Streaming just got a little more legitimacy from industry leaders in Australia and New Zealand. Singles charts in both countries announced that they will factor streaming numbers into their calculations. Both the Australian Recording Industry Association and the New Zealand Top 40 said streaming data will help determine the No. 1 songs.
ARIA announced that it will begin accounting for streaming data effective Nov. 24. It had been tracking streaming popularity separately, with information coming from Deezer, JB Now, Rdio, Samsung Music Hub, and Spotify. Now that data from will be integrated into the Official ARIA Singles Chart. “Over the past two years, audio streaming has grown at such a rapid rate, that it was only logical that we integrate audio streaming into the Official ARIA Singles Chart,” ARIA CEO Dan Rosen said. However, the group’s Accreditations will still only reflect sales.
In New Zealand, the chart will reflect data from Spotify, Xbox Music, and Google Play, according to 3 News. The source said that streaming now accounts for about 10% of the country’s music revenue, making it worth factoring into the charts. The change takes effect from Friday.