Andy Baio has been making some very interesting charts on music sales from Whitburn Project data recently. Friday he charted One-hit-wonders longevity.

I found the Diversity graph to be the most sobering. Obviously, those who get their music fill from top 40 radio have never been thought of as the most discerning music listeners, but to see that Billboard’s attempt to more accurately record diversity only expose the fact that there is actually less diversity in popular music is a bit of a surprise. Especially when it feels like there are more musical styles getting airplay these days. We didn’t exactly have hip-hop, metal, and smooth jazz in the 50’s.

Billboard charts reflect music sales, and with the decline of music sales as a whole, what’s selling for money, and what’s played on the radio don’t necessarily jive like it used to.

Selling records was a fun little blip in music history while it lasted. I wonder what will come next?