• How Billboard's New YouTube Rules Will Completely Change The Pop Charts Forever

   

      Now that online video views are factored into the Hot 100 formula, viral hits like “Harlem Shake” can dominate the charts. That's good. And bad.
• Billboard and Nielsen announced this week that YouTube views will now be factored into their formula determining the ranking of the Hot 100 singles chart. The impact on the chart was immediate, with Baauer's song "Harlem Shake" debuting on the chart at No. 1 after appearing in thousands of viral videos. This change is both radical and sensible, given that YouTube has become by far the dominant mode of music consumption in recent years, with views far surpassing sales, and in most cases, radio airplay. But it's going to change the Hot 100 significantly, in ways that are both awesome and potentially awful.

  • This is an article written by Matthew perpetual. (editor for BuzzFeed Music, Fluxblog.org guy). I feel that his blog on the pros, and cons of Billboard, Nielsen adding YouTube is reliable because, it is a very unbiased, well organized, and very detailed article about his opinion of the advantages, and disadvantages of the situation that has taken place. I also feel the article is reliable because he is a reliable writer/editor for BUZZFEED MUSIC internet mag. and, he has written lots of articles that are factual and reliable for this Internet magazine.

• 1. It Balances Out The Corporate Influence On Radio

    
     

  Up until recently, the charts were fairly predictable and stagnant, with only artists with the greatest amount of money and promotional muscle behind them rising to the top. Radio airplay, a chief component of Billboard's formula, is very difficult to crack without a huge amount of promo money, and even if you gain some leverage there, songs can get sunk based on the findings of radio research firms who help stations develop strategies to keep listeners from turning the dial. Billboard has been steadily adjusting their charts over the past two years to reflect major shifts in music consumption – digital sales, on-demand play from services like Spotify – and the result has destabilized chart data in both obvious and subtle ways, with left field artists like Gotye and Macklemore hitting No. 1 and album tracks by Mumford & Sons and Kendrick Lamar crowding out the Hot 100 and genre charts.

                  

      

        

• 2. It Introduces An Element Of Chaos

    
     

  Bringing YouTube into the equation makes the chart far more chaotic. An artist doesn't need to be signed to a label or officially release music to be eligible for the chart, though it will be hard to get to the upper reaches without sales, on-demand play, or airplay adding to the overall tally. Artists don't even need to try for a hit – Baauer and Psy's songs broke through to the mainstream entirely on the enthusiasm of fans and would not have been pushed to pop radio under normal circumstances. If "Gangnam Style" didn't break through as a meme, there's a very good chance that Psy would have never been marketed in the U.S. at all. Both artists essentially won some kind of cosmic pop lottery, and the culture is now primed for this to happen on a regular basis. The Hot 100 can now more accurately reflect this change in culture.

• 7. Viral Songs May Warp The Intention Of The Chart

    
     

  Part of the appeal of having a Hot 100 in the first place is that it's a useful way of gauging the actual popularity of music from week to week. YouTube data threatens to warp this by favoring a lot of songs that are arguably just the soundtrack to a visual meme, like "Harlem Shake," or spread because the public at large actually hated the song and wanted to make fun of it, like with Rebecca Black's "Friday." Both of these songs have sold very, very well at digital retail, so it's not as if people did not have an actual interest in the music, but the dynamic of this is a lot more complicated than, say, someone just earnestly loving a Rihanna song that gets played on the radio all the time. But then again, the public value of the chart and the actual utility of it are somewhat different things – Billboard is, after all, a trade publication and YouTube revenue has become a crucial aspect of the music business. They need to include this data in order to present an accurate picture of the most successful songs of the moment.

3 more annotations...

• The next question is, what impact will the new rule have on music?

   

  It clearly gives a huge boost to the visual format that tends to be able to react much quicker than traditional radio and has the benefit of the viral event. In fact the new rules will likely feed the viral nature of YouTube. Consumers and industry use Billboard’s charts to determine popularity, and the higher a song charts, the more attention it gets across all media formats. If a song goes viral on YouTube and charts high, it increases the chances that song will be added to radio by programmers, or played in a heavier rotation. Artists and labels who are YouTube savvy will benefit from the rule, and the ones that aren’t will find themselves at a distinct disadvantage.

   

  What Billboard’s YouTube data does not consider is quality, and the curiosity factor. Whereas songs on the radio, or songs that people purchase are being consumed because the public has deemed them appealing, music on YouTube can sometimes go viral for how bad or polarizing or offensive it is. Take for example Rebecca Black’s “Friday.” The song would have rocketed to #1 on the charts under this rule, yet the majority of the viewers of the video drew an unfavorable reaction to it. It was the car wreck factor that forced the song viral. This means that songs could chart because the public vehemently hates them instead of universally liking them.

   

  • I feel that this source is reliable because this article was written by: Kyle “The Triggerman” Coroneos is the editor, creator, head writer of 'Saving Country Music' Online Magazine. He has written for many other Online Magazines such as: the9153.com, outlawmagazine.com, ninebullets.net, RNZmagazine.com, and The Rambler Magazine. I also feel that this source is reliable because its very non biased, very detailed, and well organized.

• Billboard editor Bill Werde has said that he sees this as a problem, and is considering solutions, including making the stipulation that a song must chart on any of Billboard’s other charts before being considered.

   

  The new rule could also impact the popularity arch. When a song or other media goes viral and becomes ubiquitous throughout culture, it tends to create a tiring factor or a backlash that is measured in strength many times by how quickly the media went viral, how widespread it is, and the polarizing nature of the content. This could result in songs becoming extremely popular for very short periods, but then being almost completely forgotten as consumers move on to the next viral craze.

   

  The new rule also increases the technology paradigm. Since anyone can make a YouTube video, and any video has the potential to go viral, it puts power into the hands of independent artists and their fans that do not benefit from the support of the traditional music business like big stars. At the same time since there is no filter on the content, it adds to the increasing glut of music vying for consumer’s attention every day, making it harder for consumers to navigate through the music world and find quality.

   

  It’s important to clarify that this rule will not necessarily include every single video on YouTube. The audio has to be “authorized” in a way that Neilsen can verify the song and sync it up with other data.

   

  What should artists to to take advantage of the new rule? Any song that an artist or a label wants to release as a single now must be accompanied by a YouTube video, even if it just includes a static picture or lyrics. Those views will be necessary to compete with the other songs in the charts.

• When Billboard made their initial changes in October 2012, there was a small, but fervent backlash from some fans and artists who felt they would be hindered by the new rules, especially the rule that considered crossover radio play in Billboard’s genre charts. Some of the concerns voiced at the time came to fruition. Others did not. Like with Billboard’s other new rules, it will take time to determine this rule’s full impact. But for the first time since the dawning of the digital age in music, virtually all of the avenues that consumers use to enjoy music will be factored into the charts; charts that history will use to gauge the popularity, importance, and impact as song had on us at any given time.

   

1 more annotation...