{"id":712780,"date":"2026-02-21T02:31:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:31:49","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-02-21T02:31:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:31:49","slug":"irving-azoff-sounds-off-on-youtube-pulling-data-from-billboard-charts-good-riddance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/irving-azoff-sounds-off-on-youtube-pulling-data-from-billboard-charts-good-riddance\/","title":{"rendered":"Irving Azoff Sounds Off on YouTube Pulling Data From Billboard Charts: \u201cGood Riddance\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tMusic industry titan Irving Azoff is weighing in on YouTube<\/a> and Billboard\u2018s ongoing dispute over chart metrics, commending the music trade for keeping with its current policies while encouraging the rest of the music business to stand up to the video service and demand it pay music creators more.<\/p>\n

\n\tAzoff\u2019s letter comes several months after YouTube had announced in December that it would be yanking its data from the Billboard charts, arguing the publication doesn\u2019t put enough weight on free streams in its calculations for sales units. YouTube Music head Lyor Cohen argued that the weighting toward paid streams \u201cdoesn\u2019t reflect how fans engage with music today and ignores the massive engagement from fans who don\u2019t have a subscript<\/a>ion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYouTube pays music creators \u2014 artists and songwriters \u2014 less than any other comparable digital service and should not have influence over the Billboard charts,\u201d Azoff wrote in the letter shared on Friday. \u201cWhen YouTube starts paying artists and songwriters on par with other music services, then its streams can be counted the same as Apple, Spotify, etc. Until then, we should all be happy to let YouTube take its toys and go home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA rep for YouTube didn\u2019t immediately reply to request for comment. <\/p>\n

\n\tThis isn\u2019t the first time Azoff has called out YouTube over its payments to musicians; back in November, he penned a Billboard column where he claimed the service was \u201cbullying\u201d the music business along with other parts of Hollywood. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI just want to lay out the facts and be clear: YouTube pays the least for music, full stop. They always have and always will unless someone stands up to them,\u201d Azoff said. \u201cThey\u2019ll throw up smoke screens and tempt you to look the other way, but let\u2019s not be fooled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYouTube pulled its data from Billboard\u2019s charts effective Jan. 16. At the core of the service\u2019s dispute with Billboard is how much weight should be given to free music streams. Billboard argues that streams from paying music subscribers should account for more weight on the charts than a free stream, while YouTube says fan engagement equals out a stream\u2019s worth. Others in the industry have weighed in. Spotify head of music Charlie Hellman advocated for paid streams, arguing that those who pay for their music show \u201d greater level of fan intent\u201d and therefore should be weighted higher.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his letter, Azoff called YouTube\u2019s move to pull its data \u201canother attempt by YouTube to increase its leverage over artists, songwriters, and rightsholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe should all support Billboard in standing up for artists and songwriters by not giving in to YouTube\u2019s clear attempt to control the charts,\u201d Azoff wrote. \u201cAnd when YouTube pulls these shenanigans again, the industry needs to stand up and not allow YouTube to deepen its power over artists. If YouTube chooses not to participate in Billboard\u2019s charts unless it sets the rules in its favor, that\u2019s fine by me. Until YouTube starts paying artists and songwriters more, I say good riddance \u2014 we\u2019re all better off without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRead Azoff\u2019s full letter below.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you least expect it, expect it! That\u2019s what I love about our business: someone always surprises you. I have been waiting to see who\u2019s willing to stand up to the bully that is YouTube, and kudos to Billboard for doing just that.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tA few months ago, I wrote a Billboard Guest Column detailing how YouTube is using its market power to coerce everyone for its own financial gain. When faced with the strength and tyranical tactics of YouTube, many companies can\u2019t fight back. Imagine my surprise and delight when Billboard actually took a stand against YouTube and did not give in to their unreasonable demands!<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tLast December, YouTube threw a tantrum and threatened that if Billboard did not count free and paid streams equally for chart purposes, YouTube would pull all its data from the Billboard charts. Guess what???\u00a0 Billboard refused to give in and did not let YouTube dictate the rules and control the Billboard charts.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tI applaud Billboard for being willing to stand up!\u00a0 YouTube pays music creators \u2013 artists and songwriters \u2013 less than any other comparable digital service and should not have influence over the Billboard charts. When YouTube starts paying artists and songwriters on par with other music services, then its streams can be counted the same as Apple, Spotify, etc. Until then, we should all be happy to let YouTube take its toys and go home.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tSince 2018, Billboard has correctly counted paid streams more heavily than free streams when determining chart position.<\/a> It makes sense, because Billboard\u2019s charts are supposed to be a measure of commercial success. <\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tDespite this, it appears that Billboard had agreed to place more weight on YouTube\u2019s free streams to try to convince them to stay; that makes no sense to me, but my guess is that Billboard was most likely trying to appease GoogleGoliath.<\/a> Apparently, that concession wasn\u2019t enough to satisfy YouTube. YouTube continued to demand that Billboard make no distinction between free and paid streams on the charts. This \u201cour way or the highway\u201d behavior is what we\u2019ve seen from YouTube time and time again.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tWhy does YouTube care about the Billboard charts? It seems like this is another attempt by YouTube to increase its leverage over artists, songwriters, and rightsholders. If YouTube controls the charts, my guess is they think it will make them even more powerful. And then, guess what? In the next round of negotiations with labels and publishers, YouTube will continue to use its power to try to lower rates they pay again. YouTube already pays less than the other streaming platforms, and it could get even worse for all of us.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tWe should all support Billboard in standing up for artists and songwriters by not giving in to YouTube\u2019s clear attempt to control the charts. And when YouTube pulls these shenanigans again, the industry needs to stand up and not allow YouTube to deepen its power over artists. If YouTube chooses not to participate in Billboard\u2019s charts unless it sets the rules in its favor, that\u2019s fine by me. Until YouTube starts paying artists and songwriters more, I say good riddance \u2013 we\u2019re all better off without them.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Music industry titan Irving Azoff is weighing in on YouTube and Billboard\u2018s ongoing dispute over chart metrics, commending the music trade for keeping with its current policies while encouraging the rest of the music business to stand up to the video service and demand it pay music creators more. Azoff\u2019s letter comes several months after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-712780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712780\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}