A record chart, also known as a music chart, is a method of ranking
music judging by the
popularity during a given period of time. Although primarily a marketing or supermarketing tool like any other
sales statistic, they have become a form of popular media culture in their own right.
Record charts are compiled using a variety of criteria. These commonly include sales of
records,
cassettes and
compact discs; amount of
radio airplay; requests to radio
disk jockeys; voting for songs by the radio listeners and, more recently, number of
downloads and
streams.
Some charts are specific to a particular
musical genre and most to a particular geographical location. The most common period of time covered by a chart is one week, with the chart being printed or broadcast at the end of this time. Summary charts for years and decades are then calculated from their component weekly charts. Component charts have become an increasingly important way to measure the commercial success of individual songs.
Reviewers often describe records using
round number milestones within a chart. For example, a record that peaks at number 7 may be called a "Top 10"
hit, even when there is no chart limited to only the top 10 records in that particular location.
The following books list recording artists in alphabetical order unless otherwise stated.
Australia. Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1940–1969: the hit songs and records from thirty years of specially compiled charts. Turramurra, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book, 2005
ISBN0-646-44439-5
Australia. Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. Turramurra, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book, 1993
ISBN0-646-11917-6
Australia. Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1993–2009: the hit singles and albums from 17 years of Australia's national charts. Turramurra, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book, 2010
ISBN978-0-646-52995-0
Australia. Kent, David. The Australian top 20 book (1940-2006): All the top 20 singles charts covering more than 67 years. Turramurra, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book, 2007
ISBN978-0-646-47665-0
Australia. Ryan, Gavin. Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010: Containing ARIA Chart information from their Singles, Albums and Music DVD Charts. Mt Martha, Vic.: Moonlight Publishing, 2011
Australia. Barnes, Jim and Stephen Scanes. The Book: Top 40 Research 1956-2010. Gorokan, N.S.W.: Scanes Music Research, 2011
ISBN0-646-25736-6
Belgium. Collin, Robert. Het Belgisch Hitboek: 45 jaar hits in Vlaanderen: 1954-1999. Lier: Vox, 1999
ISBN90-76695-01-6
Belgium. Jaspers, Sam. Ultratop 20.000 hits!: 1995-2005. Deurne (Antwerpen): Book & Media Publishing, 2006
ISBN90-5720-232-8
Canada.
Lwin, Nanda. The Canadian singles chart book: 1975–1996. Mississauga, Ont.: Music Data Canada, 1996
ISBN1-896594-09-3
Canada. Lwin, Nanda. Top 40 hits: the essential chart guide. Mississauga, Ont.: Music Data Canada, 2000
ISBN1-896594-13-1
Canada. Lwin, Nanda. Top albums: the essential chart guide. Toronto: Music Data Research, 2003
ISBN1-896594-14-X
Canada. Tarling, Brian. RPM's Pop Charted Songs: From June 24, 1964 to February 10, 1990. Burnaby, B.C.: Brian Tarling, 2015
ISBN978-0-9877593-2-0 854p.
Canada. Tarling, Brian. RPM's Pop Charted Tracks: Hit Songs From Across Canada: 1990 to 2000. Burnaby, B.C.: Brian Tarling, 2018 432p.
Denmark. Jensen, Andrew & Jan Poulsen. Hitlisten, alt om 2.015 hits på Tjeklisten. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2005
ISBN87-02-03549-9
Finland. Pennanen, Timo. Sisältää hitin: levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. Helsingissä: Otava, 2006
ISBN951-1-21053-X
Finland. Lassila, Juha. Mitä suomi soittaa?: hittilistat 1954-87. Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto, Nykykulttuurin tutkimusyksikkö, 1990
ISBN951-680-321-0
France. Habib, Elia. Muz hit .tubes: tubes, numéros 1, disques d'or, charts, 1984-2002. Rouillon: Alinéa bis éd., 2002
ISBN2-9518832-0-X
France. King, Alex. Hit-parade: 20 ans de tubes. Paris: Editions Pascal, 2005
ISBN2-35019-009-9
France. Suiveng, Yannick. Dictionnaire des tubes en France: 1950-2010, 60 ans de hits !. Domptin: Carrefour du net, 2010
ISBN978-2-35451-060-2
Germany. Ehnert, Günter. Hit Bilanz: deutsche Chart Singles: 1956-1980. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990
ISBN3-922542-24-7
Germany. Ehnert, Günter. Hit Bilanz: deutsche Chart Singles: 1981-1990. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1994
ISBN3-922542-44-1
Germany. Ehnert, Günter. Hit Bilanz: deutsche Chart Singles: 1991-2000. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 2002
ISBN3-922542-74-3
Germany. Ehnert, Günter. Hit Bilanz: deutsche Chart Singles: 1956-2001 CD-ROM. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 2002
ISBN3-922542-60-3
Germany. Ehnert, Günter. Hit Bilanz: Singles 1956-1980 Top 10. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990
ISBN3-922542-41-7 chronological
Germany. Ehnert, Günter. Hit Bilanz: Singles 1981-2000 Top 10. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 2001
ISBN3-922542-46-8 chronological
Germany. Amtage, Jörg & Matthias Müller. Alle Hits aus Deutschlands Charts 1954-2003. Berlin: Pro Business, 2003
ISBN3-937343-20-2 (2 vols.)
Germany. 30 Jahre Single-Hitparade die Jahres-Single-Hitparaden vom 20. Dez. 1959 bis 15. Dez. 1988. Starnberg: Keller, 1989 (Supplement: 40 Jahre Single-Hitparade: Ergänzungsband 1989-1998 (2000))
Ireland. Gogan, Larry. The Larry Gogan book of Irish chart hits. Dublin: Maxwell in association with RTÉ Radio 2, 1987
ISBN1-870846-00-1
Ireland. Kelly, Eddie. The complete guide to Ireland's top ten hits 1954-1979. Dublin: Original Writing, 2010
ISBN978-1-907179-33-4
Italy. Padovano, Romy. Hit parade: classifiche, dischi, artisti dagli anni '50 ai nostri giorni. Milan: Mondadori, 1997
ISBN88-04-42563-6
Italy. Salvatori, Dario. 40 anni di hit parade italiana: [le canzoni, gli interpreti, i record e le curiosità di tutte le classifiche dal 1957 a oggi]. Firenze: Tarab, 1999
ISBN88-86675-55-0
Italy. Spinetoli, John Joseph. Artisti In Classifica: I Singoli: 1960-1999. Milano: Musica e dischi, 2000
Italy. Spinetoli, John Joseph. Artisti In Classifica: I Album: 1970-1996. Milano: Musica e dischi, 1997
Japan. Single Chart-Book Complete Edition 1968–2010. Tokyo: Oricon, 2012
ISBN4-87131-088-4
Japan. Album Chart-Book Complete Edition 1970–2005. Tokyo: Oricon, 2006
ISBN4-87131-077-9
Netherlands. Hit dossier: 1939 tot 1998: samengesteld door Johann van Slooten met medewerking van de stichting Nederlandse top 40. Haarlem: Becht, 1998
ISBN90-230-0974-6
Netherlands. Top 40 Hitdossier: 1965-2022. ['s-Graveland]: Just Publishers, 2023
ISBN978-90-8975-664-0
Netherlands. Arens, Bart, Edgar Kruize and Ed Adams. Mega Top 50 presenteert: 50 jaar hitparade: zoals wekelijks uitgezonden bij de publieke omroep tussen 1963 en 2013. Houten: Spectrum, Uitgeverij Unieboek, 2013
ISBN978-90-00-33100-0
New Zealand. Freeman, Warwick. New Zealand Top 20 Singles of the Sixties. Warkworth: Warwick Raymond Freeman, 2016
ISBN9780473374426 205p.
New Zealand. Scapolo, Dean. The complete New Zealand music charts, 1966–2006: singles, albums, DVDs, compilations. Wellington: Maurienne House, 2007
ISBN978-1-877443-00-8
Norway. Gilde, Torre. Den store norske hitboka: en komplett guide til populaermuikken i norge 1958-1993. Oslo: Exlex, 1994
ISBN82-7776-000-0
South Africa. Kimberley, C. South Africa Chart Book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 1997
Sweden. Hallberg, Eric. Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10/7 1962-19/8 1975. Värmdö: Drift musik, 1993
ISBN91-630-2140-4
Sweden. Hallberg, Eric and Ulf Henningsson. Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök 1961-74. Stockholm: Premium, 2012
ISBN978-91-89136-89-2
Sweden. Wendt, Wille. Topplistan: the official Swedish single & album charts 1975–1993. Stockholm: Premium, 1993
ISBN91-971894-2-1
Switzerland. Hufschmid, Gusty. 33 Jahre Schweizer Hitparade — Single Charts. Starnberg: J. Keller, 2001
ISBN3-7808-0182-5
United Kingdom. The Virgin book of British hit singles. Volume 2. London: Virgin Books, 2010
ISBN978-0-7535-2245-5
United Kingdom. The Virgin book of Top 40 charts. London: Virgin Books, 2010
ISBN978-0-7535-2200-4 chronological
United Kingdom. The Virgin book of British hit albums. London: Virgin Books, 2009
ISBN978-0-7535-1700-0
United Kingdom. Warwick, Neil et al. The complete book of the British charts: singles & albums. London: Omnibus Press, 2004
ISBN1-84449-058-0
Note: The four books above have been superseded by the Betts/OCC set of books, thus:
United Kingdom. Betts, Graham. The Official Charts & Hits - The Fifties. London: Official UK Charts Company, 2020
ISBN978-1-7905-5812-4
United Kingdom. Betts, Graham. The Official xx Hits Book (60s; 70s; 80s; 90s; 00s; 10s). London: Official UK Charts Company, 2019-20 six volumes
United Kingdom. Betts, Graham. The Official Singles Charts: 70s; 80s; 90s; 00s; 10s. London: Official UK Charts Company, 2019-20 five chronological volumes
United Kingdom. Betts, Graham. The Official Albums Charts: 70s; 80s; 90s; 00s; 10s. London: Official UK Charts Company, 2019-20 five chronological volumes
United Kingdom. Betts, Graham. The Official Compilations Charts: 90s; 00s; 10s. London: Official UK Charts Company, 2019-20 three chronological volumes
United Kingdom. Rees, Dafydd et al. 40 years of NME charts. London: Boxtree, 1995
ISBN0-7522-0829-2 chronological
United Kingdom. Rees, Dafydd et al. 30 years of NME album charts. London: Boxtree, 1995
ISBN0-7522-0824-1 chronological
United Kingdom. White George R. British Hit EPs 1955-1989. York: Music Mentor, 2014
ISBN978-0-9562679-6-2
United States. Joel Whitburn's Billboard pop hits, singles & albums, 1940–1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisc.:
Record Research, 2002
ISBN0-89820-152-7
United States. Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles 1955–2018. Menomonee Falls, Wisc.: Record Research, 2019
United States. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums 1955-2016. Menomonee Falls, Wisc.: Record Research, 2018
United States. Whitburn, Joel. Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Menomonee Falls, Wisc.: Record Research, various dates (comprises 1950s; The Sixties; The Seventies; The Eighties; The Nineties; The 2000s) chronological
United States. Joel Whitburn presents Billboard Pop Album Charts 1965-1969. Menomonee Falls, Wisc.: Record Research, 1993
ISBN0-89820-097-0 chronological
Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: singles chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Albums chart book: Zimbabwe. Harare: C. Kimberley, 1998