Billboard Announces Spotify as Exclusive Playback Partner of the Charts

The streaming service will power playback of more than 75 music tallies and also guide a weekly New Music Fridays editorial feature.

As music fans increasingly turn to streaming services to listen to new releases and discover artists, the Billboard charts are making it easier to access today's hits. On April 21, Billboard announced it has teamed with Spotify as its exclusive streaming partner for 2016, a deal that allows the streaming service to power playback of more than 75 Billboard music charts and will include a weekly New Music Fridays editorial feature and three additional Spotify-centric tallies.

Billboard and Spotify are also teaming to present three new Spotify-driven charts published weekly on Billboard.com. The Viral 50 will feature songs with the greatest volume of social and sharing activity; the 30-track Velocity Chart covers songs that are growing rapidly on Spotify; and the Spotify Rewind tally will highlight five songs for each decade from the 1960s through the 2000s, ranked by popularity and relative weekly revival. In addition, those who visit Billboard's site will be able to hear 30-second snippets of each song on every chart, with the option to stream tunes in their entirety on Spotify's service.

"As the world's largest streaming music service, it's exciting to partner with a highly influential music brand like Billboard to help expand its chart offerings," says Spotify chief strategy officer/chief content officer Stefan Blom. "We're pleased to offer passionate music fans the ability to listen to hundreds of artists on the Billboard charts alongside new content, powered exclusively by Spotify."

In addition, Billboard will feature Spotify's New Music Fridays playlist -- with each article accompanied by the Spotify play button, allowing readers to listen while they read.

"For decades, Billboard has remained the world's most influential music brand because we've never stopped innovating and giving our audience expanded access to new content," says John Amato, co-president of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group. "Our partnership with Spotify will unite both brands and launch new features to better serve today's growing digital audience."