The purpose of this paper was to examine the effects of genre-specific and mainstream Billboard chart popularity on RIAA gold or platinum certification of #1 R&B/Hip-Hop singles in the Pre-SoundScan (1977–1992) and SoundScan (1993–2008) eras. The first aim was to determine if there were any statistically significant differences in genre-specific and mainstream popularity between singles that achieved RIAA gold or platinum certification and those that did not reach that pinnacle in both eras. The second aim assessed the relative predictive power of genre-specific and mainstream popularity on RIAA gold or platinum certification of #1 R&B/Hip-Hop singles in the Pre-SoundScan and SoundScan eras while controlling for established brand. In this comparative assessment of the relationships between Billboard chart data and RIAA gold/platinum certification data in the Pre-SoundScan and SoundScan eras, genre-specific popularity was measured by total weeks at #1 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop charts and total weeks on the charts regardless of position. Mainstream popularity was evaluated with peak position on Billboard's Pop charts. The established brand construct was assessed with the artist's total prior #1 R&B/Hip-Hop singles and total prior #1s by the record label. A Mann–Whitney U test revealed statistically significant differences in mainstream popularity between gold or platinum singles and non-gold or platinum singles in both the Pre-SoundScan and SoundScan eras. Statistically significant differences in genre-specific popularity were also observed in both periods, but not in the hypothesized direction in the SoundScan era. A binary logistic regression model demonstrated that the two popularity constructs, while controlling for established brand, predicted RIAA gold or platinum certification of #1 R&B/Hip-Hop singles in both the Pre-SoundScan and SoundScan eras. The model better predicted gold or platinum certification in the Pre-SoundScan era. The most powerful predictor was mainstream popularity in both eras. Gold or platinum certified #1 R&B/Hip-Hop singles had a significantly higher peak position on the mainstream Pop charts than those not certified gold or platinum in both the Pre-SoundScan and SoundScan eras. When observing genre-specific popularity, gold or platinum singles spent significantly more total weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts than non-gold or platinum singles in the Pre-SoundScan era. In contrast, the reverse was observed in the SoundScan era. Mainstream popularity, as measured by peak position on the Pop charts, and genre-specific popularity, as measured by total weeks on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts, were good predictors of gold or platinum certification in both the Pre-SoundScan and SoundScan eras. The model was a better predictor of RIAA gold or platinum certification in the Pre-SoundScan era, suggesting that the Billboard chart methodology in the earlier era was more aligned with the RIAA auditing process than the SoundScan era methodology. Findings also raise questions about whether the initial exclusion of several African American independent retailers, who were generally the primary source for sales data in the Pre-SoundScan era, reduced the validity of SoundScan sales data. In other words, did the SoundScan data measure what it intended to measure, which was the popularity of R&B/Hip-Hop singles among the target audience of that genre? Future research should examine how the transition to SoundScan may have contributed to redefining the target audience for R&B/Hip-Hop music, impacted the quantity and quality of R&B/Hip-Hop music available to the public, and the effects of those outcomes on the broader culture and society. Recording industry, organizations, stratification, race and ethnic relations, medical sociology, political sociology, quantitative and qualitative methods.

中文翻译：

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从排行榜冠军到金唱片：1977-2008 年 Pre-SoundScan 和 SoundScan 时代，Billboard 排行榜受欢迎程度对 R&B/Hip-Hop 单曲第一名的 RIAA 金级或白金级认证的影响

本文的目的是研究特定流派和主流 Billboard 排行榜流行度对 Pre-SoundScan (1977-1992) 和 SoundScan (1993-2008) 中排名第一的 R&B/Hip-Hop 单曲的 RIAA 金级或白金级认证的影响）时代。第一个目标是确定在两个时代获得 RIAA 金级或白金级认证的单曲与那些未达到顶峰的单曲之间，特定流派和主流流行度是否存在统计上的显着差异。第二个目标评估了 Pre-SoundScan 和 SoundScan 时代特定流派和主流流行度对排名第一的 R&B/Hip-Hop 单曲的 RIAA 金级或白金级认证的相对预测能力，同时控制了已建立的品牌。在对 Pre-SoundScan 和 SoundScan 时代的 Billboard 排行榜数据与 RIAA 金/白金认证数据之间关系的比较评估中，特定流派的受欢迎程度通过 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop 排行榜上排名第一的总周数和总周数来衡量在图表上，无论位置如何。主流流行度被评估为在 Billboard 流行音乐排行榜上名列前茅。既定的品牌结构是根据艺术家之前排名第一的 R&B/Hip-Hop 单曲总数以及唱片公司之前排名第一的单曲总数来评估的。 Mann-Whitney U 测试显示，在 Pre-SoundScan 和 SoundScan 时代，黄金或白金单曲与非黄金或白金单曲之间的主流流行度存在显着差异。在这两个时期也观察到了特定类型流行度的统计显着差异，但与 SoundScan 时代假设的方向不同。二元逻辑回归模型表明，这两种流行度结构在控制既定品牌的同时，预测了 Pre-SoundScan 和 SoundScan 时代#1 R&B/Hip-Hop 单曲的 RIAA 金级或白金级认证。该模型更好地预测了 Pre-SoundScan 时代的黄金或白金认证。最有力的预测因素是这两个时代的主流流行程度。在 Pre-SoundScan 和 SoundScan 时代，经过黄金或白金认证的排名第一的 R&B/Hip-Hop 单曲在主流流行音乐排行榜上的峰值位置明显高于未经黄金或白金认证的单曲。在观察特定流派的受欢迎程度时，在 Pre-SoundScan 时代，黄金或白金单曲在 R&B/Hip-Hop 排行榜上停留的总周数明显多于非黄金或白金单曲。相比之下，SoundScan 时代的情况正好相反。主流流行度（以流行音乐排行榜上的峰值位置来衡量）和特定流派流行度（以 R&B/Hip-Hop 排行榜上的总周数来衡量）是 Pre-SoundScan 和 SoundScan 时代黄金或白金认证的良好预测指标。在 Pre-SoundScan 时代，该模型可以更好地预测 RIAA 黄金级或白金级认证，这表明早期的 Billboard 排行榜方法比 SoundScan 时代的方法更符合 RIAA 审核流程。调查结果还提出了这样的问题：最初排除几家非裔美国独立零售商（这些零售商通常是 Pre-SoundScan 时代销售数据的主要来源）是否会降低 SoundScan 销售数据的有效性。换句话说，SoundScan 数据是否衡量了它想要衡量的内容，即 R&B/Hip-Hop 单曲在该流派的目标受众中的受欢迎程度？未来的研究应该探讨向 SoundScan 的过渡如何有助于重新定义 R&B/Hip-Hop 音乐的目标受众、影响公众可获得的 R&B/Hip-Hop 音乐的数量和质量，以及这些结果对 R&B/Hip-Hop 音乐的影响。更广泛的文化和社会。唱片工业、组织、分层、种族和民族关系、医学社会学、政治社会学、定量和定性方法。