Billboard 200 Album Chart to Include YouTube Streams

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On December 13th Billboard announced that official video plays will be included into their weekly album chart, the Billboard 200

The signature chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on several factors: traditional album sales, track sales equivalent albums, and streaming equivalent albums. Now, Billboard is expanding its streaming component to include video and audio data from YouTube. This will go in effect starting January 3.

While YouTube streams have factored into the Billboard Hot 100 and other song-specific charts since February 2013, this marks a first for the album charts. In contrast with song charts, which can be impacted by user-generated videos, only official licensed video content uploaded by or on behalf of rights holders will be counted for the Billboard 200 and other albums charts. This makes registering your work on SoundScan more important than ever. Learn more here: https://www.isrc.net/FAQ-Soundscan/

Lyor Cohen, global head of music at YouTube, called the changes a “very important moment in making the chart a more accurate representation of what people are listening to.”

He added, “Genres like Latin, hip-hop and electronic, which consistently dominate the YouTube charts, will now be properly recognized for their popularity. This is another great step in bringing YouTube and the industry together and we’re so grateful to Billboard and the music business at large for making this addition.”

And finally, it’s not just YouTube — licensed video content plays from Apple, Spotify, Tidal and Vevo will also be included in Billboard’s calculations.

Source: https://www.complex.com/