Album-equivalent unit

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US album equivalent unit.png
The default values ​​of the album-equivalent unit in the United States according to the RIAA (through 2018).
UK albums chart formula.png
Calculation method of the AEU in the UK .

The album-equivalent unit is a key figure in the music industry that has been used to calculate the best-selling albums since the mid-2010s. In addition to traditional CD sales, this also takes into account downloads and streaming . The album-equivalent unit was introduced in response to the steadily declining traditional CD sales. Between 1999 and 2009 these have more than halved, falling from $ 14.6 billion to $ 6.3 billion.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry , or IFPI for short , has been using this key figure since 2013 to determine the Global Recording Artists of the Year .

application

United States

On November 19, 2014, the US music magazine Billboard announced that in the future , when compiling the single and album charts, downloads and streamings will also be taken into account in addition to traditional CD sales in order to counteract the decline in CD sales. Initially, ten music downloads or 1500 streams corresponded to a sold album in the traditional format. All major streaming providers such as Spotify , Xbox Music , Beats Music and Google Play were included in the calculation at the beginning, whereas providers such as Pandora or iHeart Radio were not taken into account. Since 2016, music streaming has been included in the calculation of sales awards such as gold or platinum . The Billboard Magazine continues to publish an album ranking list under the title Top Album Sales , which works according to the old calculation system and only evaluates the traditional CD sales.

The first album, which landed at number one in the US album charts using the new calculation method , was in 1989 by the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift . The album sold 339,000 album-equivalent units, 281,000 of which came from traditional album sales. The 53rd edition of the music compilation series Now That's What I Call Music was the first album ever to be listed at number 1 on the US album charts in February 2015, although it sold far more in CD sales than Taylor Swift's 1989 .

In July 2018, Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan adjusted the survey values in order to compare the streams via paid providers with the free advertising-financed offers. Since then, 1,250 streams from paid providers and 3,750 streams from advertising-financed and free offers such as YouTube or the free version of Spotify correspond to a unit sold in the traditional sense.

United Kingdom

The Official Charts Company (OCC) has taken music streaming into account when collecting the British album charts since March 2015 . This step was justified with the massive increase in music streaming in the UK . The number of music streams almost doubled between 2013 and 2014; from 7.5 billion streams to just under 15 billion.

In the new calculation, the twelve most-streamed pieces of an album are rated, whereby the two most-streamed songs are less important, so that the survey better reflects the popularity of the entire album than just isolated singles. The resulting sum is divided by 1000 and added to the number of records sold. In the Lonely Hour by British musician Sam Smith was the first album to enter the UK at number one under the new regulation. The album reached 41,000 album-equal units, of which 2,900 were streaming and the remainder was through CD sales. Unlike the United States, in the United Kingdom 1,500 streams of a song equals one album sold.

In late 2017, the BPI reported that music streaming represented more than half of UK music consumption.

Germany

In Germany , music streaming and music downloads have been taken into account in the assessment of musical sales since February 2016, although the German music charts are determined based on the artists' weekly revenues . For this reason, only streams from fee-based providers are included in the calculation. A song must be played for at least 30 seconds in order to be included in the rating. At least six songs on an album must be streamed so that the album is included in the calculation of the charts, with a maximum of twelve tracks being counted. As in the UK, the two most popular songs in a work are not counted. Instead, the average of all the songs streamed on an album counts.

In other countries

In Sweden and Norway , individual songs cannot earn more than 70 percent of that when streaming, so they are not counted as albums. As a result, however, it is possible that the streaming of two songs is sufficient to include a work in the calculations of the respective album charts.

criticism

Hugh McIntyre criticized in Forbes magazine that the introduction of the album-equivalent unit had prompted artists to publish albums with degenerate playlists, which made it possible to manipulate the music charts. Brian Josephs wrote on Spin :

“If you're a thirsty (eager for fame or notoriety) pop artist of note, you can theoretically game the system by packing as many as 20 tracks into an album, in the process rolling up more album-equivalent units — and thus album 'sales' — as listeners check the album out. ”

- Brian Josephs in Spin magazine

“If you're a thirsty (hungry for fame or notoriety) pop artist, you can manipulate the system by putting at least 20 tracks on an album and in the process of getting more album-equivalent units and thus higher sales - while the listeners check out the album. "

- free translation

In this context, Josephs criticized the R&B musician Chris Brown , who put forty songs on his 2017 album Heartbreak on a Full Moon .

The rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie released his album Hoodie SZN at the beginning of 2019 , which only sold 823 times in the download version. In contrast, there were 83 million streaming views, making the album number one in the album charts. As a result, the pure album sales were the equivalent of only 1.7 percent, which was a new low for a number one album on the Billboard 200 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Billboard 200 Makeover: Album Chart to Incorporate Streams & Track Sales. Billboard , November 19, 2014, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Why album sales are down. speeli.com, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  3. ^ David Goldmann: Music's lost decade: Sales cut in half. CNN Money , February 3, 2010, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Global Artists Charts. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry , accessed September 9, 2019 .
  5. ^ A b Hugh McIntyre: Now That Streaming Can Make An Album Platinum, What Counts And What Doesn't? Forbes , February 13, 2016, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Keith Caulfield: Taylor Swift's '1989' Returns to No. 1 on Revamped Billboard 200.Billboard , March 12, 2014, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Chris Molanphy: Why Is Taylor Swift Still # 1? Interpreting the Revamped Billboard 200 Album Chart. Pitchfork.com , December 10, 2014, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Ryan Book: Now 53 Outsells Taylor Swift, Becomes First Record to Top Albums Chart but Not Billboard 200; Kid Ink Cracks Top 10th Music Times , February 12, 2015, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Ben Sisario: The Music Industry's Math Changes, but the Outcome Doesn't: Drake Is No. 1. The New York Times , July 9, 2018, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  10. ↑ a b Paul Sexton: Sam Smith's 'In the Lonely Hour' Tops Historic UK Albums Chart. Billboard, March 2, 2015, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Anita Singh: UK album charts to include streaming: now do the maths. The Daily Telegraph , February 12, 2015, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Rob Copsey: UK's Official Albums Chart to include streaming data for first time. Official Charts Company , February 11, 2015, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  13. ↑ a b Tim Ingham: STREAMING IN UK'S ALBUMS CHART: HOW WILL IT WORK? Music Business Worldwide , February 12, 2015, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Rob Copsey: Drake's Official Top 40 most streamed songs. Official Charts Company, January 30, 2018, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Andreas Potzel: German album charts integrate premium streaming. Musikmarkt , February 1, 2016, archived from the original on February 1, 2016 ; accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Volker Briegleb: German album charts now also with streaming numbers. Verlag Heinz Heise , February 1, 2016, accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  17. ^ Hugh McIntyre: How Longer Albums And Streaming Giants Are Manipulating The Charts. Forbes, August 18, 2017, archived from the original on July 5, 2018 ; accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  18. ↑ a b Brian Josephs: Why Does Chris Brown's New Album Have 40 Songs? Spin , May 2, 2017, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Daniel AJ Sokolov: US hit parade: With 823 albums sold, it reached number 1. Verlag Heinz Heise, January 15, 2019, accessed on September 9, 2019 .