Jeezy tops Billboard in close battle

THREE new albums vied for No 1 on the latest Billboard chart, and the contest this week shows how complex the charts have become as the music industry juggles the multiple ways people consume music.

For the last two years, Billboard’s chart positions have been determined through a combination of three factors, from data supplied by Nielsen: how many a title sells as a full album; how many times individual tracks from the record have been downloaded; and how many times the tracks have been streamed.

This week’s result is peculiar because of the top three albums – Jeezy’s Kenny Chesney’s and Meek Mill’s – no title had a clear advantage. for example, did not beat its competitors in any consumption metric; Chesney sold more albums overall, and Meek Mill had better streaming numbers. But when put together, Jeezy squeaked ahead to claim No 1, with the equivalent of just over 89,000 sales.

The result matters both because of the bragging rights that come with a No 1 album and because the music business is continuing to figure out how to adjust to changing consumption habits. A few years ago, streaming was a small part of the industry’s revenue pie and downloads held strong. Now, download and CD sales are falling; streaming contributes 47 percent of industry revenue in the US; and record labels are doing everything they can to hold onto valuable customers in, of all things, vinyl record sales.