Equivalent weighting: Measuring music consumption

Equivalent weighting: Measuring music consumption

CONNECT tracks music consumption activity: all the ways people listen to recorded music, from streams to purchases to radio airplay. But these activity types are unequal measures of listener engagement and economic value. So we use equivalent weighting to convert them into comparable units of consumption. 


CONNECT applies different weighting formulas to Streams, Product Sales and Song Sales to calculate Album Equivalent, Stream Equivalent and Song Equivalent units. 


Read on to learn more about equivalents and how we apply them within CONNECT. (If you’re looking for specific Billboard chart criteria or formulas, see Chart Eligibility). 





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Content types and filtering

Our equivalents measure on-demand, official content. That means that before applying our formulas, we filter out programmed streams, interactive streams and UGC. 


Ad-supported and premium audio streams are usually weighted differently. On-demand audio and video streams may or may not be, depending on equivalent type. 





Album Equivalent 

Album Equivalent activity is a measure of combined weighted streaming, digital, and physical sales figures converted to one (1) album unit. 


An Album Equivalent measurement combines weighted streams and song sales with traditional album sales. We track Album Equivalent activity in countries for which we have product sales data (U.S. and Canada). 


Charts based on Album Equivalent units include the U.S. Billboard 200 and the Billboard 200 genre charts, all of which use the same ratios.



Weighted Streams

1,250 premium streams = 1 album

3,750 ad-supported streams = 1 album

3,750 video streams (premium or ad-supported) = 1 album


Weighted Song Sales

10 digital song sales = 1 album


Album sales

1 purchased album = 1 album



Weighted Streams + Weighted Song Sales + Album sales = Album Equivalent units




Stream Equivalent

Stream Equivalent activity is a measure of combined weighted ad-supported streams, premium streams and digital song sales converted to one (1) premium stream unit. 


Unlike Album and Song Equivalents, Stream Equivalents treat streaming activity as the base unit of measurement. 


We use Stream Equivalents to measure activity worldwide and in countries that do not provide product sales data. The Billboard Global 200, Billboard Global Excl. U.S, country-level Hits of the World and Luminate Global Hits* charts are based on Stream Equivalent rankings.


Stream Equivalent ratios assign audio and video streaming content the same weight.



Weighted Streams*

4.5 ad-supported streams = 1 premium stream

1 premium stream = 1 premium stream


Weighted Song Sales** 

1/200 song sales = 1 premium stream



Premium Streams + Weighted Ad-Supported Streams + Weighted Song Sales 

= Stream Equivalent units



*These Stream Equivalent ratios are used to calculate the Global 200 (including U.S.) chart

 as well as the Stream Equivalent KPIs shown on Worldwide Dashboards and Analysis tabs. 

This formula does not apply to every country and chart. We adjust Stream Equivalent ratios 

at the country level and for some charts to account for differences in global consumption.


**Premium stream is the base unit. 200 premium streams = 1 song sale.






Song Equivalent 

Song Equivalent activity is a measure of combined weighted streaming and song sales figures converted to one (1) song unit. 


Weighted Streams

125 premium audio or video streams = 1 song sale

375 ad-supported audio or video streams = 1 song sale


Song Sales

1 digital song purchase = 1 song sale

1 physical single purchase = 1 song sale

Airplay

800 spins = 1 song sale



Weighted Streams + Song Sales + Airplay = Song Equivalent units






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