YouTube views and music streams will no longer count in Billboard charts from 2026

What happened and why it matters

Starting January 16, 2026, YouTube will stop providing its data for Billboard music charts in the United States and globally. The decision follows a disagreement over Billboard’s updated streaming methodology, which gives significantly more weight to paid subscriptions than to ad-supported plays.

This change may seem technical, but in reality it affects how popularity in the music industry is measured — and who gets visibility.

The core disagreement

According to YouTube, the new Billboard formula undervalues real audience engagement. Under the updated system, one album unit equals 1,000 paid streams or 2,500 ad-supported streams, compared to the previous 1:3 ratio. YouTube argues that this approach does not reflect how the majority of listeners consume music today.

YouTube’s global head of music, Lyor Cohen, stated that such methodology ignores millions of fans who actively listen to music without paid subscriptions.

The scale of YouTube’s role in music

The controversy becomes clearer when looking at the numbers:

• YouTube has over 2.7 billion monthly active users worldwide

• According to IFPI data, more than 50% of global music listeners use YouTube as their primary music platform

• Around 70% of music discovery among Gen Z starts on YouTube

• Over 80% of streams on YouTube are ad-supported, not paid

Removing these figures from Billboard charts means excluding a massive portion of real listening behavior.

Billboard’s position

Billboard explains the update as an attempt to better reflect revenue trends in the streaming era. Paid streams generate more income for artists and labels, and the chart methodology increasingly prioritizes financial impact over raw reach.

From Billboard’s perspective, charts should represent not just popularity, but economic value.

Industry reaction and potential consequences

Many industry experts describe this as a potential turning point. Without YouTube data, charts may increasingly favor artists with strong subscription-based audiences, while genres driven by video culture and global reach could lose representation.

Critics warn that charts risk becoming less reflective of true cultural impact and more aligned with monetization models.

What this means for artists

For emerging and international artists, YouTube has long been a key growth platform. If its influence disappears from Billboard rankings, music videos may lose part of their strategic importance, widening the gap between audience popularity and chart recognition.