Record Research - News

Those on the Record Research mailing list will have got the below email today. I think this is looking like the end is nigh, sadly, but they are looking for investors. So if you have deep pockets...

The email:

If you’re like us, the black and white print on our pages evoke memories associated with melodies from your life’s soundtrack.  Producing these pages has never been just a job for us.  It’s a labor of love.

For more than a half century, Joel Whitburn’s Record Research has created the data trusted by history buffs and music preservationists worldwide.

We’ve self-published 174 research books, authored the Billboard Top 40 Hits book series which spawned Billboard Books, created the Billboard Hits series of music books with Hal Leonard, and initiated and produced 125 separate Billboard Top Hits music compilations with Rhino Records. 

We’ve weathered bad economies, the rise and fall of multiple recording configurations, record labels, and music industry magazines, the coming and going of weekly Top 40 countdowns, the upheaval of radio, the advent of streaming, the wholescale shift of data from print to internet, and so on.

What began as a one-man hobby in the mid-1960s, became a thriving small business.  By the early 1990s, we employed a healthy staff able to field a variety of projects. Downturns in the music industry eventually affected our business.  We cut back on projects, then on staff through attrition. 

Enter the 2000s and everything about how music was discovered and enjoyed changed.  Extensive market research narrowed radio playlists diminishing the number of stations that played the whole Top 40 (or even the Top 10). Streaming algorithms introduced new music.  And only a handful of record shops kept their doors open.  Gone were the days when a collector would check out the chart posted in the shop for new releases, so fewer and fewer music lovers developed a heart for the charts.  As our customer base aged, so did their enthusiasm for new music and its stats. Sales of new editions declined.

We introduced our online database, the MusicVault.  But its time and expense outpaced customer involvement.  Despite increasing demands on our remaining staff of four -- Joel, Kim, Paul and Brent, we soldiered on.     

And then Fran’s accident in 2017.  Kim became her primary caregiver, cutting into her RR workload; Brent assisted Joel with daily chores.  Still, we kept going through COVID, boosted by music fans spending more time with their collections and craving info from our books.  But, the resulting shutdowns and supply-chain issues eventually sent our production costs soaring.  On more than a few occasions, Joel mulled that it was time to close up shop.

In the three years since Joel’s passing, followed by Fran’s, Record Research has published three books, further streamlined, and wished Brent the best on his retirement after 47 years as a Record Researcher. 

Kim and Paul, the last two standing, have been fielding a lot of questions from our readers.  And, so that we are not further inundated, here are our best answers to the most common queries.

Where is the Billboard Hot 100 Charts: 2010-2019 book?

It most likely will not be published. In early 2023, Kim created a one-page format for the chart which covered two and then three pages over the decade in Billboard’s print issue.  We intended to reverse engineer the chart from our weekly positions data and Paul was set to proof.  However, delayed permissions and rising production costs made it unattainable.

Will you publish new editions of ….?

Not likely.  The current costs associated with creating, printing, storing, packaging, and shipping are too heavy; the books would incur an even higher price tag, which is insurmountable in this climate of declining interest. 

Don’t wait to buy a book that we’ve had in stock for years.  It’s disconcerting to hear customers demand, “You have to reprint that book! I was waiting for it to go on sale and now you don’t have it!  And you expect me to pay over $300 for a used copy on eBay?”  No, we don’t.  Buy in-stock books now.

Will future books be released as print-on-demand?

Again, it’s not likely due to time and expense involved.

Can I buy PDFs or spreadsheets of your work?

No, reports generated by our custom-designed database require edits when transferred to PDF.  The database does not readily lend itself to the creation of spreadsheets.

Will there be further eBook versions of your print work?

This remains to be seen as the two of us are doing all we can.

Will you be bringing your database online (like you did with the MusicVault)?

See answer above.

Since Joel’s passing, is there still interest in maintaining Record Research?

Kim and Paul are deeply proud of the unique work they’ve done.  Kim has been behind the scenes of Record Research her whole life, beginning in her crib next to Joel in 1965 — when he began his research with a pack of index cards and the “Hot 100” chart of 8/4/58 — to her first after-school job at age 11, to coming aboard in a professional capacity in 1987.  Paul, a lifelong, serious chart enthusiast, made the move from a radio career and signed on as a Record Researcher in 1992.  We maintain that ours have been the most stalwart of hearts for the charts, absorbing losses in an effort to keep creating and delivering our music history facts and stats to you. 

What’s next?

Record Research has a tremendous database, stock on several titles, and strong support from music lovers worldwide, like you, for which we are immensely grateful.  To move forward and initiate new projects requires an influx of capital from those with deep pockets who concurrently have a desire to take up the mantle and enjoy the myriad of possibilities awash within our goldmine of data.  If not, it looks as if the days of this mom ‘n pop shop are numbered. 

Only serious endeavors with the means to build on this work will be entertained at info@recordresearch.com.  Please direct all other inquiries or encouragement to comment@recordresearch.com.

In the meantime, don’t miss out on your chance to keep our lights burning for a bit longer and build your library for less!