What is Cashbox?

Cash Box (or Cashbox) magazine was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industry. It published from July 1942 to November 16, 1996. The publication has been revived as an internet-only magazine.

History

It was one of several magazines that published charts of song popularity in the United States of America. Cash Box's most prominent competitors included Billboard and Record World (known as Music Vendor prior to the April 18, 1964, issue). Unlike Billboard, Cash Box initially combined all currently available recordings of a song into one chart position. Artist and label information was shown for each version, alphabetized by label. Originally, no indication of which version was the biggest seller was given. Beginning October 25, 1952, a star was placed next to the names of the most important artists.

Separate charts were presented for juke box popularity, record sales and radio airplay, similar to Billboard's methodology prior to August 1958, when it debuted its Hot 100, which attempted to combine all measures of popularity into one all-encompassing chart. In addition, chart data were presented for specific genres such as country music. In the 1990s, Cashbox began to have problems and a succession of issues in the last two years of its run would have no updated Hot 100 -- it would reprint charts from previous issues. The closer the magazine came to its demise the more frequently this occurred.

Revival

In 2006, the new owners of Cashbox Magazine reactivated Cashbox via the Internet. According to Cashbox president Bruce C. Elrod, "Some of the sources crisscross with Billboard, especially radio reporters but Cashbox is in the development stage and shortly the main charts will be considerably different and more accurate because we are developing a formula that’s not just based on sales and airplay. We are also developing the best independent charts based on quality of sound and performance. Downloads will be available shortly and we hope to establish the hard copy magazine soon, based on artist and charts. We will leave Billboard to handle the industry news and promotions. I promise everyone, Cashbox Magazine is back and will be better than it’s ever been."

External links

• Official sitemirror link
• Original chart site
• list of Cashbox's #1 soul hits, 1960-74