From pastime to passion to profitable enterprise, the growth of Record Research has been the outgrowth of Joel Whitburn’s hobby. Joel began collecting records as a teenager in the 1950s. As his collection grew, he began to sort, categorize and file each record according to the highest position it reached on Billboard magazine's charts. He went on to publish this information — first on individual artists’ cards, then in book form in 1970 — and a business was born.

Over the nearly six decades since, Record Research has created data of the life of a recording on America's major music charts, publishing 174 reference books in print. Joel has also collaborated with Warner/Rhino Records in creating a series of 150 CD albums, plus five CD albums with Curb Records.

The Joel Whitburn Music Archive remains unrivaled and includes every charted Hot 100 and pop single (back to 1936), every charted pop album (back to 1945), collections of nearly every charted Country, R&B, Bubbling Under The Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary records. The collection also boasts one of the world’s largest picture sleeve collections, many of which are displayed in the series of books (Top 40 Hits, Top 40 Albums, Top 40 Country Hits, Top 40 R&B Hits) he authored for Billboard’s book division. 

The world's most authoritative historian on charted music passed away in 2022, still researching the charts until his final day.  His Record Research legacy continues with his daughter, Kim Bloxdorf, and long-time researcher Paul Haney.