Streams of official music content on YouTube will now be factored into the ARIA Charts, with effect from this Friday (March 4).
YouTube data will be collected from logged-in users and contribute to all charts that involve streaming, according to the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which publishes a suite of national music sales and consumption rankings.
Previously, YouTube has provided data to assist in the preparation of our ARIA’s Streaming Audio Visual Tracks chart, notes the trade body’s CEO Annabelle Herd, but “this development brings their data into play across a much greater range of charts alongside our other streaming partners including AppleMusic and Spotify.”
The extension of that partnership, she continues, is “helping us to depict an even broader picture of Australia’s music consumption week to week.”
Streams that apply to multi-format charts are subject to an average economic weighting factor through which plays are converted into digital sales equivalents.
According to the charts compiler, these conversion factors are regularly reviewed and updates to reflect changes in the marketplace.
With YouTube on board, “it makes the charts more robust, gives, a better, more accurate picture of what Australians are listening too, and it reinforces the fact that the ARIA Chars are the charts to look for what people are listening to in this country,” Herd tells Billboard.
“The way Australian fans engage with their favorite music continues to evolve,” comments Marion Briand, YouTube Music AUNZ Music Content Partnerships Manager. “We know millions of Australians watch music videos each month on YouTube, so it is thrilling to know this data will now be included in the ARIA charts. We’re hugely proud of our work and partnership with ARIA and are excited to see where it goes next.”
ARIA has published its official industry charts since July 1983, when Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse Of The Heart was crowned the first No. 1 single, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller the first No. 1 album.
Today, the trade body publishes a suite of surveys, including the ARIA Top 50 Singles, ARIA Top 50 Albums, Australian Hip-Hop/R&B Singles, Australian Country Albums, and more. The national singles chart began integrating audio streams in November 2014, and the national albums survey followed suit in May 2017,