Track 09 The Great Absentees There are bands that have sold tens of millions of physical records who appear almost invisible on Spotify. The Billion Club Is Not a Definitive Ranking The Billion Club is not a de nitive ranking of musical greatness. It is a snapshot of what the world is listening to today, not what it listened to in eras past. It is worth starting this chapter with a re ection that runs through the entire volume, but feels more urgent here than anywhere else. The Billion Club measures popularity in contemporary streaming. It does not measure artistic greatness, it does not measure cultural impact, and it does not measure an act's contribution to music history. The Ronettes invented a sound Phil Spector's Wall of Sound that 91