This is how Billboard’s new stream weighting will impact its charts

Billboard recently finalised the changes to how streams are weighted on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts.

The changes pertain to the way that streams on paid, non-paid and ad-supported subscriptions will be weighted.

Plays on paid services like Apple Music and Amazon, and hybrid paid/ad-supported services like Spotify and SoundCloud, will be given more weight compared to plays on non-paid or purely ad-supported services like YouTube.

From the third quarter of 2018, the following changes will be in effect.

The Billboard Hot 100 will now have three tiers of streaming plays:

• Tier 1 for paid subscription audio streams – 1 point per play.
• Tier 2 for ad-supported streams – 2/3 of a point per play.
• Tier 3 for programmed streams – 1/2 a point per play

The Billboard 200 will now have two tiers of on-demand audio streams:

• Tier 1 for paid subscription audio streams – 1,250 streams equal 1 album unit.
• Tier 2 for ad-supported steams – 3,750 streams equal 1 album unit.

“The shift to a multi-level streaming approach to Billboard’s chart methodology is reflective of a global push to measure streams in a revenue-reflective and access-based manner,” said Billboard in their official announcement.

“Music is now being consumed on streaming services in more diverse ways, migrating from a pure on-demand experience to a more diverse selection of listening preferences (including playlists and radio) and the various options in which a consumer can access music differs based on their subscription commitment.”