Billboard’s charts, the gold standard for assessing the most popular music, now have a new metric. YouTube streaming data is now being incorporated into those charts, Billboard announced yesterday. YouTube viewership will now join digital and physical singles sales, terrestrial radio airplay, and streaming as the metrics that determine Billboard’s chart order. Since there are often thousands of clips of a single music video, Billboard’s YouTube data is limited to “all official videos,” Vevo clips, and user-generated videos that are using “authorized audio.” In other words, only legitimately used songs can be included in its charts. It only makes sense that Billboard is incorporating YouTube data in its results. The online video site has become well-established as a place where people listen to music, and to not include it would possibly leave an inaccurate picture of current tastes.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.