YouTube has announced it’s pulling its data from Billboard’s charts:
Billboard uses an outdated formula that weights subscription-supported streams higher than ad-supported. This doesn’t reflect how fans engage with music today and ignores the massive engagement from fans who don’t have a subscription.
Paul Resnikoff, writing for Digital Music News, has the argument for why YouTube should change, not Billboard:
That logic goes something like this: more dedicated, paying fans – and their purchases – are far more valuable to the music industry and its artists, songwriters, publishers, and labels than freebie ad-supported ones. And the charts should reflect that.
The rest is just making up the numbers to fit. Paid stuff feeds the music industry, and accordingly, it weighs more heavily in the rankings. It’s logical enough.
Just one problem: in that framework, YouTube will never be a heavy chart influencer compared to other streaming platforms and formats. The harsh reality is that YouTube Music, once a promising paid platform, never materialized as a serious competitor to Apple Music or Spotify – and with the music subscription market now maturing, it’s unlikely to catch up.