Billboard has been providing a list of the most popular songs for centuries.  The company uses a system called the Nielsen Soundscan that tracks the sale of singles, albums, videos, and DVDs.  The system works by registering when a product is purchased at a retail store.  However, the store has to use the Soundscan system in order for the purchase to be recorded.  Along with Soundscan, Billboard also tracks radio airplay by using a system called Broadcast Data Systems.  Each song that is played on the air has a “fingerprint” that allows the Data System to track when it is played.  Radio stations all over the world add up each musical fingerprint detection and calculate the airplay points.  Statistics for the airplay detection include how many people listened to the song and at what time of day was it listened to.

When Billboard was first made popular, a song had to be widely available to consumers as a single for it to be considered Billboard chart music.  During this time, Billboard did not use any data calculation systems.  Instead, they obtained their records from radio stations and stores who had to manually record when an album or single was sold or heard.  The country genre was the first to use the song detection scan in 1990.  They were soon followed by the R&B genre in 1991.  Before 1995, a song was allowed to make the charts if the sales were based solely on airplay.  After 1995, a single was not allowed to make the charts unless it had airplay points and sale revenue.  Because of this factor, there were several tracks that could be listed as number one.

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