It isn't BTS comeback season without billboard changing their rules beforehand. YouTube streams no longer count to the BB charts starting January
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interesting that it took youtube 5 yrs to get mad at billboard for putting more weight on premium streams.
Doesn't this follow Billboard's announcement that they're lowering the relative weight of paid streams vs. free ones? So, YouTube partially got what they wanted anyway, except it wasn't enough.
I think Billboard is right on this. Generally paid streams generate more income, which also the basis of purchases being counted so much higher than streams. Now, if that distinction doesn't apply to YouTube's free and paid tiers, then fair enough. BUT: Filtering bot streaming becomes significantly harder when free accounts exist.
I see all the time kpop fans saying "remember to stream on six devices", which is utterly unhinged of course, but they're unlikely to have six different paid accounts. Six free accounts and a vpn though?
Anyway this doesn't apply to Babymonster that much because they also get an enormous amount of streams on Spotify (for context, close to I-dle, Itzy and Nmixx's combined streams), it's not just YouTube where they perform well.
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If something, that change may only be benefit BTS, because it seems like Army is not using Youtube at all anymore. I think this change affect the most songs that have casual listeners, because casual listeners do not care at all if the song chart in billboard or not. They are gonna use Youtube anyway.
This is streaming comparison between Youtube and Spotify
Jimin and Jin is getting over 10x more streams in Spotify compared to Youtube while for other artist it is way more even.
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It's good.
Artists shouldn't invest too much on MVs, it's just pointless. There are better promotion tactics out there in 2025+.
I stopped caring about MVs after getting into kpop many years ago because these were super boring.
actually, from 2021 or so, armies began to care a bit less about youtube views which led BTS being defeated at home by Lee Jieun in 2022.
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Doesn't this follow Billboard's announcement that they're lowering the relative weight of paid streams vs. free ones? So, YouTube partially got what they wanted anyway, except it wasn't enough.
I think Billboard is right on this. Generally paid streams generate more income, which also the basis of purchases being counted so much higher than streams. Now, if that distinction doesn't apply to YouTube's free and paid tiers, then fair enough. BUT: Filtering bot streaming becomes significantly harder when free accounts exist.
I see all the time kpop fans saying "remember to stream on six devices", which is utterly unhinged of course, but they're unlikely to have six different paid accounts. Six free accounts and a vpn though?
Anyway this doesn't apply to Babymonster that much because they also get an enormous amount of streams on Spotify (for context, close to I-dle, Itzy and Nmixx's combined streams), it's not just YouTube where they perform well.
Payola is the issue. Spotify counts payola streams and youtube doesn't.
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Payola is the issue. Spotify counts payola streams and youtube doesn't.
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paying for a subscription = payola stream
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This is a good thing, and I get why people don't want to understand it.
And no, not because of BTS. The system they used till now was madness already. Now, imagine if they count every stream. The biggest artists, not just Kpop Idols have a large fanbase with crazy mass streaming people.
I said this so many times. If they want to make this FAIR, they should use UNIQUE LISTENERS, not normal numbers. The biggest groups have like 100M streams after a week or even less.
Now, imagine if Billboard gives freedom to Youtube and let people stream the songs 24/7. Big companies already spending millions on ads, and their fans streaming 24/7. We live in a batshit crazy obsessed streaming farm reality show.🤣
ARMYs doesn't have to be afraid, like Billboard will add Spotify and everyone can be happy. Youtube is shit anyway. Probably the worst streaming platform.
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It doesn't make sense to have a chart which doesn't consider youtube
Billboard have lost the plot
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It doesn't make sense to have a chart which doesn't consider youtube
Billboard have lost the plot
Youtube was the party that decided to pull out.
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Youtube was the party that decided to pull out.
Because Spotify didn't want to be transparent with their rules
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They are ads. Labels pay for good placement in popular playlists, also autoplay.
To give you an example. I don't listen to billie and sabrina. I made my own kpop playlist. While i was listening to it every 4th play was espresso and some feather song lol. Both songs in a row. I didn't put them there, they have nothing in common with kpop. I usually skipped them but if i was lazy I'd let them play. And both song earned one stream each even tho i didn't play them on my own will.
One kpop example. People here knows i highly dislike I Am. The song was released at the same time as agust d - d-day album. I'd finished the album and I Am would be first on autoplay. Most of the time I'd skip it but sometimes i wouldn't bother. It was so annoying that i blocked the song.
That's what payola is. That's why kpop fans comment on hybe artists and what would they be without payola, especially newjeans. Because hybe really does payola best.
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They are ads. Labels pay for good placement in popular playlists, also autoplay.
To give you an example. I don't listen to billie and sabrina. I made my own kpop playlist. While i was listening to it every 4th play was espresso and some feather song lol. Both songs in a row. I didn't put them there, they have nothing in common with kpop. I usually skipped them but if i was lazy I'd let them play. And both song earned one stream each even tho i didn't play them on my own will.
One kpop example. People here knows i highly dislike I Am. The song was released at the same time as agust d - d-day album. I'd finished the album and I Am would be first on autoplay. Most of the time I'd skip it but sometimes i wouldn't bother. It was so annoying that i blocked the song.
That's what payola is. That's why kpop fans comment on hybe artists and what would they be without payola, especially newjeans. Because hybe really does payola best.
So, those songs were playing because you went into autoplay, right?
And, like, sure, you're right in some sense, but... I dunno.
Because YouTube Music also has autoplay, right? And those songs are also counted. So then the question becomes, "well, is the placement paid?"
Really, we can't truly know. We can know for Spotify because they outright tell us, but they never used to, even though everybody knew the placements were paid.
I honestly think all streaming companies are playing a balancing game: They want to keep you on their platform, so if too many of their algorithmic suggestions are bad (and by definition, the payola ones are "bad" in the sense that they are not a statistical fit to your preference), user engagement drops. But they can still get a lot of money for placement. I think they're all thinking of this trade-off. But maybe YouTube genuinely doesn't take payola. Okay, but, my question becomes, does it make a difference?
In either scenario, you are being played a song that you did not choose to be played. It was a choice that was made for you. What matters is whether you skip it or not, which registers the same way in any platform.
So then, Spotify becomes analogous to radio, except you can't "skip" a track on radio. Radio still gets tremendous weighting on Billboard though, and by it's nature, many more of its placements will be "payola" because it doesn't present as an algorithmic, personalised feed - they are not playing the same "trade-off" game, radio listeners are captive listeners.
If you want to say autoplay shouldn't count and also radio shouldn't count, then sure, I agree with you. If you want to tell me free streams should be counted as equivalent to paid streams (which is what YouTube's grievance is actually about), nah, I'm never gonna agree with that for the reasons I previously stated (crazy fans playing songs on multiple free accounts across multiple devices).
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