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YouTube says it will stop submitting its data to the U.S. Billboard charts next month due to a dispute over how streams are counted.
At the center of the issue is the methodology by which Billboard counts paid/subscription versus ad-supported streams.
YouTube has long argued that they should be weighted equally.
Billboard has stated that it does not consider all streams to be equal, arguing that a person hearing a clip playing in the background of a video is not the same as a person seeking out a song on Spotify.
It applies similar weighting to other streaming services.
YouTube will continue to submit its data to Luminate, which is a primary source for Billboard’s chart information.
In the announcement,YouTube states, “We believe every fan matters and every play should count equally, therefore after January 16, YouTube data will no longer be delivered or factored into the U.S. Billboard charts.
