Billboard Charts are set to include Facebook music video streams

The Billboard Charts are set to include Facebook music video streams, with the changes taking effect with the charts dated March 27th. 

As per Billboard, streams of all officially licensed music videos on Facebook will soon be incorporated into Billboard’s charts: the Hot 100, Billboard 200, Artist 100, and Global 200.

The changes will come into effect starting with the charts dated March 27th, and they will reflect the sales and streams from the week of March 12th-18th.

Only date from officially licensed property will be counted, with user-generated content currently excluded from being included.

It’s the latest noticeable push to include video streams into official chart rankings. Back in 2013, Billboard started counting YouTube streams (including user-generated content) into its song-specific charts. This was followed in 2020 by the addition of officially licensed music video streams from the platform (excluding user-generated content) into the album charts.

“Music availability and consumption continues to increase at a remarkable rate and the industry has seen incredible innovation across many digital platforms,” said Silvio Pietroluongo, senior vp, charts & data development for MRC Data and Billboard.

“We are excited to announce the inclusion of Facebook’s U.S. Premium Music Video streams to Music Connect and to Billboard’s charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Billboard Global 200, further expanding the most comprehensive view of music consumption and trends impacting the business.”

“Artists deserve recognition in music charts for the social capital they drive and the social discovery they fuel,” said Tamara Hrivnak, vp of business development and partnerships at Facebook. “Adding music video plays on Facebook to the Billboard charts is an important step in the right direction.”

She continued: “On Facebook, music videos represent so much more than just the video itself — it’s about creating a new channel for social experiences around music so you can discover a new artist from a music video shared by an artist you follow or a friend in News Feed, connect with other fans who share your passion in a Facebook Group dedicated to your favorite artist, and react to a video in real time as it premieres, all on the same platform.”

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.