Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and every Monday (for songs sales) to subscribers, which include record companies, publishing firms, music retailers, independent promoters, film and TV companies, and artist managers. It is the source of sales information for the Billboard music charts. It is owned by PMRC, a joint venture between Eldridge Industries (publisher of Billboard) and Penske Media Corporation.
Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data for Nielsen on March 1, 1991.[2] The May 25 issue of Billboard published Billboard 200 and Country Album charts based on SoundScan "piece count data,"[3][4] and the first Hot 100 chart to debut with the system was released on November 30, 1991. Previously, Billboard tracked sales by calling stores across the U.S. and asking about sales—a method that was inherently error-prone and open to outright fraud. Indeed, while transitioning from the calling to tracking methods, the airplay and sales charts (already monitored by Nielsen) and the Hot 100 (then still using the calling system) often did not match (for instance Paula Abdul's "Promise of a New Day" and Roxette's "Fading Like a Flower" reached much higher Hot 100 peaks than their actual sales and airplay would have allowed them to).[5] Although most record company executives conceded that the new method was far more accurate than the old, the chart's volatility and its geographical balance initially caused deep concern, before the change and the market shifts it brought about were accepted across the industry. Tower Records, the country's second-largest retail chain, was originally not included in the sample because its stores were equipped with different technology to measure sales.[6][7] At first, some industry executives complained that the new system—which relied on high-tech sales measurement rather than store employee estimates—was based on an inadequate sample, one that favored established and mainstream acts over newcomers.[8][9]
The Recording Industry Association of America also tracks sales (or more specifically, shipments minus potential returns) on a long-term basis through the RIAA certification system; it has never used either Nielsen SoundScan or the store-calling method.
Other changes would also largely impact the Hot 100 in the future, consisting of radio-only songs being able to chart in 1998, and YouTube views playing part of how a Hot 100 is decided in 2013.
In December 2019, Eldridge Industries' Valence Media, the current parent company of Billboard, acquired Nielsen's music data business, reuniting it with Billboard for the first time since its spin-off to E5 Global Media from Nielsen Business Media.[10] It was renamed MRC Data in 2020 after Eldridge Industries merged Valence with the film and television studio MRC. and was then brought under its PMRC joint venture with Penske Media Corporation as P-MRC Data. It was renamed once more to Luminate Data in March 2022.[11][12] In August 2022, the MRC merger was unwound, with Eldridge Industries taking sole ownership of its stake in PMRC.[13]
Tracking
Sales data from cash registers is collected from 14,000 retail, mass merchant, and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, digital music services, etc.) outlets in the United States, Canada, UK and Japan.
The requirements for reporting sales to Nielsen Music are that the store has Internet access and a point of sale (POS) inventory system. Submission of sales data must be in the form of a text file consisting of all the UPCs sold and the quantities per UPC on a weekly basis. Sales collected from Monday-Sunday or Sunday-Saturday are reported every Monday and made available to subscribers every Wednesday.[citation needed] Anyone selling a music product with its own UPC or ISRC may register that product to be tracked by Luminate.
Sales calculation
Not all retailers participate in the SoundScan program, so total CD sales are projected from the collected data using a statistical calculation called "weighting". This assigns a multiplier to each category of stores, to compensate for the number of similar stores not covered by the sampling program. Sales in each category are multiplied accordingly.[14][15]
Such a system is vulnerable to exploitation if it is known which stores are included in the sampling program. To inflate their reported chart sales, some indie labels were reported to purposefully target stores in the program for on-site sales promotions.[16][17] Also, other labels were found shipping boxes of their CDs to be scanned by complicit retailers in the program.[15]
Impact
The incorporation of SoundScan tracking by the Billboard charting system was cited by the industry as a possible cause of the early '90s popularization of alternative music in the United States. An explanation floated was that the previous call system under-represented marginal genres. Under SoundScan, more accurate data on alternative music sales allowed these acts to appear higher in the Billboard charts than before, and their chart success helped increase the genre's popularity. In addition, SoundScan sales data quickly found use in the promotion departments at major record labels, to persuade radio station music directors to play tracks by high-selling alternative artists such as Nirvana.[7][18]
DigiListan – Swedish radio programme using Nielsen SoundScan to create its statistics
References
^"Billboard Parent Company Valence Media Acquires Nielsen Music". Billboard. December 18, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
^. HipHopDX. February 11, 2008. Archived from the original on March 11, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
^S. Craig Watkins, Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement, Beacon Press, August 15, 2006, ISBN0-8070-0986-5
^Holden, Stephen (June 5, 1991). "The Pop Life". New York Times.
^"Chart Beat Chat". Billboard. from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
^"Billboard's New Charts Roil the Record Industry". New York Times. June 22, 1991. from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
^ ab"POP MUSIC; Technology Gives the Charts a Fresh Spin". New York Times. January 26, 1992. from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
^"The Accidental Chart Revolution : Pop music: Billboard's new method of tracking sales is a byproduct of a once-rival market research system". Los Angeles Times. May 30, 1991. from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
^"POP MUSIC : Rock 'n' Roll Revolutionaries : SoundScan's Mike Shalett and Mike Fine have shaken up the record industry with a radical concept: accurate sales figures". Los Angeles Times. December 8, 1991. from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
^Steele, Anne (December 18, 2019). "Billboard Parent Buys Nielsen Music". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
^Spangler, Todd (March 16, 2022). "Luminate Is the New Name of P-MRC Data, Source of Music and Entertainment Industry Data". Variety. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
^Goldsmith, Jill (July 22, 2020). "THR Parent Valence Media Rebrands As MRC". Deadline. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
^Earl, William (August 5, 2022). "MRC Chiefs Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu Part Ways With Eldridge, PMRC Joint Venture". Variety. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
^ Sparks, Tom (July 13, 2001). "A&R Q&A Panel". Taxi.com.
^ ab Bull, Galen E. (December 11, 2006). . Yahoo! Voices. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012.
^ Philips, Chuck (July 13, 2001). "Music Data Being Altered, Some Say". Los Angeles Times.
^ Greenwald, Andy (2003). Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 85. ISBN9781466834927.
^Wice, Nathaniel (April 1992). "How Nirvana Made It". Spin Magazine.
External links
Nielsen Music Sales Measurement (formerly SoundScan)
February 10, 2023
luminate, company, luminate, formerly, nielsen, soundscan, nielsen, music, products, data, provider, music, sales, data, established, mike, fine, mike, shalett, 1991, data, collected, weekly, made, available, every, sunday, albums, sales, every, monday, songs,. Luminate formerly Nielsen SoundScan Nielsen Music Products and MRC Data is a provider of music sales data Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991 data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday for albums sales and every Monday for songs sales to subscribers which include record companies publishing firms music retailers independent promoters film and TV companies and artist managers It is the source of sales information for the Billboard music charts It is owned by PMRC a joint venture between Eldridge Industries publisher of Billboard and Penske Media Corporation LuminateIndustryMusic dataFounded1991 32 years ago 1991 FoundersMike Fine Mike ShalettOwnerEldridge Industries and Penske Media CorporationWebsiteluminatedata wbr comThe company operates the analytics platform Music Connect Broadcast Data Systems which tracks airplay of music and Music 360 1 Contents 1 History 2 Tracking 3 Sales calculation 4 Impact 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditNielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data for Nielsen on March 1 1991 2 The May 25 issue of Billboard published Billboard 200 and Country Album charts based on SoundScan piece count data 3 4 and the first Hot 100 chart to debut with the system was released on November 30 1991 Previously Billboard tracked sales by calling stores across the U S and asking about sales a method that was inherently error prone and open to outright fraud Indeed while transitioning from the calling to tracking methods the airplay and sales charts already monitored by Nielsen and the Hot 100 then still using the calling system often did not match for instance Paula Abdul s Promise of a New Day and Roxette s Fading Like a Flower reached much higher Hot 100 peaks than their actual sales and airplay would have allowed them to 5 Although most record company executives conceded that the new method was far more accurate than the old the chart s volatility and its geographical balance initially caused deep concern before the change and the market shifts it brought about were accepted across the industry Tower Records the country s second largest retail chain was originally not included in the sample because its stores were equipped with different technology to measure sales 6 7 At first some industry executives complained that the new system which relied on high tech sales measurement rather than store employee estimates was based on an inadequate sample one that favored established and mainstream acts over newcomers 8 9 The Recording Industry Association of America also tracks sales or more specifically shipments minus potential returns on a long term basis through the RIAA certification system it has never used either Nielsen SoundScan or the store calling method The first Billboard Hot 100 number one song via Nielsen SoundScan was Set Adrift on Memory Bliss by P M Dawn Other changes would also largely impact the Hot 100 in the future consisting of radio only songs being able to chart in 1998 and YouTube views playing part of how a Hot 100 is decided in 2013 In December 2019 Eldridge Industries Valence Media the current parent company of Billboard acquired Nielsen s music data business reuniting it with Billboard for the first time since its spin off to E5 Global Media from Nielsen Business Media 10 It was renamed MRC Data in 2020 after Eldridge Industries merged Valence with the film and television studio MRC and was then brought under its PMRC joint venture with Penske Media Corporation as P MRC Data It was renamed once more to Luminate Data in March 2022 11 12 In August 2022 the MRC merger was unwound with Eldridge Industries taking sole ownership of its stake in PMRC 13 Tracking EditSales data from cash registers is collected from 14 000 retail mass merchant and non traditional on line stores venues digital music services etc outlets in the United States Canada UK and Japan The requirements for reporting sales to Nielsen Music are that the store has Internet access and a point of sale POS inventory system Submission of sales data must be in the form of a text file consisting of all the UPCs sold and the quantities per UPC on a weekly basis Sales collected from Monday Sunday or Sunday Saturday are reported every Monday and made available to subscribers every Wednesday citation needed Anyone selling a music product with its own UPC or ISRC may register that product to be tracked by Luminate Sales calculation EditNot all retailers participate in the SoundScan program so total CD sales are projected from the collected data using a statistical calculation called weighting This assigns a multiplier to each category of stores to compensate for the number of similar stores not covered by the sampling program Sales in each category are multiplied accordingly 14 15 Such a system is vulnerable to exploitation if it is known which stores are included in the sampling program To inflate their reported chart sales some indie labels were reported to purposefully target stores in the program for on site sales promotions 16 17 Also other labels were found shipping boxes of their CDs to be scanned by complicit retailers in the program 15 Impact EditThe incorporation of SoundScan tracking by the Billboard charting system was cited by the industry as a possible cause of the early 90s popularization of alternative music in the United States An explanation floated was that the previous call system under represented marginal genres Under SoundScan more accurate data on alternative music sales allowed these acts to appear higher in the Billboard charts than before and their chart success helped increase the genre s popularity In addition SoundScan sales data quickly found use in the promotion departments at major record labels to persuade radio station music directors to play tracks by high selling alternative artists such as Nirvana 7 18 See also EditAlbum era Music recording certification List of best selling albums in the United States of the Nielsen SoundScan era DigiListan Swedish radio programme using Nielsen SoundScan to create its statisticsReferences Edit Billboard Parent Company Valence Media Acquires Nielsen Music Billboard December 18 2019 Retrieved July 23 2020 Get Your Mind Right Underground Vs Mainstream HipHopDX February 11 2008 Archived from the original on March 11 2011 Retrieved January 6 2011 S Craig Watkins Hip Hop Matters Politics Pop Culture and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement Beacon Press August 15 2006 ISBN 0 8070 0986 5 Holden Stephen June 5 1991 The Pop Life New York Times Chart Beat Chat Billboard Archived from the original on September 29 2013 Retrieved November 9 2013 Billboard s New Charts Roil the Record Industry New York Times June 22 1991 Archived from the original on March 9 2017 Retrieved February 17 2017 a b POP MUSIC Technology Gives the Charts a Fresh Spin New York Times January 26 1992 Archived from the original on July 1 2017 Retrieved February 17 2017 The Accidental Chart Revolution Pop music Billboard s new method of tracking sales is a byproduct of a once rival market research system Los Angeles Times May 30 1991 Archived from the original on April 2 2015 Retrieved March 9 2015 POP MUSIC Rock n Roll Revolutionaries SoundScan s Mike Shalett and Mike Fine have shaken up the record industry with a radical concept accurate sales figures Los Angeles Times December 8 1991 Archived from the original on April 2 2015 Retrieved March 25 2015 Steele Anne December 18 2019 Billboard Parent Buys Nielsen Music Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Retrieved July 22 2020 Spangler Todd March 16 2022 Luminate Is the New Name of P MRC Data Source of Music and Entertainment Industry Data Variety Retrieved May 6 2022 Goldsmith Jill July 22 2020 THR Parent Valence Media Rebrands As MRC Deadline Retrieved July 22 2020 Earl William August 5 2022 MRC Chiefs Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu Part Ways With Eldridge PMRC Joint Venture Variety Retrieved August 5 2022 Sparks Tom July 13 2001 A amp R Q amp A Panel Taxi com a b Bull Galen E December 11 2006 The SoundScan System and Its Affect on Record Sales Yahoo Voices Archived from the original on July 25 2012 Philips Chuck July 13 2001 Music Data Being Altered Some Say Los Angeles Times Greenwald Andy 2003 Nothing Feels Good Punk Rock Teenagers and Emo St Martin s Griffin p 85 ISBN 9781466834927 Wice Nathaniel April 1992 How Nirvana Made It Spin Magazine External links EditNielsen Music Sales Measurement formerly SoundScan Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Luminate company amp oldid 1134810423, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
