Cash Box

Cashbox (or Cash Box) magazine was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industries in the USA which was published from July 1942, to November 16, 1996. It has since been revived as an online-only weekly that occasionally publishes special issues.

It was one of several magazines that published charts of song popularity in the United States of America. Cashbox's most prominent competitors included Billboard and Record World (known as Music Vendor prior to the April 18, 1964, issue). Unlike Billboard, Cashbox initially combined all currently available recordings of a song into one chart position with artist and label information shown for each version, alphabetized by label. Originally, no indication of which version was the biggest seller was given, but from October 25, 1952, a star was placed next to the names of the most important artists. Cashbox also printed shorter jukebox charts which included specific artist data beginning in the spring of 1950. Separate charts were presented for juke box popularity, record sales, and radio airplay, similar to Billboard's methodology prior to August 1958, when Billboard debuted its "Hot 100," which attempted to combine all measures of popularity into one all-encompassing chart. In addition, Cashbox published chart data for specific genres, such as country music and R&B music.

Cashbox was revived as an Internet-only magazine in 2006 with the consent and cooperation of the family of George Albert, the late president and publisher of the original edition. Cashbox has begun issuing special print editions occasionally.

As of December 2012, the magazine was undergoing a transition of management from former CEO Bruce Elrod to the current CEO Edward Straiter. In a message to readers and shareholders/stockholders, Mr. Straiter stated that the magazine will resume publication with a "non-official/tentative re-launch APRIL 2013". Documents filed with the Secretary of the State of South Carolina where the publication & company are located shows Cashbox incorporation and current magazine ownership.