay audience impression on 96 Christian radio stations
Hot Christian AC Songs
Hot Gospel Songs			* Measures airplay spins on 48 Gospel stations

Jazz

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
Smooth Jazz Songs				* Measures airplay spins on 14 smooth jazz stations

Ringtones

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
Hot Ringtones				* Ranks weekly sales of Ring tone#Polyphoni
[[Hot RingMasters			* Ranks weekly sales of master ringtones for mobile phones
Hot Videoclips				Total Request Live>TRL and 106 & Park

Canadian charts

Chart Title	Chart type	! Number ofpositions	! Description
Canadian Hot 100				* Canadian music industry standard singles popularity chart
Emerging Canadian Artist			* Ranks most popular songs by emerging Canadian artists	* Artists are considered emerging until 12 months after the date their first Canadian Hot 100 charting entry reaches the top 40.	* No recurrent chart
Hot Digital Song				* Ranks top-selling digital song sales	* Combines different versions of songs for summarized figure	* one of the component charts of Canadian Hot 100.	* No recurrent chart
Hot 100 Airplay				* Measures radio airplay audience impressions on 137 radio stations from five different formats	* One of the component charts of Canadian Hot 100.
All-format Airplay				* Measures radio airplay spins on 137 radio stations from five formats.	Jam! Canadian Online Explorer>Canoe website.
CHR/Top 40 Airplay			* Measures radio airplay spins on 25 CHR radio stations
AC Airplay			* Measures radio airplay spins on 28 AC radio stations
Hot AC Airplay			* Measures radio airplay spins on 24 Hot AC radio stations
Country Airplay			* Measures radio airplay spins on 31 country radio stations.
Rock Airplay			* Measures radio airplay spins on 29 rock radio stations

International charts

Billboard Chart Title	! Description
Brasil Hot 100 Airplay	The Brazil Hot 100 Airplay ranks the most listening singles and tracks in Brazil.
Brasil Hot Pop Songs	Brazilian Hot 40 songs ranks the most listening pop singles and tracks in Brazil.
Brasil Hot Popular Songs	Brazilian Hot 40 songs ranks the most listening national music styles singles and tracks in Brazil.
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	The Eurochart Hot 100 Singles ranks the best selling singles in Europe by combining sales from various countries in Europe.
Greek Top 10 Chart	The Greek Top 10 Chart ranks the best selling digital singles and tracks in Greece.
Japan Hot 100	The Japan Hot 100 ranks the best selling singles and tracks in Japan.
Korea K-Pop Hot 100	The Korea K-Pop Hot 100 ranks the best selling singles and tracks in South Korea.
Turkey Top 20 Chart	Turkey Top 20 Chart ranks the best selling and the most listening foreign singles and tracks in Turkey.
Turkish Top 20 Chart	Turkish Top 20 Chart ranks the best selling and the most listening Turkish singles and tracks in Turkey.
Turkish Rock Top 20 Chart	Turkey Top 20 Chart ranks the best selling and the most listening Turkish rock singles and tracks in Turkey.
Global Dance Tracks	Global Dance Tracks is a weekly international survey of the songs that are most popular in dance clubs globally. It is compiled by Billboard exclusively from playlists submitted by nightclub disc jockeys who must apply and meet certain criteria to become Billboard-reporting DJs.

Discontinued charts

Chart Title	! Discontinued date	! Description
Country Single Sales	2005		* Ranks top selling commercial country singles
Pop 100			* Ranked songs by combining airplay focused on pop radio and sales	* The chart's importance is replaced by the Top 40 Mainstream chart
Pop 100 Airplay		* Measured pop radio airplay	* One of three component charts of the Pop 100

Albums

Chart Title	! Number ofpositions	! Description
			* Industry standard, includes albums from any genre.	* Includes both new and catalog albums.
Top Current Albums			* The same chart as Billboard 200, with catalog titles removed
Top Pop Catalog Albums			* An album becomes a catalog title when it is more than 18 months old and has fallen below position 100 on the ''Billboard 200''.
Top Internet Albums
Tastemakers			* Ranked albums based on "an influential panel of indie stores and small regional chains."
Top Digital Albums
			* Ranks albums from new artists/bands that have never attained the top 100 of Billboard 200.	* If an album reaches the top 100, it and any of the artist's/band's subsequent singles are ineligible for the chart.
Heatseekers Albums (East North Central)
Heatseekers Albums (Middle Atlantic)
Heatseekers Albums (Mountain)
Heatseekers Albums (Northeast)
Heatseekers Albums (Pacific)
Heatseekers Albums (South Atlantic)
Heatseekers Albums (South Central)
Heatseekers Albums (West North Central)
Top Independent Albums			* Ranks top 50 albums released through independent record labels.
Top Rock Albums
Top Alternative Albums
Top Hard Rock Albums
Top Folk Albums
Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums
Top Rap Albums
Top Country Albums
Top Country Catalog Albums
Top Bluegrass Albums
Top Latin Albums
Regional Mexican Albums
Latin Pop Albums
Tropical Albums
Latin Rhythm Albums
Top Classical Albums			* Traditional Classical albums
Top Classical Crossover Albums
Classical Albums			* Available only on billboard.com
Top Classical Budget Albums
Top Classical Midline Albums
Top Christian Albums
Top Gospel Albums
Top Christian & Gospel Albums
Top Jazz Albums			* Traditional Jazz albums
Top Contemporary Jazz
Jazz Albums			* Available only on billboard.com
Top Dance/Electronic Albums
Top Cast Albums			* Measuring sales of cast recordings
Top Comedy Albums
Top Compilation Albums
Top Holiday Albums			* see Best-selling Christmas/holiday albums in the United States
Top Kid Audio
Top New Age Albums
Top Reggae Albums
Top Soundtracks
Top World Albums			* Ranks biggest-selling world music albums, including catalog titles

Other charts

In December 2010, ''Billboard'' announced a new chart titled ''Social 50'', which ranks the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites. The Social 50 chart tallies artists' popularity using their weekly additions of friends/fans/followers, along with weekly artist page views and weekly song plays on Myspace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and iLike.

In January 2011, ''Billboard'' introduced another chart called ''Uncharted'', which lists new and developing artists, who are yet to appear on any major ''Billboard'' chart, "...regardless of their country of origin." The ranking is based on the views and fans on social networking websites like Myspace and Facebook. To appear on ''Uncharted'', the artists must be registered Myspace Music artists, and should not have appeared on any major ''Billboard'' charts before.

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

References

General

Specific

External links

Billboard charts available to view for free

Full list of charts that Billboard publishes for subscribers

*

fr:Classement du Billboard lv:Billboard Tops ru:Чарты Billboard simple:Billboard charts tr:Billboard listeleri vi:Bảng xếp hạng Billboard

Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	O. C. Smith
background	solo_singer
birth name	Ocie Lee Smith
born	June 21, 1932Mansfield, Louisiana, United States
died	November 23, 2001
instrument	Vocals
genre	R&B;, jazz, soul
occupation	Singer
years active	1955–2001
label	Cadence Records, MGM Records, Columbia Records, Rendezvous, Triune, Wave, Bluewater
notable instruments	}}

O.C. Smith (June 21, 1932 – November 23, 2001) was an American musician. His recording of "Little Green Apples", which went to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968, also sold over one million records.

Biography

Born Ocie Lee Smith in Mansfield, Louisiana, Smith moved with his parents to Little Rock, Arkansas, before their divorce saw Smith and his mother move to Los Angeles, California.

After completing a psychology degree at Southern University, Smith joined the Air Force, and served throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. While in the Air Force, Smith began entering talent contests and toured with Horace Heidt. After his discharge in July 1955, Smith went into jazz music to pay the bills.

Smith gained his first break as a singer with Sy Oliver and made an appearance on ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts''. His success on that show led to a recording contract with Cadence Records.

Smith's debut release was a cover of the Little Richard hit "Tutti Frutti" in December 1955. The song was not a hit, but convinced MGM Records to sign Smith to a solo contract, resulting in three more releases, but still no hits.

In 1961, Smith was recruited by Count Basie to be his vocalist, a position he held until 1965. He also continued to record with different labels, but a hit remained elusive. By 1968, Smith's then label, Columbia Records, was ready to release him from his recording contract, when he entered the charts for the first time with "Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp", which reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart

He continued to record, reaching the R&B;, Adult Contemporary and pop charts in his home country with the likes of "Daddy's Little Man", "Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife", "Me and You" and "Love To Burn". He also returned to the UK Singles Chart in 1977 with "Together", reaching a Top 30 position.

Albums

1966 ''The Dynamic O.C. Smith''

1968 ''Hickory Holler Revisited''

1969 ''For Once in My Life''

1969 ''O.C. Smith at Home''

1971 ''Help Me Make It through the Night''

1974 ''La La Peace Song''

1977 ''Together''

1979 ''Love Is Forever

1982 ''Love Changes''

1993 ''After All Is Said and Done''

2000 ''I Give My Heart to You''

2000 ''Beach Music Classics and Love Songs''

Filmography

2009 ''O.C. Smith: How Sweet It Is"

References

External links

An in-depth feature with a complete discography at Soulexpress.net

Category:1932 births Category:2001 deaths Category:African American musicians Category:American male singers Category:People from Little Rock, Arkansas Category:American clergy

sv:O.C. Smith