Wikipedia:Record charts/Billboard charts guide

For a complete list of Billboard charts and general information see Billboard charts.

In the United States Billboard publishes songs and albums charts based on data from Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen BDS. This guide is designed to help editors to determine which charts are acceptable for use on Wikipedia in which circumstances. Below is the chart matrix for this purpose.

The guide contains the official and current names for the charts as of April 2010, with the exception of the Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs), also known as either the Mainstream Top 40 or the Pop Songs chart. On Wikipedia, it is located at a page using both names (one as a disambiguator). When listing the chart in chart tables list it exactly as its page is named: Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs).

Billboard magazine is the provider of US charts; however, its use on Wikipedia when mentioning charts should be limited: i.e., charts should simply be referred to as US followed by the chart name. The only two exceptions to this rule are the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200, which should include Billboard as it is a part of the actual chart name.

As with all record charts, you should first try to source each chart directly from the Billboard.com website. Ideally, the citation should link to the Billboard page for the song in question, through the artist's discography / chart history page there. Note, however, that the Billboard archives are sometimes incomplete, particularly on older and/or lesser-known artists. Any of the books by Joel Whitburn may also be used to verify chart positions.
 * Sourcing Billboard charts

On singles discography tables, do not add 100 to a Bubbling Under peak if the song never entered the corresponding chart [i.e., Billboard Hot 100 and Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, or Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (do not add 50 to a Bubbling Under peak on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs after October 2012)]. Doing so would violate WP:SYNTH by creating information not directly supported by the source (i.e., the notion that the Bubbling Under chart is an extension to the main chart and the position). It should be indicated as an uncharted song with a footnote to indicate the Bubbling Under peak. In the song's article, just indicate it as a Bubbling Under peak, so long as it is verifiable. If an artist has had Bubbling Under entries but no songs that entered the Hot 100 proper, or has had multiple Bubbling Under entries, discography tables may use a separate "Bubbling Under" column to save on footnotes.

Also, when creating singles tables, do not include charts on which the artist has never appeared—a Hot 100 column is not mandatory if the artist never charted on the Hot 100.

It is recommended that you use the single chart template where possible.

Album charts

 * Notes


 * Internal links
 * Billboard (magazine)
 * Billboard charts


 * External links
 * Billboard
 * Billboard Business