What is SoundScan?Are you an independent artist selling your own CD? If so, make sure you ask your CD manufacturer to place a barcode on your CD case—otherwise your CD sales cannot be reported to SoundScan! SoundScan subscribers, which include record companies, distribution outlets, managers and booking agents, etc., rely on SoundScan sales data when making important decisions including which acts to sign and/or promote.
"Nielsen SoundScan is an information system that tracks sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada. Sales data from point-of-sale cash registers is collected weekly from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, etc.) outlets. Weekly data is compiled and made available every Wednesday. Nielsen SoundScan is the sales source for the Billboard music charts." —SoundScan.com
Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data for Billboard in 1991 and the first Hot 100 chart, based on SoundScan's data, was released on November 30, 1991. Prior to SoundScan, Billboard tracked sales by individually calling stores across the U.S., a far less comprehensive and accurate tracking method.
How Nielsen SoundScan tracks sales (from Wikipedia):
Sales data from cash registers is collected from 14,000 retail, mass merchant, and non-retail (online stores) outlets in Canada and the U.S. Though this includes all major brick-and-mortar retailers, it is not a 100% sample of record sales; it excludes music clubs as well as some independent retailers and online outlets. In comparison, RIAA's system is a 100% sample of shipments, but does not track actual sales in real-time as Nielsen SoundScan does.
A barcode is on the back of most label-released CDs or cassettes. When the Canadian/U.S. customer is about to buy an album or single, the store clerk runs the barcode across a scanner. The sale is put into the store's computer and the sale data is also sent to Nielsen Media Research offices for the region.
Nielsen SoundScan clients include:
All major and many independent labels.  |
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