How To Debut #1 On The Billboard Charts

Many indie artists want to know how they can debut #1 on the Billboard Charts, and we say that it is possible if you follow a few simple methods, and get your fans to support you before and after your album release.

Below I have outlined what you need to do to not only get your music on the Billboard Charts, but also debut #1.

 

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How To Get On The Billboard Chart

The process is fairly straight forward and if you make good music and have a good support system from your fans you can definitely chart the Billboards.

How it works is that Billboard publishes a host of charts that are individually or collectively based on key fan interactions with music.

This includes album sales and downloads, song downloads, radio airplay and touring. It also includes streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Vevo, Youtube, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music.

These measurements are tracked all year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen BDS, Nielsen SoundScan and Next Big Sound.

Note that in order for artists and title to chart in Billboard, they must be among the higher ranked performers among the specific metric used to compile the chart.

Specific methodologies can be found on each chart page on billboard.com and on the Chart Legend reference page on billboard.

 

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What You Need To Do As An Artist

1) Make Quality Music – This is the first step because as I mentioned in other posts before, shitty music does not make it to the top of the Billboards. You need your music to be properly recorded in a professional studio, and mixed and mastered for radio play.

2) Purchase A UPC Code – UPC stands for Universal Product Code and it’s placed on every product that is sold in order to give the price of that product and track its sale. You will be putting this on your physical and digital albums and singles in order to track the amount of sales you get.

Most CD duplication companies offer to put UPC codes on your CDs. Some offer it for free while others offer it as a fee, but trust me it is worth the money.

Find the cheapest one you can online but don’t pay more than $30 for it. Beyond that is too much. You can give the CD duplication company your UPC code to print on your CDs.

 

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3) Register for SoundScan – As mentioned earlier Billboard creates the top album charts with sales data from Because Nielson SoundScan. Every time you buy a CD at a store (most stores) or online, a computer system counts that CD purchase.

At the end of every week, the top album sellers are released on Billboard. And if your CD does not have a UPC code, you don’t qualify for Nielson SoundScan.

But keep in mind that even having a UPC code doesn’t automatically qualify you. You must register your CD and UPC code on the SoundScan site.

Once you register, your online and retail CD sales will count towards the weekly charts. However, not all online or brick-and-mortar retailers report to SoundScan. Call or email the retailer to find out.

 

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4) Set Up Album Pre-order – Pre-Order is simply a period of time (up to 8 weeks) where fans can buy your album before it comes out. Fans have the opportunity to receive the album the week of your its release. But all the sales up to the release of your CD counts towards your 1st week sales.

For example, if you sell 300 CDs in a 6-week pre-order period and sell 200 the week the CD comes out, your first week sales will be 500 which would be good enough to hit the Billboard HeatSeeker Chart (usually 450 albums will qualify for the Top 150 on this chart).

Your music distribution outlets such as Tunecore and CDBaby all have Pre-Order option so be sure to take advantage of them.

 

5) Promote & Market Your Music – This is absolutely a key step in charting at the #1 spot. You need to promote and market your music so people are aware that it’s about to be released. Remember you chart the Billboard by getting sales, retweets, likes, views, comments etc.

All over the net. You need to be active and get your fans to support your cause as much as possible. Get as many people as you can to spread the news about your release, and get those sales up and you will chart the Billboards in no time!