Catalog Albums, previouslyTop Pop Catalog Albums, is a 50-position weekly albums chart produced byBillboard magazine which ranks the best-selling catalog albums in the United States, regardless of genre.Billboard defines a catalog title as one that is more than 18 months old and that has fallen below position 100 on theBillboard 200. Albums meeting these criteria are removed from theBillboardCurrent Albums ranking and begin a new chart run on theTop Pop Catalog Albums chart.[1] Effectively, theBillboard Current Albums is equivalent to theBillboard 200, with the catalog titles removed.
Top Pop Catalog Albums also contains reissues of older albums. The only exception to the "18 months old" rule pertained to holiday releases (for example,Christmas albums). A "holiday" release was initially eligible for theBillboard200 only during its initial year of release. After its first year, a holiday-related album appeared onTop Pop Catalog Albums. Many consistent sellers made return trips to theTop Pop Catalog Albums chart each November through January.
A unique feature of the chart is the replacement of the "weeks on chart" column (a standard inBillboard's other charts) with a "total weeks" column, which is a cumulative total of weeks an album spent on both theBillboard 200 and theTop Pop Catalog Albums charts. The "total weeks" longevity record (by a large margin) is held byPink Floyd'sThe Dark Side of the Moon, which has a cumulative total of over 1,600 chart weeks (more than 31 years). Its closest competitor isBob Marley'sLegend, at more than 975 weeks.
The issue dated July 11, 2009, was the first time any catalog album outsold the number-one album on theBillboard 200. Three of Michael Jackson's albums (Number Ones,The Essential Michael Jackson andThriller) claimed positions 1-3 respectively on both the Top Pop Catalog Albums and Top Comprehensive Albums charts in the week followingJackson's death.[2][3] Additionally, eight of the top nine positions on the chart were owned by Jackson, with a ninth held by aJackson 5 hits collection.[2][3]
Starting with the issue dated December 5, 2009, however, the catalog limitations – which removed albums over 18 months old, albums that have dropped below No. 100 and albums that had no currently running singles – for theBillboard 200 were lifted, turning the chart into an all-inclusive list of the 200 highest-selling albums in the country (essentially changingTop Comprehensive Albums into theBillboard 200). A new chart that keeps the previous criteria for theBillboard 200 – dubbed theTop Current Albums chart – was also introduced in the same issue.[4]