@billboard #social50
While technological advancements have helped the efficiency of most industries it has totally decimated the music business.  Since free download torrents like Napster first burst on the scene the music industry has been in frantic mode trying to play catch up.  For far too long the label executives have failed to find a way monetize the internet and now social networks.  However, this week Billboard Magazine debuted a brand new chart this week, called the Social 50, a recognition of the importance tech plays in music and at least an attempt to embrace the way people consume music now adays.

The Social 50 is a weekly chart ranking artists based on their popularity on social networking sites. Rihanna makes history as the first artist to appear atop this new chart with Justin Bieber, Eminem, Lady Gaga, and Nicki Minaj following closely behind.  The rankings are based on a scientific formula taking several factors into account including # of fans on the artist’s social networking pages, friends/fans behavior, page views, song plays and a ratio of page views-to-fans/friends on YouTube and MySpace to determine popularity.

“The Social 50 provides a weekly snapshot of the artists that music fans engage with the most in the social arena, which in today’s world is a significant validation of their investment in an act,” said Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard Chart Director. “The chart is a logical complement to Billboard’s other popularity rankings.”

“The Social 50 is yet another step in the evolution of Billboard and an important response to our changing times,” adds Billboard Editorial Director, Bill Werde.

Most of the data collected is from Next Big Sound, a service which tracks music activity on social networks. The new chart will be available every Thursday.

While I’m not a music chart junkie in the least bit this is a huge referendum and almost admission of defeat on behalf of the music industry.  5 years ago it was these same labels that were committing resources to prevent such spread of music on the internet.  Now that the industry watchdog, Billboard has embraced such platforms with the creation of a dedicated chart really shows that the music industry might actually need to focus on ‘popularity’ rather than actual sales to determine success of an artists.  While that likely won’t change the quality of music that labels push it does however give more credence to the brand loyal consumer rather than the casual, radio influenced fan.  While underground music won’t likely become more mainstream we’ll see some of the more popular artists without label backing rise to the top.