Billboard Celebrates 130th Anniversary
It's become an international authority on an ever-globalizing music industry. With its expansion into Canada, that story is being told in new ways.
Billboard's first issue featuring R.C. Campbell on the cover.
In November 1894, Billboard made its debut with its very first issue. In the 130 years that have followed, it's become a standard-bearer for coverage of music, the industry and the charts.
Though the inaugural issues were dedicated to covering the trade of advertising and then the entertainment business, over the years Billboard developed its unprecedented authority on the music industry.
It cemented it in 1940 with the advent of its first national music chart: the 10-position National List of Best Selling Retail Records, appeared in the July 27, 1940, issue. Tommy Dorsey sat on top of that first list with “I’ll Never Smile Again” and spent 12 weeks at the top. The Billboard Hot 100 songs chart premiered Aug. 4, 1958, with Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool."
Though there's been a presence in Canada for many decades preceding it, the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 launched in 2007 with its first No. 1 hit, "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. The chart made history recently, with Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" setting the record for most weeks at No. 1 at 22 weeks and counting.
Now, Billboard has a full-time presence in Canada, with unprecedented boots-on-the-ground coverage of the Canadian music industry.
"Since its debut in 1894, Billboard has grown into an iconic voice in music, and with Billboard Canada, we've brought that legacy north," says Mo Ghoneim, President of Billboard Canada and its publisher AMG. "As we celebrate 130 years, including 84 years of defining the industry with music charts, we're honoured to spotlight Canada's artists and industry, expanding Billboard's global story with a distinctly Canadian voice."
The last year alone has seen the first-ever Canadian digital cover, with a focus on the Punjabi Wave, the first Billboard Canada Power Players, and the expansion of Billboard Women In Music to Canada with Alanis Morissette celebrated as Canada's first Icon Award winner and Charlotte Cardin as Canada's first Woman of the Year.
130 years since it started, Billboard is more global than ever.
Read more about Billboard's first issue here.
