Billboard Charts will now count Facebook music video streams

Billboard Charts, including the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200, Artist 100, and Billboard Global 200 charts, will now factor in streams of officially licensed music videos on Facebook when compiling its rankings.

The publication made the announcement today, with the change set to take effect on March 27, with retroactive data from March 12-18. Facebook began hosting officially licensed music videos in August last year.

The changes recognise Facebook video plays as “ad-supported on-demand streams”, but will only track U.S. viewership, in line with the charts’ scope. No user-uploaded content will be counted.

In 2013, Billboard began factoring YouTube streams, including user-uploaded content, into its song charts. In 2020, they added officially licensed music video streams into the album charts.

Tamara Hrivnak, VP of business development and partnerships at Facebook, said in a statement that the change was an “important step”.

“On Facebook, music videos represent so much more than just the video itself,” she said.

“It’s about creating a new channel for social experiences around music so you can discover a new artist from a music video shared by an artist you follow or a friend in News Feed, connect with other fans who share your passion in a Facebook Group dedicated to your favorite [sic] artist, and react to a video in real time as it premieres, all on the same platform.”