25 Feb Billboard To Start Counting YouTube Views: “Harlem Shake” Hits #1 Under New Rules
“Harlem Shake” was a song that had 18,000 downloads last year when it was released. 18,000 when it was a FREE download. 4,000 YouTube videos were made for the song just last week, and it had over a 100 million YouTube views, and 262,000 PAID downloads and is now number 1 on the Billboard Charts after not charting at all when it was first released.
Billboard made a ballsy move last week that was being discussed behind the scenes for almost 2 years with YouTube. The writing was on the wall when YouTube started taking away millions of hits from artists like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, stating the hit count was fabricated.
Psy had a huge hit with “Gangnam Style”..but only hit number 2 on the Billboard Charts. This move would have moved Psy into number 1 where he most likely would have ruled the charts for months. The video itself along with other people’s videos will now count towards the Billboard Charts.
Make no mistake; this move had to happen. With MTV, VH1, and BET rarely playing music videos, YouTube became the outlet to get videos out. Video play on TV used to play a huge part in the 80’s and 90’s with the video channels where the times it played could impact if the song made it into the top 10 or not.
Most of the “Harlem Shake” videos are 30-35 seconds in length and Billboard will need to incorporate if there is going to be minimum of how long a song needs to be to count towards the charts.
Although “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was the most downloaded trakc with over 400,000 download sales, it could not compete with the viralness (Yes, we are making up words) of the “Harlem Shake” this week.
This needed to be done but they are going to need to change certain things like length of the videos make. The system could easily be manipulated with several large fan communities like Bieber or Gaga asking their fans to make videos for their songs.
I applaud Billboard for making their charts relevant again and talked about all at once. They are going to also find a way to find out which songs are the most “social media active” on Twitter and others without it being paid for like back in the day.-DocFB
Diagnosis: What Do U Think Of Billboard Adding YouTube Views To The Charts?
Jester
Posted at 12:33h, 25 FebruaryI think its pretty awesome they are doing this! I don’t even remember the last time Eye saw music videos on television! In Europe I did; because there is hardly any reality television! Here in the States; it is crowded! So this is a cool move! I think it is much needed!
Jester
Posted at 12:33h, 25 FebruaryI think its pretty awesome they are doing this! I don’t even remember the last time Eye saw music videos on television! In Europe I did; because there is hardly any reality television! Here in the States; it is crowded! So this is a cool move!