Dear Fred,

My favorite artist of all time is Janet Jackson. Can you tell me how many copies each her albums have sold? I'd also like to know how many gold and platinum certifications she has.

Jane Doe

Dear Jane,

Chart Beat has always dealt with chart positions, not sales figures or gold and platinum certifications. There are other Billboard columnists that deal specifically with sales figures, including Geoff Mayfield in his "Between The Bullets" column and Silvio Pietroluongo in his "Hot 100 Singles Spotlight" column. Geoff, Silvio, and I take great pains to not duplicate what the other is writing, so that is the main reason I stay away from sales data.

If you want to know about gold and platinum certifications, you can go here or check the RIAA's Web site at www.riaa.com.

To: Fred Bronson

I've been following the sales figures in Geoff Mayfield's "Between The Bullets" column, and I don't see how my favorite album can be certified triple-platinum when I added up all the sales figures, and it has only sold 1.8 million copies. Can you explain this discrepancy?

Also, I noticed last week that five old albums by my favorite artist were all certified at once. Isn't this too coincidental?

My other favorite artist has sold two million copies of her first album, but it's not certified gold or platinum. And her double live album sold one million copies but is certified double-platinum. What's going on here?

Richard Roe

Dear Richard,

It's a common misconception that certifications are based on sales to consumers. The RIAA issues gold, platinum, and now diamond certifications based on the number of units shipped to stores. So your favorite artist's latest album shipped three million copies, which is why it's already certified platinum even if all three million copies haven't passed into consumers' hands yet.

Certifications aren't automatic; labels must request and pay for them. So if five older albums were all certified at once, it just means the label decided to apply for all five at the same time, not that they all crossed the million-mark in the same month.

That also explains why your favorite female artist hasn't been certified yet, even though she's sold two million copies of her latest effort. Despite the massive sales, her label hasn't applied for certification yet.

Regarding your last question, double albums count as two, triple albums count as three, etc. So, for example, if Capitol Records shipped six million copies of Garth Brooks' double live album, the label can apply for a certification of 12 times platinum.

Hi Fred!

My 30th class reunion is coming up. Can you send me a list of the top 100 songs of 1970? Thanks!!

Johnny Doe

Dear Johnny,

Chart Beat Chat can't provide the list, but I can tell you where lists like this are available. The second edition of my book, "Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits," includes lists of the top 100 songs for every year from 1956-1994, as well as the top 100 singles of the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

These aren't the same lists that appeared in year-end issues of Billboard; they're based on a point system developed for the book. But they are based on the calendar year instead of the chart year, which means they run from January-December of each year and include all titles that peaked in the calendar year.

Hello Fred,

I've been following the Billboard charts for many years and disagree with the current method of compiling The Billboard Hot 100. I have a number of suggestions to make about a better way to compile the charts, starting with a change in the ratio of sales to airplay. The suggestions appear on a 12-page attachment with this E-mail. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Michael Smith

Dear Michael,

While I appreciate the time you took to compile your 12-page attachment, I remember that a very wise man once taught me something: "Only complain to someone who can do something about the situation."

And I'm not the person who can do anything about this particular situation. I do hold a unique position at Billboard in that I comment on the charts, but I'm in the editorial department, not the chart department, and I don't formulate chart policy or have any influence on those who do.

If readers have specific complaints or suggestions about a specific chart, I suggest they write directly to the person who manages that chart (check the masthead in Billboard magazine for that information), or write to our Director of Charts, Geoff Mayfield. You can E-mail him at: gmayfield@billboard.com.

Hey Fred!

I'm confused about Billboard's policy when it comes to two-sided hits. I know that "It's Not Right But It's Okay" was the B-side of Whitney Houston's "Heartbreak Hotel," so why aren't the two songs listed together on the Hot 100? That's how you listed Elton John's "Candle In The Wind 1997"/"Something About The Way You Look Tonight." Hope you can clear this up for me.

Mary Smith

Dear Mary,

Billboard's chart policy for two-sided hits has changed over the years, and the current policy went into effect in December 1998. That's when the chart changed from a singles-only chart to a singles and tracks chart, meaning that album tracks are now eligible for the Hot 100. That really made the Hot 100 a song rather than singles chart.

The current policy is that when two sides of the same single are both receiving airplay, the song with the greatest amount of airplay is designated the A-side, and will collect all of the single's sales points for that single's entire chart life.

If this policy had been in effect when "Candle In The Wind 1997" was out, that title would have been No. 1 and the B-side, "Something About The Way You Look Tonight," would not. And "Candle In The Wind 1997" would have remained No. 1 for its entire run, instead of becoming the B-side to "Something."

In the case of Whitney Houston, "It's Not Right But It's Okay" was originally the B-side of "Heartbreak Hotel," as you point out. But then Arista issued "It's Not Right" as its own A-side, with a different song as the B-side. That's when "It's Not Right" became eligible to collect its own sales points, and thus took giant leaps up the Hot 100.

Dear Mr. Bronson,

Can you explain why, back in 1974, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive fell from 1 to 12 to 34 and then went back to No. 8 the following week? I've been wondering ever since why this happened and would appreciate if you could check the raw data.

Jimmy Brown

Dear Jimmy,

The people who compiled the Billboard charts in 1974 are no longer at Billboard, so I'm not able to ask them. Nor does the raw data still exist.

I do believe the unexpected resurgence of "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" was because the B-side, "Free Wheelin'," suddenly became popular.

However, I do get a lot of questions about older Billboard charts and why some particular single moved the way it did. I'm cannot check with the chart managers of those long-ago days or access their long-discarded data.

Fred Bronson,

On the Hot 100, you use stars to indicate if a song has been commercially released. So why aren't there stars in front of some of the songs that are in the top five? I know they are commercially released, but they don't have stars.

Also, I thought the red star indicated the first week a single was available commercially. But I noticed one single regained a red star weeks after it was already out. How can that be?

Georges Cinq

Dear Georges,

You're right about stars indicating a title is available as a commercial single. When a title is certified gold or platinum, a circle (for gold) or a triangle (for platinum) takes the place of the star. It stands to reason that if a title is certified gold or platinum, it is commercially available.

Gordon Murray of our chart department in New York explains the meaning of red stars: "We use red stars to indicate a Retail Launch, which can occur even after the first week of commercial release. For example, in the June 26, 1999, issue, Whitney Houston earned a second Retail Launch star to indicate that the regular cassette and CD formats became available and caused the track to move 11-4 on the chart." And thanks to Gordon for his insight.