Billboard announces first China chart

PRESS RELEASE:

Billboard,the leading global destination for news, charts, trends and innovations in music, today announced plans to create and launch the first ever “User Generated” chart inChinawith YinYueTai (YYT), a leading Chinese music video service with more than 50 million registered users and real-time access to music video data. The socially drivenBillboard/YYT UG songs chart will rank the videos with the most engagement on YYT’s website. The chart is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2016.

In the agreement negotiated with the help ofHu Xiao, CEO, California Music & Arts Consortium, andJoel Wertman, president, For Goodness Sake! Media, YYT’s China V-Chart will become available weekly within the International Charts section of Billboard.com. The YYT China V-Chart ranks the most-viewed videos of the week on the YYT platform. The V-Chart is the first-ever Chinese chart to be integrated intoBillboard’s international section and will bring more opportunities for Chinese artists to be recognized on the world stage.

“We are pleased to be working with YinYueTai on the creation of the UG songs chart and the worldwide launch of YYT’s V-Chart,” saidJohn Amato, co-president,Billboard.

“YYT has established themselves as the go-to platform for music videos, with their finger on the pulse of the trending music market,” continuedJonathan Serbin, head ofAsia,Billboard. “YYT’s real-time data coupled with the power of theBillboardbrand will provide valuable insight into music viewing habits and artist popularity inChina.”

YYT’s V-Chart will launch this month on Billboard.com.

“Billboardcharts set the standard for authoritative, credible music rankings across the globe, and YYT is proud to join that standard,” saidZhang Dou, founder & CEO, YinYueTai.

Shi Ying, co-founder, YinYueTai, added, “We are thrilled to partner withBillboardto create the first co-branded chart inChina. We believe this chart will provide a valuable tool to track the popularity of artists and songs across the country.”

Billboardwas recently named the leading U.S. brand on Twitter, surpassing the NFL, ESPN, BuzzFeed and MTV, with 6.1 million engaged actions in Q3. InAugust 2015, Billboard.com hit 14.62 million worldwide monthly uniques, according to comScore.Billboardmagazine regularly scores news-making covers with top artists includingLana del Rey, Lady Gaga andElton John,Selena Gomez, and The Weeknd.