Has The iTunes music charts lessened the significance of the Billboard music charts? It appears so. In a sign of how much the music game has changed, people are more frequently invoking the iTunes digital downloads charts, as a measure of success, rather than the Billboard music charts, which are more corruptible and open to payola, as air play still figures into tabulations. 

As a result, songs by internet stars such as Rebecca Black, have placed higher on the iTunes Charts, which is based on digital sales, than artists such as Beyonce and Rihanna. This is not a negative development, as it is leveling the playing field, much in the same manner YouTube has done for those that can't get on MTV or BET. 

It should be noted, iTunes does not include sales of physical CDs, only albums in digital format. However, for indie artists, iTunes is better than nothing and has become a useful tool in living their dreams of being an entertainer. 

Rebecca Black

One has to remember, Billboard has been so corrupted from its inception, for a very long time, black artists were largely kept off  all mainstream charts, even though they outsold some of their white counterparts, in blacklisting that began to loosen its grip twenty years ago. For many years, country music was also  disregarded by the Billboard album charts, as a small, select group of labels heads, who set the agenda in music, deemed it too backwater and unsophisticated - in spite of the fact country artists were outselling pop and rock stars.     

However, Hollywood is not happy with the current developments, regarding the impact of the iTunes charts and YouTube, as aspects of it are out of their control (surprise, surprise). You see, Hollywood, the music industry included, runs like the mafia (because they are the mafia). The industry is chock full of antitrust, monopolies, extensive price fixing, payola, Billboard chart rigging and racketeering, all illegal under U.S. law.