Billboard Changing Charts Calculus
Effective the chart week beginning June 29, greater emphasis is to be given to paid subscription streams in Canada and the US. We have the details you need to know about these important changes.
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Effective the chart week beginning June 29, greater emphasis is to be given to paid subscription streams in Canada and the US, with ad-supported activity remaining an important factor on the Album & Songs charts.
Beginning with the first week of Nielsen’s third quarter of 2018 (sales and streaming week of June 29 to July 5, which will be reflected on Billboard charts dated July 14), plays on paid subscription-based services (such as Apple Music and Amazon Music) or on the paid subscription tiers of hybrid paid/ad-supported platforms (such as Spotify and SoundCloud) will be given more weight in chart calculations than plays on ad-supported services (such as YouTube) or on the non-paid tiers of hybrid paid/ad-supported services.
Billboard will have multiple weighted tiers of streaming plays for the Hot 100, which take into account paid subscription streams (representing a full point value per play), ad-supported streams
(representing a 2/3-point value per play) and programmed streams (representing a 1/2-point value per play). Those values are then applied to the chart’s formula alongside all-genre radio airplay and digital song sales data. – Continue reading Billboard chart changes here
Paul McCartney at TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, on Nov. 21, 2025.Mike Highfield
TD ColiseumCourtesy Photo