“On Demand” Chart Arrives, Added To Billboard Hot 100 Formula

Billboard, Nielsen and NARM’s digitalmusic.org announced the creation of the first-ever subscription services “On-Demand Songs” chart, the data from which will also be included in the Billboard Hot 100. On-demand streaming data is now factored into the chart’s ranking, a formula that also incorporates digital download and physical single sales, as well as radio airplay.

In coordination with digitalmusic.org’s Subscription Music Work Group and powered by Nielsen BDS, the On-Demand chart measures every on-demand play request from MOG, Muve Music, Rdio, Rhapsody, Slacker and Spotify. Data from Zune and Sony Music Unlimited is expected to be added in the future. Nielsen began tracking streaming in 2005, and recorded over 4.5 billion streams in the first 70 days of 2012.

“Billboard always recognizes trends in the way fans experience music. 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,” said Bill Werde, Billboard’s editorial director.

“The last year has seen an explosion of both subscribers and traffic to music subscription services, and the business is now contributing meaningfully to the music industry’s growing digital music revenues. This chart marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the music subscription business,” said Bill Wilson, VP of Business Development and Digital Strategy, NARM/digitalmusic.org. “The new Billboard chart is the definitive endorsement of the importance of the music subscription market and, as Nielsen continues to track tremendous growth, its influence can only become more important in the future.”

The Hot 100 formula will now account for data from the On-Demand songs chart, as well as non-demand radio streams from Rhapsody and Slacker, video requests on Akoo, and audio on-demand from MySpace and Guvera. Yahoo! radio streams and on-demand videos will continue to contribute to chart rankings.

The first No. 1 on the On-Demand Songs chart goes to fun. and its hit “We Are Young,” featuring Janelle Monae, which had a total of 1.1 million streams. The track also lands atop the updated Billboard Hot 100 for a second consecutive week.

The updated Hot 100 and On-Demand Songs charts will be available on Billboard.com and Billboard.biz tomorrow (March 15), and featured in the March 24 print edition of Billboard, which hits newsstands March 16.