Billboard to Include Streaming Data in US Music Charts

Billboard announced earlier today that they would now be including plays on various streaming services into their Hot 100 singles chart.

The move comes, as Billboard notes, as streaming services like Spotify, Rdio and Rhapsody have reached "critical mass."

"Billboard always recognizes trends in the way fans experience music," said Bill Werde, Billboard's editorial director. "With some of these services growing exponentially and integrating into the social web, the time is right to launch a streaming chart and to incorporate this activity into the Hot 100."

Not only will the data impact the Hot 100 charts, but a new chart has also been created, the "On-Demand Songs" chart.

So just how much more data does this add to the charts? According to Billboard, "Through the first 70 days of 2012, Nielsen BDS has captured more than 4.5. billion audio streams."

Billboard are also still working on incorporating even more data into the charts, including music video plays on YouTube. You can read more here.