Is it this rule that age-old album/singles sales cannot be counted, or did I get something wrong here..?
Yes, it's a stupid rule. Here what the blogger over at Yahoo! Music says about it:
For the record, I think the top 10 on The
Billboard 200 should consist of the week's 10 best-selling albums, whether they're current or catalog. (That all-inclusiveness is the great strength of The
Billboard 200. The chart includes everything that sells, from
Josh Groban to
AC/DC; from a digital-only release to an elaborate box set.) In late 2007,
Billboard and Nielsen/SoundScan wisely rescinded their policy that barred "exclusive" albums (albums sold in only one retail chain) from The
Billboard 200. In the same spirit, I think they should modify their policy that bars catalog albums from the big chart. (The idea behind moving catalog titles off the chart is to give new albums needed visibility.) The ideal solution might be to allow albums that sold well enough to make the top 10 to receive the recognition they've earned. The top 10, after all, is the part of the chart that is reprinted in newspapers and websites around the world.
