Pioneering a Digital Music Chart for Billboard Magazine

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This is a cool interview with a music industry consultant, observer, and journalist Geoff Mayfield, talking about his role charting digital music plays when he was editor at Billboard, the legislative shortcomings of the DMCA and escalating ring-tone sales. 

Schwartzman & Associates was PR Agency of record for Gracenote (formerly CDDB). We worked with Billboard to launch the first-ever co-branded digital music chart and created a Silicon CD recognizing the most played artists online.

Geoff Mayfield was the director of charts at Billboard magazine.  In addition to overseeing Billboard’s charts department, Mayfield wrote the charts analysis column Over The Counter and spearheaded the launch of Billboard Chart Alert.  

Insights on Creating a Cobranded Digital Music Chart

04:02 – Geoff Mayfield reveals the inner workings of just what goes into producing the coveted Billboard charts.

05:48 – A Billboard veteran, Mayfield, weighs in on the advantages and disadvantages that technology has brought to the Billboard charts.

08:51 – Mayfield on the importance of looking beyond the Billboard 200 to a more holistic view of all Billboard charts in an age of media fragmentation.

10:00 – Mayfield talks about new media consumption and the psychographics of digital consumption.

13:04 – Mayfield reveals the shortcomings of retail sales measurements and the dangers of an oversimplified perspective.

16:33 – Mayfield describes the secret behind how Billboard measures non-copyrighted music.

17:42 – The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and what the future holds for record companies pushing sales of physical products in an age where consumers are legally constrained by how they can consume.

19:51 – Mayfield talks about the impact of digital distribution on major and independent record companies.

22:13 – Mayfield plugs Billboard’s new chart called Hot RingMasters, which measures ring-tones based on master recordings.

25:06 – Mayfield acknowledges the shortcomings of the Billboard charts and the changes the company is making to aggregate more comprehensively. 

27:50 – End.