andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Billboard will now be including catalog releases when calculating the best-selling albums, which were previously decided based on record sales from the past 18 months, reports Perez Hilton. The Nov. 25 chart will be the first to reflect these changes.

Taylor Swift is the only artist who sold more albums this year than Michael Jackson. Rihanna previously held the record for digital songs, selling 9.9 million, but Swift, Jackson, Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas have all broken that this year.

Could adding a fourth judge help American Idol’s sinking ratings?

Execs at the show hope so, after adding Grammy-winning songwriter Kara DioGuardi to the roster.

While all the usual faces will also be back, some other changes will be made to the format. Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that AI will include less footage of the embarrassing auditions, as it gets to be “too repetitive.”

Nigel Lythgoe has also stepped down from his executive producer role, which is thought to allow a fresher sound on the show. “At one point, we had Neil Diamond on, and Andrew Lloyd Webber and Dolly Parton. Nigel wanted to be old school,” said a source at Fox. “But the show needs younger music.”

The eight season of Idol will begin in January.