YouTube has contributed to the US ‘Hot 100’ singles chart since early 2013, but now Billboard has announced that the video service’s data will also count towards its ‘Billboard 200’ albums chart. Importantly, this data will only come from “official licensed video content uploaded by or on behalf of a rights holder” – no user-generated videos will be included.
This is part of a wider change for the chart though: Billboard announced that officially-licensed video plays from Apple, Spotify, Tidal and Vevo will also be factored in to the US albums chart. These changes will happen from 18 January 2020.
YouTube’s music head Lyor Cohen described it as “a very important moment in making the chart a more accurate representation of what people are listening to” while suggesting that some genres may be boosted more than others. “Genres like Latin, hip hop and electronic, which consistently dominate the YouTube charts, will now be properly recognised for their popularity,” he said.
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