Billboard 200

• 1. Chart Evolution And Naming History

  ›

  The Billboard 200 began as a five-position list in 1945. It did not appear weekly at first, sometimes skipping weeks before updates arrived. A biweekly chart with fifteen positions called Best-Selling Popular Albums emerged in 1955. The format wars of the early 1950s stabilized into market dominance by 45 RPM singles and long-playing 12-inch albums. Sales of 78 RPM records and 10-inch albums dropped dramatically during this period. Billboard premiered a weekly Best-Selling Popular Albums chart on the 24th of March 1956. Harry Belafonte held the first number one spot on that new weekly list with his album Belafonte. The position count varied anywhere from ten to thirty albums during those early years. The chart was renamed Best-Selling Pop Albums later in 1956. It became Best-Selling Pop LPs in 1957. Beginning the 25th of May 1959, Billboard split the ranking into two charts for stereo and mono albums. These were renamed Stereo Action Charts and Mono Action Charts respectively in 1960. In January 1961 they became Action Albums , Stereophonic and Action Albums , Monophonic. Three months later they became Top LPs , Stereo and Top LPs , Monaural. On the 17th of August 1963, the stereo and mono charts combined into a 150-position chart called Top LPs. The chart expanded to 175 positions on the 1st of April 1967. It finally reached 200 positions on the 13th of May 1967. The title changed to Top LPs & Tape in February 1972. It became Top 200 Albums in 1984. Then it was retitled Top Pop Albums in 1985. In 1991 it became the Billboard 200 Top Albums. The current name of the Billboard 200 arrived on the 14th of March 1992.

• 2. Methodology And Data Tracking Systems

  ›

  Since the 25th of May 1991, the Billboard 200's positions have been derived from Nielsen SoundScan sales data. Approximately fourteen thousand music sellers contribute to this system today. These numbers come from a subset of sellers rather than record labels. Sales figures supplied by SoundScan are often substantially lower than those reported by the Recording Industry Association of America for Gold or Platinum awards. RIAA awards reflect wholesale shipments instead of retail sales. The weekly sales period ran Monday through Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991. Since July 2015, the tracking week begins on Friday and ends on Thursday. A new chart is published the following Tuesday with a post date of that Saturday. The chart's streaming schedule also runs from Friday to Thursday. Digital downloads of albums count toward Billboard 200 tabulation. Albums not licensed for retail sale in the United States remain ineligible even if purchased as imports. A long-standing policy rendering titles sold exclusively by specific retailers like Walmart and Starbucks ineligible was reversed on the 7th of November 2007. That change took effect in the issue dated the 17th of November 2007. On the 13th of December 2014, Billboard began including on-demand streaming and digital track sales using a new algorithm. Data came from all major on-demand audio subscription services in the U.S. Starting the 18th of January 2020, Billboard updated its method again by incorporating video data from YouTube. Visual plays from platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Vevo, and Facebook now factor into calculations. Under the current methodology, ten track sales or fifteen hundred song streams equal one album purchase. Billboard continues publishing a pure album sales chart called Top Album Sales based exclusively on SoundScan data.

• 3. Specialized Chart Categories And Policies

  ›

  In 1960, Billboard began concurrently publishing album charts ranking older or mid-priced titles. These Essential Inventory charts were divided by stereo and mono albums. Mono albums moved to the Essential Inventory , Mono chart after spending forty weeks on the Mono Action Chart. Stereo albums transferred to the Essential Inventory , Stereo chart after twenty weeks on the Stereo Action Chart. Albums appeared on either chart for up to nine weeks before moving to an unranked list of approximately two hundred titles. This list continued until the consolidated Top LPs chart debuted in 1963. In 1982, Billboard published a Midline Albums chart alternatively titled Midline LPs. The chart held fifty positions and ran biweekly then triweekly. On the 25th of May 1991, Billboard premiered the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. Criteria required albums more than eighteen months old falling below number one hundred on the main chart. Roger Waters stated in 1992 that Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall should remain on the Billboard Top 200 instead of catalog lists. He claimed the catalog chart offered evidence of dishonesty rife in the business. Following Michael Jackson's death on the 25th of June 2009, several of his albums saw significant sales surges. Number Ones, The Essential Michael Jackson, and Thriller occupied the top three spots for two consecutive weeks. Six of Jackson's albums became the best-selling albums in the country during the third week. The success led to policy changes starting the 5th of December 2009. Catalog limitations for the Billboard 200 were lifted allowing all albums to chart regardless of age or single activity. A new chart dubbed Top Current Albums kept previous criteria for the main list. Holiday albums were eligible for main charts until 1963 when a Christmas Albums chart was created. Albums appearing here did not list on the Top LPs chart initially. In 1974 this rule reverted allowing holiday albums back within the main list. The Christmas Albums chart resurrected in 1983 but titles could appear on both lists simultaneously. By 1990 it retitled Top Holiday Albums holding fifty positions running several weeks during year-end seasons. Current policy allows holiday albums to concurrently chart on both the Top Holiday Albums list and the Billboard 200.

• 4. Historical All-Time Performance Rankings

  ›

  In 2015, Billboard compiled rankings of the one hundred best-performing albums over its fifty-two years through October 2015. Adele held the number one spot with her 2011 album selling enough to rank first overall. The Sound of Music soundtrack from 1965 ranked second despite only spending two weeks at number one. Michael Jackson's Thriller from 1982 took third place after thirty-seven weeks atop the chart. Taylor Swift's Fearless released in 2008 ranked fourth following eleven weeks at number one. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. from 1984 placed fifth after seven weeks at the summit. Garth Brooks' Ropin' the Wind from 1991 ranked sixth after eighteen weeks leading the chart. Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill from 1995 came seventh after twelve weeks at number one. Maurice Jarre's Doctor Zhivago soundtrack from 1966 ranked eighth despite just one week at top position. Nickelback's All the Right Reasons from 2005 took ninth place after a single week at number one. Carole King's Tapestry from 1971 rounded out the top ten after fifteen weeks at the peak. The Beatles led all-time artist rankings with multiple albums including Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and A Hard Day's Night. The Rolling Stones followed closely behind them on the artist list. Barbra Streisand held the third spot among artists over the fifty-two year period. Garth Brooks, Elton John, Mariah Carey, Herb Alpert, Taylor Swift, Chicago, and Michael Jackson filled the remaining top ten slots. Paul McCartney holds the most number-one albums as a musician with twenty-seven total. This includes nineteen albums from his work with the Beatles plus three solo albums and five albums as part of Wings. John Lennon ranks second with twenty-two number-one albums including nineteen with the Beatles and two solo releases.

• 5. Artist Milestones And Record Holdings

  ›

  Barbra Streisand remains the only artist to have number-one albums in six different decades. Her first was People released in 1964 while her most recent was Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway hitting number one in 2016. Weeks between those two hits reached nearly fifty-two years. Taylor Swift holds the record for most consecutive number-one studio albums with fifteen. Kanye West follows with eleven consecutive number-one studio albums. Eminem also achieved eleven consecutive number-one studio albums. Jay-Z holds ten consecutive number-one studio albums. Beyoncé became the first artist to debut her first six studio albums at number one following Lemonade's release on the 1st of May 2016. She extended this to seven albums after Renaissance debuted the 7th of August 2022. Beyoncé further extended her record to eight albums after Cowboy Carter topped the chart the 13th of April 2024. Justin Bieber became the first male act to debut his first six studio albums at number one following Justice's release the 3rd of April 2021. Stray Kids became the first act to debut at number one with their first seven entries on the 6th of September 2025. The Beatles hold the record for most cumulative weeks at number one with 132 total weeks. Taylor Swift follows with ninety-eight weeks at the summit. Elvis Presley accumulated sixty-seven weeks leading the chart. Garth Brooks spent fifty-two weeks at number one while Michael Jackson held it for fifty-one weeks. Whitney Houston and The Kingston Trio each logged fifty-one weeks atop the list. Morgan Wallen reached forty-six weeks at number one in recent years. Adele spent forty weeks leading the chart during her peak period. Elton John accumulated thirty-nine weeks at the top position. Fleetwood Mac held the number one spot for thirty-eight weeks combined. The Rolling Stones spent thirty-seven weeks as leaders of the Billboard 200. Harry Belafonte led the chart for thirty-five weeks throughout his career. Drake also achieved thirty-five weeks at number one over multiple releases. Prince held the number one position for thirty weeks across various albums. Eagles spent thirty weeks leading the chart during their prime era. Mariah Carey accumulated thirty weeks at the top of the Billboard 200.

• 6. Demographic And Industry Firsts

  ›

  The issue dated the 11th of July 2009 marked the first time any catalog album outsold the number one album on the main chart. Three of Michael Jackson's albums claimed positions one through three following his death that week. Justin Bieber became the youngest solo artist to achieve seven No. 1 albums breaking a record set by Elvis Presley at age twenty-six. He later extended this to eight albums after turning twenty-seven. Tony Bennett became the oldest male to debut at number one on the 8th of October 2011 at eighty-four years old with Duets II. Bennett surpassed his own record when Cheek to Cheek debuted at number one on the 11th of October 2014 at eighty-eight years old. Adam Lambert became the first openly gay musician to debut at number one in 2012 with Trespassing. The first U.K. solo artist to debut at number one with a debut album was Leona Lewis on the 26th of April 2008 with Spirit. One Direction became the first group to debut at number one with its first four albums when Four topped the chart the 26th of November 2014. Led Zeppelin holds the record for longest gap between an album returning to the Top 10 spanning forty-five years and thirty-five days. They first hit the Top 10 the 17th of May 1969 and returned the 21st of June 2014 at number seven. On the 29th of November 2015, Adele's 25 became the first album to sell one million copies in different weeks selling 1.11 million copies in its second week. Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper became the first streaming-only album to chart on the 22nd of May 2016 debuting at number eight. Future made history achieving back-to-back number-one album debuts in successive weeks the 18th of March 2017. BTS became the first Korean artist to reach number one with Love Yourself: Tear on the 2nd of June 2018. A Boogie wit da Hoodie's Hoodie SZN became the album with lowest weekly sales figure for a number-one album the 19th of January 2019 selling just 1,000 copies. There have been forty-one albums released on independent labels reaching number one on the Billboard 200. Jackie Gleason held records for most albums topping the chart without charting songs in the top forty of the Hot 100.