How a legendary music trade magazine fell from grace amid accusations of chart fixing

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Once a formidable rival to Billboard, Cashbox magazine defined the American music industry for decades. Yet, its legacy was marred by a suspicious number-one hit, a tragic murder case linked to payola schemes, and a slow decline into obscurity. Discover the complex history of a publication that shaped music charts.

Founded in July 1942, Cashbox served as a vital trade publication covering music, jukeboxes, and arcade games. For years, it stood as the primary competitor to Billboard, utilizing a methodology that grouped all versions of a song into a single entry. While Billboard eventually shifted toward an all-encompassing 'Hot 100' in August 1958, Cashbox maintained its distinct approach, providing separate charts for jukebox popularity, record sales, and radio airplay.

The decline of Cashbox began in the 1970s, accelerated by the rise of Joel Whitburn’s research books and the American Top 40 radio series, which solidified Billboard as the industry standard. Credibility plummeted in December 1992 when the magazine listed 'The Letter' by Wayne Newton as a number-one song, despite the track failing to appear on any other major chart. This incident sparked widespread allegations of chart fixing, and the original print run concluded in November 1996.

The magazine's darker history emerged during a 2003 murder trial in Nashville. Kevin Hughes, a young chart director, was killed in 1989 after reportedly resisting a payola scheme orchestrated by promoter Chuck Dixon. Prosecutors revealed that Dixon bribed employees to secure favorable positions for his clients, even promoting artists who had not sold a single record. Coworker Richard D'Antonio was convicted of the murder in 2003, marking a grim chapter in the publication's history.

Today, the brand survives as an online entity, revived in 2006 and currently operated by Wilds & Associates. While the original print editions are preserved at the College of William and Mary, the modern iteration continues to track various genres. Despite its turbulent past, the magazine remains a significant subject for music historians, with its historical data digitized and maintained for archival research.

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