YouTube streams to return to Billboard charts in 2027
Billboard will lower the number of ad-supported streams needed to equal an album purchase, while leaving the subscription-stream threshold unchanged.
YouTube listening data will again be included in Billboard’s music rankings in 2027, YouTube executive Lyor Cohen announced in a blog post. Billboard said the return would begin with its Jan. 16, 2027 charts, covering listening during Jan. 1-7.
The revised Billboard 200 methodology will treat 1,500 ad-supported streams as equivalent to one album purchase, down from 2,500 under the current rules. The threshold for paid or subscription listening will remain at 1,000 streams per album purchase. Purchases can be physical or digital.
YouTube stopped supplying Billboard with its data in January, objecting to the relative weight given to subscription listening and free, advertising-supported streams. Cohen had argued that the approach failed to account adequately for engagement by listeners without subscriptions. He said the revised methodology better represents listening across both types of service.
Billboard first added YouTube streaming figures to its calculations in February 2013, when user-made videos featuring Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” helped the song climb the charts. YouTube data became part of the Billboard 200 album rankings in 2019.
