Billboard is augmenting its ranking of digital music sales for its Hot 100 chart formula by including weekly streamed and on-demand music data from Yahoo and AOL Music. The magazine began factoring in the sale of digital tracks in February 2005, as measured by sister company Nielsen SoundScan from a comprehensive panel of online merchants. As part of its expansion to include more streaming music, Billboard is currently negotiating with other online music sources, including digital music service Rhapsody. Under the new Billboard Hot 100 formula, radio play will average about 55 percent of the chart’s total points, digital for about 40 percent, and streaming media for 5 percent. While streaming media is relatively small, it’s still well ahead of sales of physical singles, which will account for less than 1 percent of the chart’s new formula. Release

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