ROLLING STONE'S YOUTUBE PROBLEM

Rolling Stone’s new chart hiccup continues, as Team Penske attempts to redefine the calculus of the Hot 100 and Top 200 Album charts. In addition to the serious roadblocks to acquiring the rights from certain DSPs, there was another problem; it revolved around the plan to have YouTube play a much more dominant role in those chart calculations.

YouTube continues to look for a way to jack the algo and yield massive power over rights holders as negotiations continue over those astonishingly low rates it’s been paying. Penske’s new project is about to encounter yet another setback, as BuzzAngle founder Jim Lidestri is taking his check for selling the company and getting the hell out. Minus Lidestri, there are big questions. Who’ll be the top player dealing with the data that’s so precious to the major music companies?

YouTube’s Lyor Cohen is desperately seeking influence over the nation’s music charts after getting shut down by Apple Music’s Jimmy Iovine, for the umpteenth time, when it was decided that YouTube’s ad-supported streams would be given far less weight than paid streams. Cohen is said to have obtained a guarantee of a higher valuation for the Tube’s streams from RS, thanks to his relationship with Jann Wenner. Bottom line: This looks like a much bigger mess than it did when the initial chart launch fizzled out a week ago.