Billboard 200's new chart maths: 1,500 streaming songs equals one album

Billboard says its transforming its Billboard 200 chart from a sales-based ranking to one that better measures music consumption. This move comes after music acts like Swift and Jason Aldean pulled their tunes from Spotify. - AFP

Streaming music is the inescapable future and Billboard has embraced it with their new chart calculations.

What's being described as the most significant change in more than two decades to the way Billboard calculates its album chart positions kicked in last week. For the first time, digital streams are to be factored in with the retail sales on which the chart has always been based.