“On May 25, 1991 — 30 years ago Tuesday — Billboard … started counting album sales with scanners and computers and whatnot, and not just calling up record stores one at a time and asking them for their individual counts, often a manual and semi-accurate and flagrantly corrupt process. … Virtually overnight, SoundScan changed the rules on who got to be a mega, mega superstar, and the domino effect — in terms of magazine covers, TV bookings, arena tours, and the other spoils of media attention and music-industry adulation — was tremendous.” – The Ringer
