Billboard will include YouTube licensed views in its album chart math in 2020

Billboard will update its charts to reflect the ongoing importance of video in the music world. The company announced that it will include video and audio data from YouTube on its Billboard 200 and genre-specific album charts starting January 3. Officially licensed video streams from Apple, Spotify, Tidal and Vevo will also be incorporated into the charts.

This move is a change for the album counts. Billboard added YouTube statistics to song-specific charts such as its Hot 100 back in February 2013. However, the update for 2020 will be the first addition of YouTube data to album charts. Only officially licensed videos views on YouTube will impact the album charts, although user-generated videos will continue to influence the Billboard’s song charts.

“As the steward of the definitive charts that uphold the industry’s measurement of music consumption, our goal is to continually respond and accurately reflect the changing landscape of the music,” Billboard-The Hollywood Reporter Media Group President Deanna Brown said. “Our decision to add YouTube and other video streaming data to our album charts reflects the continuing evolution of the music consumption market and the ways in which consumers connect to album-related content.”

“Genres like Latin, hip-hop and electronic, which consistently dominate the YouTube charts, will now be properly recognized for their popularity,” YouTube Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen said. “This is another great step in bringing YouTube and the industry together and we’re so grateful to Billboard and the music business at large for making this addition.”

Anna Washenko