Licensed and monetized streams happening on SoundCloud will now be counted in the UK and Ireland’s Official Albums and Singles Charts.
Data from the streaming service will be added to sales numbers calculated by the Official Charts Company for the charts published on Friday (September 21).
SoundCloud plays follow YouTube views as a recent addition to the sales numbers — the UK’s Official Singles Chart started counting video consumption from July.
At the same time, streams played on ad-funded tiers were significantly down-weighted.
One hundred streams happening on a subscription tier equates to one single sale, while 600 streams happening on free ad-funded tiers also counts for one sale.
The Albums Chart rules, which don’t currently include video, remained the same — the total of the streams for the 12 most popular tracks from the standard version of an album, on both premium and freemium tiers, are added together, divided by 1000 and added to the album’s physical and digital sales.
The OCC down-weights the top two songs in line with the average of the rest.
“Charts are a great measure of success for creators, and we’re excited their SoundCloud streams will now count toward the UK and Ireland’s Official Charts.”
raoul chatterjee, soundcloud
Raoul Chatterjee, Director, Content Partnerships at SoundCloud said: “SoundCloud is the foundational music platform for creators and we are committed to empowering them with the best tools and services to grow their careers.
“Charts are a great measure of success for creators, and we’re excited their SoundCloud streams will now count toward the UK and Ireland’s Official Charts.”
SoundCloud streams will be included in The Official Singles Chart, The Official Albums chart, and The Official Independent Singles Chart for both the UK and Ireland, in addition to a number of genre charts including Classical, Dance, R&B, Rock & Metal.
The charts are compiled by the Official Charts Company on behalf of the British music industry and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA).
Music Business Worldwide
