YouTube has returned to Billboard’s US charts after withdrawing its data in January, following a change by the music chart provider. Billboard announced a new formula for how it weights paid subscription streams against ad-supported streams during an annual review of streaming revenue data informing their methodology. The new ratio will result in 1,000 paid subscription streams or 1,500 ad-supported streams equaling one album consumption unit on the Billboard 200 starting from January 16, 2027.
This change is meant to reflect how fans engage with music today across both subscription and ad-supported services. Prior to this shift, the ratio was at 1:2.5 for paid streams compared to 1:3 for ad-supported streams. YouTube's Global Head of Music, Lyor Cohen, confirmed its return to Billboard’s charts starting in 2027. The change was announced in conjunction with a broader review of streaming revenue data and aims to align the charts' methodology with current music consumption habits. This follows previous changes made by Billboard in December 2025 when it narrowed the ratio from 1:3 (1,250 paid streams or 3,750 ad-supported streams per album unit) to the new 1:2.5. The initial decision for YouTube's departure was due to its belief that the previous formula did not accurately reflect consumer activity on both subscription and ad-supported services.
This move represents a return of valuable data to Billboard’s charts after it was excluded in December 2025, when Cohen announced that YouTube would stop delivering its data. In total, YouTube has paid more than $8 billion to the music industry over the past year from revenue generated by both ads and subscriptions.