5. Big Labels Will Try To Game The System

It seems like a given that corporate labels and marketers will attempt to game the system and manufacture “viral” hits. That’s not impossible, but it’s an uphill battle for sure, especially if this trick is attached to a known artist. Part of what drives viral pop is a sense, at least early on, that everyone who is getting involved is in on a secret, and that they’re taking part in a wave of authentic creativity. “Harlem Shake” is notable in that it’s not about a single video, but thousands of them. Since the new Billboard Hot 100 formula includes user-generated clips that utilize authorized audio, everyone who has made their own “Harlem Shake” video has some stake in the track hitting No. 1 – it’s the first song to ever reach the top of the chart in aggregate.

6. The New System May Be Biased Against Poor And Minority Audiences

Billboard‘s embrace of digital sales, on-demand services, and YouTube views over the past seven years has coincided with a shift on the charts away from rap and R&B. To some extent this could just be a matter of a change in zeitgeist, but the shift in favor of pop, alternative music, and viral hits suggests that the new emphasis on digital media privileges the tastes of relatively affluent white listeners who are more likely to buy mp3s from the iTunes store or spend a lot of time online. Rap critics have been particularly sore about these changes, especially as viral artists like Baauer and Psy, who are inspired by hip-hop but do not come directly from hip-hop culture – displace traditional rap artists, even on Billboard‘s hip-hop charts. There’s a legitimate fear that black culture is being slowly marginalized in the mainstream charts, and replaced by rap and R&B-influenced music made by outsiders that is more palatable to a broad audience.

7. Viral Songs May Warp The Intention Of The Chart

Part of the appeal of having a Hot 100 in the first place is that it’s a useful way of gauging the actual popularity of music from week to week. YouTube data threatens to warp this by favoring a lot of songs that are arguably just the soundtrack to a visual meme, like “Harlem Shake,” or spread because the public at large actually hated the song and wanted to make fun of it, like with Rebecca Black’s “Friday.” Both of these songs have sold very, very well at digital retail, so it’s not as if people did not have an actual interest in the music, but the dynamic of this is a lot more complicated than, say, someone just earnestly loving a Rihanna song that gets played on the radio all the time. But then again, the public value of the chart and the actual utility of it are somewhat different things – Billboard is, after all, a trade publication and YouTube revenue has become a crucial aspect of the music business. They need to include this data in order to present an accurate picture of the most successful songs of the moment.

Article Appeared @ http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/how-billboards-new-youtube-rules-will-completely-change-the