BILLBOARD TO BUY SOUNDSCAN?

Rights holders are said to be concerned about the lack of transparency and checks and balances that could result from Billboard’s impending deal to acquire SoundScan from Nielsen. How will this move affect the myriad credibility problems swirling about the Billboard charts, notably regarding ticket and merch bundles and unverified YouTube data? If these video streams are unverifiable and therefore not factored into the album chart, why are they used for the singles chart, where they can frequently sway the result? It defies all earthly logic that they’re legit enough for one chart but not another. What other changes in methodology might be in store, and what difference will they make, if any? Stay tuned.