I’ve never understood how they can rank different sides of a record. If someone buys a record how do they know which song the buyer wanted - A side or B side?
The “A” and “B” sides were mainly directed at radio stations, knowing that record companies wanted to “A” side to be the main release but individual DJs would sometimes pick the “B” side as their favorite. Many records sent to radio stations over the years had the same song on both sides so there would be no mistake.