Ask Billboard is updated every week. As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, sales and airplay, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S.


WHAT ARE YOUR 2011 FAVORITES?

"Why was Taylor Swift's CD/DVD "Speak Now: World Tour Live" eligible to chart on the Billboard 200 and Adele's "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" CD/DVD was not?"

"Garallang" (billboard.com-menter)


Per Billboard chart rules, CD/DVDs are eligible to chart on either album charts or the Music Video Sales chart, but not both, a policy that streamlines the album and video rankings. Thus, a determination always needs to be made on which way such product will be charted.

So, what's the deciding factor? Billboard looks at the amount of audio and video content on a release, as well as how a product is marketed by the artist's label.

In the case of these two high-profile releases, Big Machine has marketed Swift's product as an album with an accompanying long-form video track, while Columbia has promoted Adele's as a concert video that includes a CD, even screening it as a movie in 26 cities worldwide as part of its premiere.

Regardless of which charts they are inhabiting, both efforts received warm welcomes. Swift's "Speak" started at No. 11 on last week's Billboard 200, and No. 2 on Country Albums, with sales of 77,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Adele's "Live" launched atop this week's Music Video Sales survey with 96,000 sold. The sum is the chart's highest since Garth Brooks' "The Ultimate Hits" (173,000) on the Jan. 5, 2008, chart.

The arrival of the Royal Hall concert combo is the latest honor in a year in which Adele emerged as Billboard chart royalty herself.

As previously reported, Adele is the first woman to earn three of Billboard's biggest year-end honors: No. 1 on Top Artists, the No. 1 Billboard 200 album ("21") and the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 song ("Rolling in the Deep"). Since Billboard premiered the top overall artist category in 1981, no woman had previously pulled off the triple crown victory.

As Billboard has unveiled our year-end rankings, how about yours: What was your favorite song of 2011? Album? Artist? New Artist? Concert?

Any songs that you were surprised became big hits? And, others that fell short that you think should've been bigger?

E-mail your favorites and any other year-end musical musings to askbb@billboard.com and we'll share Chart Beat readers' choices through the end of the year in "Ask Billboard."


NEXT: More Swift, By the Numbers