Did United States have any singles charts based only on sales, before digital era ?

Edited October 21, 201311 yr by AlexRange

Did United States have any singles charts based only on sales, before digital era ?

 

It had a chart called "Hot Singles Sales" as far as I can remember.

Alex, here is a link to Billboard's magazine/chart archives:

www.billboard.com/magazine-archive‎

You'll notice that some weeks are missing, but most of them are there.

It looks like Billboard magazine began including its singles sales chart on October 20, 1984. It appears under the title "Hot 100 Sales and Airplay".

In the 1990s the same chart appears under another title "Top POS Singles Sales", then "Hot 100 Singles Sales," and later "Hot Singles Sales".

The last Hot Singles Sales chart to be printed in Billboard magazine is July 5, 2008. So Billboard's archive will give you most singles charts between 1984 and 2008. You'll find the chart near the end of the magazine, so I suggest you start at the very bottom and scroll up.

Also, the singles chart varies in size from year to year. I think it starts at 25 songs in the 1980s, increases to 40 or 50 in the 1990s, then to 75 in the early 2000s. Then downloads take over and the singles chart goes back to 50 songs, then 25 before it disappears. Hot Singles Sales still exists but you need a paid subscription to access it. I think it gets posted on UKMix in the Hot 100 thread.

 

This is the best source I know of but if anyone has a better source, I want to know also!!

Thanks for information, Jordan.

What about 60s and 70s decades ? Was Billboard Hot 100 based only on sales in that period of time ?

No, airplay has always been included. There was also a sales-only chart in the 1950s titled "Best Selling Pop Singles In Stores". It was discontinued in 1958 when the Hot 100 was introduced, and I haven't seen the chart for any weeks between 1958 and 1984.

I thought this was a thread for "The Wanted's" US sales lol