YouTube now ranks the world’s hottest tracks in its ‘music charts’

YouTube might be a video streaming service first and foremost, but it’s also the world’s most popular music distribution tool. So with that in mind, the company today announced new YouTube charts specifically to showcase popular music.

“At YouTube, we understand the importance of showcasing and celebrating the hottest artists, songs and music videos from around the world,” the company wrote in a release.

“The new charts are based purely on the number of views and are a reflection of the success achieved by artists on the world’s most expansive music platform.”

The company claims that the charts will be the “new go-to destination to see what’s popular, what’s rising and trending both locally and globally” on the platform and the internet as a whole.

Charts include “Trending” which is updated throughout the day.

“The Trending chart is YouTube’s first dedicated external signal of the most viewed new music on the platform, providing an instant snapshot of what users are reacting to,” it added.

Top Songs, Top Artists, and Top Music Videos will also receive a chart. These three are updated weekly on Sundays at midday Pacific Standard Time (or 9pm South African time).

Why is YouTube dipping its toes into music, you may ask. For a while, rumours have been abound that Google would be lumping its Play Music offering into YouTube, offering a new service dubbed YouTube Remix. A music chart in seemingly makes bridging that gap a little easier, and warms users to that particular idea.

It’s also a neat way to showcase artists, possibly allowing a new revenue stream by partnering with labels and artists in the future.

Either way, for us, it means even more data to play around with from YouTube, a platform that already sees more than 1.8-billion visitors a month.

The charts will be available in 44 countries at launch, including South Africa.

Feature image: Memeburn