YouTube will pull out its data from the Billboard charts

[Teletubby 154,842]

YouTube is pulling its data from Billboard for use in the publisher’s industry-leading U.S. music charts. The decision is in response to a recent change Billboard made to its ranking formula, which continues to add more weight to paid, on-demand streaming compared with ad-supported, free streaming.

Billboard justified its decision to adjust its age-old formula by saying that the change will “better reflect an increase in streaming revenue and changing consumer behaviors.” In other words, streaming now matters more than buying albums or songs, so it wants its charts to reflect that.

However, YouTube doesn’t like the new formula because it doesn’t want there to be much — if any — differentiation between free and paid streams, especially if the changes are meant to reflect how consumers today are enjoying music.

“Billboard uses an outdated formula that weights subscription-supported streams higher than ad-supported.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,” a YouTube blog post published on Wednesday explains. “Streaming is the primary way people experience music, making up 84% of U.S. recorded music revenue.”

“We’re simply asking that every stream is counted fairly and equally, whether it is subscription-based or ad-supported—because every fan matters and every play should count,” the post notes.

After a decade-long partnership and extensive discussions, they are unwilling to make meaningful changes. Therefore, after January 16, 2026, our data will no longer be delivered to Billboard or factored into their charts.”

x  blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-billboard-chart-update/

Edited December 17, 2025 by Teletubby

[jacs vs looser 4,717]

Dayumn that sucks. Isn't Gaga the artist with most monthly listeners on YouTube music too? 

[RAMROD 111,989]

Oh so people don't have to stream music videos on YT anymore?? K-Pop fans are quacking

[elsamars 4,717]

They have to pull out slowly otherwise it hurts.

[weed 75,655]

Just saw this on Twitter, severely gagged me. That's why we need another chart including everything but radio 

[robotvoiceinalice 1,912]

18 minutes ago, RAMROD said:

Oh so people don't have to stream music videos on YT anymore?? K-Pop fans are quacking

[robotvoiceinalice 1,912]

what does this mean for Mayhem?

[BUtterfield 8 41,667]

A mess

[nodandsmile 11,328]

1 hour ago, jacs vs looser said:

Dayumn that sucks. Isn't Gaga the artist with most monthly listeners on YouTube music too? 

I can bet money Gaga's numbers aren't carried by the US 

[DopeEnigma 1,671]

The charts these days are garbage anyway, manipulated by money hungry payola labels. At this point GaGa’s impact is cemented, she’ll be fine. 

[DESTROY UR DISEASE 14,154]

1 hour ago, elsamars said:

They have to pull out slowly otherwise it hurts.

and what if they like it rough?

[elegidadedios 2,630]

1 hour ago, Teletubby said:

“We’re simply asking that every stream is counted fairly and equally, whether it is subscription-based or ad-supported—because every fan matters and every play should count,” the post notes.

I kinda agree with this but I feel like they didn't put in perspective they're consequently damaging the need for music videos in terms of what labels profit from. As if the MV format wasn't already dead enough 💀. Idk

Edit: now that I think about it they might have done it because of this very reason LOL capitalism eating itself

Edited December 18, 2025 by elegidadedios

[elegidadedios 2,630]

Still thinking about this. We might end up not even getting visualizers on YT and labels start pushing vertical MVs for Spotify... This art is dying you guyssss

[ThisGuyTony 32,197]

Hot 100 lost relevance years ago. 

It’s not the only stat that matters in the streaming era.

[Plastic Flower 5,374]

This is all a mess  and I'm afraid us consumers will get even less quality content in the future.