Ask Billboard is updated every Friday. Submit your burning music questions to Gary Trust at askbb@billboard.com.

Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S.


CHARTING THE DECADE

Dear Gary,

Hope you're well. I was just wondering whether Billboard was planning to chart the top songs and albums of the 2000s?

If so, how would a songs survey be compiled, considering the Billboard Hot 100's mix of airplay and sales? For instance, is "Low" by Flo Rida a bigger hit than, say, "Yeah!" by Usher, the latter of which was released before digital downloading truly took off?

In other words, in creating such a retrospective, will Billboard account for changes in consumer trends?

And, will Billboard count the points songs collected during their individual weeks on the charts, or will you simply add up the total sales and airplay they logged overall in the past decade? Similarly for albums, will you consider overall sales or only sales accumulated during their chart lives in the '00s?

Many questions, I know, but people are curious!

Thanks,

Amit Gurbaxani


Hi Amit,

All insightful questions. I'm happy to let you know that Billboard's decade-end - and year-end - chart extravaganza will premiere here on billboard.com Friday, Dec. 11.

In addition to overall Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 song and album rankings, respectively, we'll present a multitude of specific genre recaps, including country, Latin, R&B and rock.

As for the intricacies of how the charts were compiled, we'll include explanations with each tally when they go online. We can, then, provide any needed clarifications related to chart methodology in Ask Billboard.

Check billboard.com Monday (Dec. 7), when we begin teasing the Dec. 11 launch of charts 10 years in the making.



SISTERS ARE DOING IT (80%) FOR THEMSELVES

Hi Gary,

On this week's Billboard 200, eight of the top 10 chart positions are claimed by albums from solo female artists. That seems like an impressive feat, and it has me wondering: has there has ever been such female dominance, solo or otherwise, in the chart's history?

Regards,

Scott Volk
San Francisco, California


Hi Scott,

This week's Billboard 200 sports the highest percentage of female artists in the top 10 in close to seven years.

On the chart dated Jan, 25, 2003, female soloists and groups also accounted for eight of the top 10:

No. 1, Norah Jones, "Come Away With Me"
No. 2, Jennifer Lopez, "This Is Me...Then"
No. 3, Avril Lavigne, "Let Go"
No. 4, Dixie Chicks, "Home"
No. 5, Soundtrack, "8 Mile"
No. 6, Justin Timberlake, "Justified"
No. 7, Shania Twain, "Up!"
No. 8, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, "Under Construction"
No. 9, Aaliyah, "I Care 4 U"
No. 10, Christina Aguilera, "Stripped"

This week's chart, viewable in the billboard.com chart menu, certainly looks like a who's-who of 21st century divas. The top tier features Susan Boyle (No. 1), Rihanna (No. 4), Lady Gaga (Nos. 5 and 6), Miley Cyrus (No. 7), Taylor Swift (No. 8), Carrie Underwood (No. 9) and, the only artist also in the Jan. 25, 2003, top 10, Norah Jones.

Also of note: with "The Fame" and "The Fame Monster (EP)" Lady Gaga is just the third female artist to log simultaneous top 10s on the Billboard 200 since the chart's conversion to Nielsen SoundScan data in May 1991.

Previously, Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana doubled up in the top 10 on the April 5 and Feb. 16, 2008, charts, and Leann Rimes placed two titles in the upper bracket on the March 1, 15 and 22, 1997, surveys.

(For more on Lady Gaga's top 10 two-fer, Billboard 200 chart manager Keith Caulfield provides details in his "Over the Counter" column in this week's print issue of Billboard:

"Lady Gaga's new eight-song quasi-EP "The Fame Monster (EP)" bows with sales of 174,000, while her first album, "The Fame," is close behind (151,000; up 429%).
 
The latter album's total combines sales of her debut set as well as a two-disc deluxe "The Fame Monster" package that contains both "The Fame" in addition to the new "Monster" disc (which is also available for purchase on its own).

There have been instances of this kind of situation in the past, but none quite as high profile as Gaga's.

Exactly a year ago this week, Capitol Records reissued Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" in a deluxe version titled "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends: Prospekt's March Edition." And, as a courtesy to consumers who had already bought "Viva" earlier in the year, the bonus content from the deluxe album was also offered in a stand-alone "Prospekt's March (EP)."

(As with Lady Gaga's sets), Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan combined the sales of the original "Viva" album with the deluxe version of the release while also separately charting and tracking the "Prospekt's" EP."