Songs streamed on YouTube will no longer count towards the Billboard charts, the platform announced in a blog yesterday (December 17). The change will take effect on January 16, 2026, according to Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music. Cohen blamed a long-running dispute over Billboard’s decision to weight subscriber streams more favorably than ad-supported streams in its chart tallies.
YouTube is threatening to pull its data despite a recent rule change that suggests a compromise on the issue: This week, Billboard announced it would more generously weight ad-supported, on-demand streams in comparison to their subscriber counterparts. That shift equates a stream by a YouTube or Spotify subscriber to two and a half streams by a non-subscriber. Before that, the ratio was 3:1, meaning a free stream was worth even less. But Cohen maintains this an “outdated formula” that “ignores the massive engagement from fans who don’t have a subscription.” He notes that streaming makes up 84 percent of U.S. recorded music revenue and suggests that YouTube was pursuing a 1:1 ratio in streaming counts.
Why YouTube is so determined to bump up free streams is not entirely clear. Cohen argues that artists’ work on fan-engagement on the platform is “being undervalued” by Billboard, hinting he believes a more generous chart contribution would drive activity on the platform. Also unclear is whether the disagreement pertains only to the ratio of subscriber to non-subscriber streams, or whether YouTube also disputes what Billboard counts as an on-demand stream. On YouTube, as on Spotify, some autoplays that follow an active song selection may be excluded from chart tallies. Pitchfork has emailed representatives for YouTube for further comment.
A Billboard spokesperson said in a statement, “There are so many ways a fan can support an artist they love, and each has a specific place in the music ecosystem. Billboard strives to measure that activity appropriately; balanced by various factors including consumer access, revenue analysis, data validation and industry guidance. It is our hope that YouTube reconsiders and joins Billboard in recognizing the reach and popularity of artists on all music platforms and in celebrating their achievements though the power of fans and how they interact with the music that they love.”