Independent Albums

This article is about the Billboard record chart. For information on albums which have been released independently, see independent music.
For the United Kingdom chart, see UK Independent Singles and Albums Charts.

The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine.[1] It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels. Rankings are compiled by point-of-purchase sales obtained by Nielsen, and from legal music downloads from a variety of online music stores. The chart began in the week of February 5, 2000.[2][3]

The top 25 positions are published through the Billboard website, with further chart positions available through a paid subscription to Billboard.biz.[1] As with all Billboard charts, albums appearing on the Independent chart may also concurrently appear on the Billboard 200, the main chart published based solely on sales, as well as any of the other Billboard charts. In addition, exclusive album titles which are only sold through individual retail sites may also be included in the chart, following a revised chart policy announced on November 7, 2007.[4]

The chart's first number one was Who Let the Dogs Out by Baha Men,[3] which went on to top the year-end chart for 2001.[5]

  1. ^ a b "Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  2. ^ Billboard. Feb 5, 2000
  3. ^ a b "Week of December 02, 2000 - Independent Albums". Billboard. 2000-12-02. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  4. ^ "Revised Chart Policy Lands Eagles At No. 1". Billboard. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  5. ^ "Baha Men 'Move' To Follow 'Dogs'". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-01-26.