Well it looks like music artists are about to get a little boost in their streaming credentials as YouTube will now once again be able to count towards an artist’s overall streaming numbers when it comes to Billboard’s Top 100 lists.
Recently, legendary music executive, Lyor Cohen posted on a blog on YouTube stating that as of January 16, 2027, YouTube and Billboard will once again be partnering up to allow YouTube streams to count towards Billboard’s Top 100 and Top 200 lists years after YouTube pulled out of their original partnership.
As to why YouTube made the decision to part ways with Billboard in January of this year, it was due to the people over at YouTube feeling that Billboard’s ad-supported model was being used in a bias fashion as the album consumption units on the Billboard 200 had to equal 2,500 ad-supported streams and 1,000 paid-subscription streams for a single album sale. YouTube felt this prior ad-model created a disadvantage for artists on their platform. Under it’s new agreement, album consumption units will total 1,500 ad-supported streams for that “one sale” going forward.
“Billboard uses an outdated formula that weights subscription-supported streams higher than ad-supported.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. 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.”
“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.”
In other words, instead of having to reach 2500 streams to equal a single album sale, artists would only have to hit the 1500 mark to make that quota. We’re sure they’ll be happy with this new adjustment.
What do y’all think about YouTube and Billboard once again collaborating to make this new streaming number requirements happen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.