YouTube to Pull Music Data from Billboard’s Charts Over Ranking Formula Disagreement

YouTube is sourcing data from Billboard for its industry-leading U.S. music charts. The decision comes in response to a recent change Billboard made to its ranking formula, which now places greater emphasis on paid, on-demand streaming, as compared to ad-supported, free streaming.

Billboard justified the update to its long-standing formula by stating that the change will "better reflect an increase in streaming revenue and changing consumer behaviors." In essence, the new approach prioritizes streaming over traditional music sales, ensuring that charts better reflect how music consumption is evolving.

However, YouTube has expressed its disagreement with this new formula. The platform doesn't want significant differentiation between free and paid streams, primarily if the changes are intended to reflect how today's consumers engage with music.

"Billboard uses an outdated formula that weights subscription-supported streams higher than ad-supported.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," a YouTube blog post stated. "Streaming is the primary way people experience music, making up 84% of U.S. recorded music revenue."

YouTube further emphasized that it believes every stream—whether subscription-based or ad-supported—should be counted fairly, as every fan matters and every play counts.

The new ranking changes, which will take effect starting with charts published on January 17, 2026, will include data from January 2-8, 2026. This will impact the Billboard 200 and genre-based album charts. Furthermore, the ratio between paid/subscription and ad-supported on-demand streaming tiers will be adjusted to 2.5:1 for the Billboard Hot 100, according to Billboard's announcement.

To protest the revised ranking formula, YouTube said it will stop providing data to Billboard after January 16, 2026.

What Do the Changes Mean?

The changes to the Billboard formula mean fewer ad-supported and paid/subscription streams will be needed to count as an album unit. Specifically, ad-supported streams will now be valued at 2,500 streams per album unit, down from 3,750 previously. Similarly, paid/subscription streams will be counted at 1,000 streams per album unit, down from 1,250. As a result, paid streams will now count 2.5 times as much as ad-supported streams. While this change reduces the gap from the current 3:1 ratio, it still doesn't align with YouTube's preference for equal treatment of both stream types.

This shift in the formula is a win for streaming platforms overall, but it isn't necessarily in YouTube's favour. As a result, YouTube's decision to pull data from Billboard may be a strategic move in ongoing negotiations.

While not cooperating with Billboard means YouTube's data won't be factored into chart rankings, it could lead labels and artists to deprioritize publishing their music on YouTube—a move that could hurt YouTube's standing in the streaming music space over the long term.

"We are committed to achieving equitable representation across the charts and hopefully can work with Billboard to return to theirs," concluded YouTube's announcement.