Streaming Guide
Why is Streaming Important?
Streaming has become a prominent platform for companies to gauge their artist's popularity, have their music reach listeners all over the world, and create more exposure for them. Not only does streaming contribute to BTS’s music charting, it helps key industry players understand the demand for their music.
In the US music industry, streaming accounted for 84% of total revenues for the first half of 2021.
(Source: 1)
QUICK GUIDE TO STREAMING?
Below is a quick guide to streaming BTS’s music. Follow these tips to help the group with charting.
Where can I stream BTS’s albums or songs?
Check out BTS’ pages on these platforms:
You can also check our Discography pages to find streaming links for specific albums/songs.
How do I make my streams count?
➡️ The key is to act like a human, not a robot!
Step 1: Log onto any one of your streaming accounts.
Step 2: Search for BTS’s artist page or a title song-focused playlist.
Step 3: Play or shuffle the playlist.
Step 4: Interact with the streaming platform now and again (i.e., liking a song, skipping a song, or changing the playlist)
➡️ IMPORTANT!
DO NOT LOOP!
We know BTS’s music is amazing, but looping the same song/playlist will not help make the streams count!
If creating your own playlist, put 3-4 different songs in between the same song.
DO NOT USE VPN!
Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is considered cheating and the streaming platform's algorithm can detect it to remove the stream count!
➡️ HOW MANY STREAMS EQUAL ONE UNIT/ALBUM SALE?
1. RIAA Certification
・150 streams = 1 track sale
・1,500 streams = 10 track sales
・10 track sales = 1 album unit
・Therefore, 1,500 streams = 1 unit/album sale
2. Billboard Charts
・1,250 streams on a premium account = 1 unit/album sale
・3,750 streams on a free account = 1 unit/album sale
Streaming Platforms
➡️ WHERE TO STREAM BTS MUSIC
Amazon Music | Apple Music | Audiomack | Deezer | Qobuz | SoundCloud | Spotify | Stationhead | Tidal | YouTube Music
Visit our Discography section for streaming links to your favorite BTS albums and songs.
➡️ STREAMING PLATFORM INFORMATION
A stream is any play greater than 30 seconds.
Albums/songs purchased from the Amazon Digital Music Store count as purchases, not streams. To make your streams count, delete any purchased album/song from your library before streaming OR make sure to stream the track from Amazon Music, not from your purchases.
Streams are counted when a user initiates song playback in Apple Music for over 30 seconds.
Albums/songs purchased from the iTunes Store count as purchases, not streams. To make your streams count, delete any purchased album/song from your music library before streaming. (Source: 1, 2)
Average Daily Listeners are the average number of daily unique listeners in the time frame selected. Remember to share the music/links to gain more unique listeners! (Source: 1)
Starting February 2021, Billboard began including Audiomack’s US streaming data into their charts. (Source: 1, 2)
Streams are counted when a song is streamed for over 30 seconds.
Deezer
As of June 2023, Deezer became a data partner of Luminate. More specific information about implications for Billboard is not available at this time. (Source: 1)
Starting March 2021, Billboard began including Qobuz US streaming data into their charts. (Source: 1)
SoundCloud’s on-demand streams are counted.
On-demand streams = SoundCloud Go subscription and “ad-supported streams of official, identified tracks for monetization in the ad-supported tier.” (Source: 1)
A play is counted once the play button is clicked. If a listener is not logged into their SoundCloud account, “their plays will be updated within 24 hours.” (Source: 1)
Streams are counted when a song is streamed for over 30 seconds. The artist must be credited as a main artist or remixer.
Streams for offline music are counted when the listener goes online again (which must happen at least once every 30 days).
Streams for an album or EP release are counted by adding up the individual counts for each song. (If a song appears on both an EP and an album, stream counts for the song will count toward both.)
Note: Spotify’s charts track differently from Billboard Charts.
Streams count toward charts. Note: All Stationhead users need to link a premium Spotify or Apple Music account in order to listen and have it added to streaming totals for those services (free versions won’t work).
Every play counts as a stream.
For every listener you have, you generate a stream (ie. 100 listeners = 100 streams for that track).
Listeners can download the Stationhead app in the App Store or Google Play Store, or they can listen via Chrome browser by pasting the streamer's share link.
To start a streaming party, the streamer must use an iOS device to go live (Android and Web version is currently only available for listeners).
YouTube Music Insights is calculated by combining all official versions of a song, including:
Official music videos
User-made videos with the official song
Lyric videos
Views on downloaded videos in YouTube Music will be recorded and incorporated just like online views the next time a user signs back in online. (Source: 1)
For additional details, see MV STREAMING: HOW TO STREAM BTS MUSIC VIDEOS.
➡️ PREMIUM ACCOUNTS AND FREE TRIALS
For Billboard charts, streams from premium accounts are given more weight than streams from free/ad-supported accounts. Therefore, you might consider signing up for a premium account.
AMAZON MUSIC
Unlimited access to 70 million songs
3-month free trial (first timers only)
After free trial $9.99/month ($7.99 for Prime members)
Recurring billing and you may cancel anytime
APPLE MUSIC
Stream over 75 million songs ad-free
3 month free trial (first timers only)
After free trial $9.99/month
Recurring billing and you may cancel anytime
DEEZER
73 million tracks, ad-free
3-month free trial (first timers only)
After free trial $9.99/month
Recurring billing and you may cancel anytime
QOBUZ
Over 240,000 albums in Hi-Res audio quality and over 70 million tracks in lossless CD quality
1-month free trial (first timers only)
After free trial, plans start at $12.49/month
Free trial and monthly plans can be canceled at any time, annual plans cannot be refunded.
SOUNDCLOUD
Access full catalog, ad-free
30-day free trial (first timers only)
After free trial $9.99/month
Recurring billing and you may cancel at any time
SPOTIFY
Play millions of songs ad-free, on-demand, and offline.
1-month free trial (first timers only)
After free trial $9.99/month
Recurring billing and you may cancel any time
TIDAL
70+ million songs, ad-free
30-day free trial (first timers only)
After free trial $9.99/month
Recurring billing and you may cancel any time
YOUTUBE MUSIC
YouTube and YouTube Music ad-free, offline, and in the background
1-month free trial (first timers only)
After free trial $11.99/month
Recurring billing and you may cancel any time
Samsung Galaxy offer
Mobile devices purchased and activated by March 1, 2024 are eligible for a 4-month trial offer. Eligible devices include: Samsung Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra, Z Fold4, Z Flip4, Galaxy Tab S8, Tab S8+, Tab S8 Ultra.
Link: Samsung
Music Video (MV) Streaming
➡️ Why is music video streaming important?
Streaming music videos (MVs) contributes to BTS’s music charting, creates exposure and helps their music reach listeners all over the world, and helps key industry players understand the demand for BTS’s music.
➡️ How does Billboard count music video streams?
For Billboard charts:
1,250 streams on a premium account = 1 unit/album sale
3,750 streams on a free account = 1 unit/album sale
Billboard counts officially licensed video content plays from YouTube, Facebook, Apple, Spotify, Tidal, and Vevo.
Facebook
Do music video streams on Facebook count for Billboard charts?
As of March 27, 2021, Billboard counts ad-supported, on-demand streams from officially licensed music videos on Facebook. These are factored into charts that incorporate streaming data, such as Hot 100, Billboard 200, Artist 100, Billboard Global 200, and more.
Note that Billboard only counts US-based plays.
IMPORTANT: In order to ensure you’re watching an officially licensed music video, make sure it’s uploaded onto the official Facebook pages for BTS, BIGHIT MUSIC, or HYBE. (Source: 1)
YouTube
Do music video streams on YouTube count for Billboard charts?
Since February 2013, YouTube streams have been factored into the Billboard Hot 100 and other song-specific charts. As of January 3, 2020, video and audio data from YouTube has been factored into the Billboard 200 charts.
Note that Billboard only counts US-based plays.
IMPORTANT: In order to ensure you’re watching an officially licensed music video, make sure the video is on the official HYBE LABELS YouTube channel. (Note that MVs released before the “FIRE” era may have higher views on the 1theK YouTube channel.)
(Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4)
➡️ How does YouTube count the first 24-hour views?
On September 13, 2019, YouTube clarified that "videos eligible for YouTube’s 24-hour record debuts are those with the highest views from organic sources within the first 24 hours of the video’s public release." YouTube also makes sure that videos are viewed by actual humans and not computer programs.
Eligible videos include "direct links to the video, search results, external sites that embed the video and YouTube features like the homepage, watch next and Trending."
This means that videos embedded on sites outside of YouTube count, such as the Weverse app, our website, and any other sites where BTS's MVs are embedded!
Please note that embedded videos on autoplay mode will not be counted as a view because the user did not manually click.
Therefore, please don't use a playlist to watch the music video. In order for the view to count, you will need to manually search for it and intentionally choose to watch the video.
Also note that videos in playlists count as one view, regardless of the number of times you watch it.
YouTube also announced that "paid advertising views on YouTube will no longer be considered when looking at a 24-hour record debut." The changes will not impact YouTube’s existing 24-hour record debut holders.
(Sources: 1, 2)
➡️ How do I make my YouTube streams count?
The key is to act like a human, not a robot!
Step 1: Log onto your YouTube account.
If you have a premium YouTube account, please use it! It is easier for premium accounts to obtain 1 album/unit sale.
Even if you don't have a premium account, it's okay. Just keep on streaming and doing your best!
Step 2: Search for the BTS MV you are looking for.
Manually search for the video. Don’t use a playlist, especially during the first 24 hours.
Make sure the MV is on the official HYBE LABELS YouTube channel.
(Note that MVs released before the “FIRE” era may have higher views on the 1theK YouTube channel.)
Step 3: Play the music video in its entirety and do not repeat.
When the video ends, watch a different video.
Playing the same music video on repeat will not help.
IMPORTANT: According to YouTube's Help Center, "Metrics are algorithmically confirmed … To verify that metrics are accurate, YouTube may temporarily slow down, freeze, or change your metric count, and discard low-quality playbacks."
Stream on only one device at a time, one browser at a time. Using multiple devices to watch the same video across multiple windows and tabs are considered low-quality playbacks.
Please DO NOT USE VPN! Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is considered cheating and YouTube’s algorithm can detect it and delete views.