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YouTube to resume sharing streaming data with Billboard in 2027
YouTube said Monday it will return streaming data to Billboard charts in 2027 after Billboard gave more weight to free, ad-supported streams, TechCrunch and Engadget reported.
- New headline Was: “YouTube streaming data returns to Billboard charts, ending major disagreement”
- Our desk filed its story
- Engadget is now reporting this
YouTube said Monday it will resume sending streaming data to Billboard’s U.S. charts in 2027, after Billboard changed how it counts free, ad-supported listens1,2.
The Google-owned platform stopped delivering data after announcing in December 2025 that Billboard’s formula favored paid subscriptions over fans who listen with ads1,2.
Billboard said it will still count paid streams more heavily than free ones, but it narrowed the gap: from January 2027, 1,500 ad-supported streams will equal one album consumption unit, down from 2,500, while 1,000 paid streams remain equivalent to one album sale2.
YouTube’s announcement, posted on its blog, said it is returning to the Billboard charts starting in 2027 after the methodology update1,2.
The data feeds the Billboard 200, Hot 100, album genre charts and other multi-metric song rankings2.
What the change will do to individual chart positions in 2027 has not been projected in the reporting reviewed1,2.
Sources
How it’s being reported
2 sourcesFirst reported by 
TechCrunch
TechCrunchFirstYouTube streaming data returns to Billboard charts, ending major disagreement
the end of the 2025 data-sharing dispute after Billboard’s formula change
YouTube will resume sharing streaming data with Billboard in 2027 after chart-formula changes give more weight to free, ad-supported streams.
Leaves out the exact new stream-to-album ratios Billboard will use
YouTube will once again be part of Billboard chart calculations in 2027
the new 1,500-to-1 ad-supported stream ratio versus 1,000 paid streams
Billboard will count 1,500 ad-supported streams as one album unit from January 2027, down from 2,500, prompting YouTube to share data again.
Leaves out comment from Cohen quoted at length
Where they agree
- YouTube will share streaming data with Billboard again starting in 2027.
- YouTube withdrew data after Billboard’s formula undervalued ad-supported listening, in YouTube’s view.
- Billboard is giving more weight to free streams while still privileging paid ones.