Songs streamed on YouTube will not rely in direction of the Billboard charts, the platform introduced in a weblog yesterday (December 17). The change will take impact on January 16, 2026, in line with Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s international head of music. Cohen blamed a long-running dispute over Billboard’s determination to weight subscriber streams extra favorably than ad-supported streams in its chart tallies.
YouTube is threatening to drag its information regardless of a current rule change that implies a compromise on the problem: This week, Billboard introduced it could extra generously weight ad-supported, on-demand streams compared to their subscriber counterparts. That shift equates a stream by a YouTube or Spotify subscriber to 2 and a half streams by a non-subscriber. Earlier than that, the ratio was 3:1, which means a free stream was value even much less. However Cohen maintains this an “outdated formulation” that “ignores the huge engagement from followers who don’t have a subscription.” He notes that streaming makes up 84 % of U.S. recorded music income and means that YouTube was pursuing a 1:1 ratio in streaming counts.
Why YouTube is so decided to bump up free streams isn’t fully clear. Cohen argues that artists’ work on fan-engagement on the platform is “being undervalued” by Billboard, hinting he believes a extra beneficiant chart contribution would drive exercise on the platform. Additionally unclear is whether or not the disagreement pertains solely to the ratio of subscriber to non-subscriber streams, or whether or not YouTube additionally disputes what Billboard counts as an on-demand stream. On YouTube, as on Spotify, some autoplays that observe an energetic track choice could also be excluded from chart tallies. Pitchfork has emailed representatives for YouTube for additional remark.
A Billboard spokesperson mentioned in an announcement, “There are such a lot of methods a fan can help an artist they love, and every has a selected place within the music ecosystem. Billboard strives to measure that exercise appropriately; balanced by varied elements together with shopper entry, income evaluation, information validation and trade steering. It’s our hope that YouTube reconsiders and joins Billboard in recognizing the attain and recognition of artists on all music platforms and in celebrating their achievements although the ability of followers and the way they work together with the music that they love.”
