Open Letter: Irving Azoff Gives Kudos To Billboard Charts For Standing Up To YouTube

An open letter from from music mogul Irving Azoff, Chairman and CEO of the Azoff Company, shared with Pollstar and posted in full below, touches on recent developments related to Billboard’s handling of paid vs. unpaid streams on its charts.

Azoff, the personal manager of the legendary Eagles, who he has managed since 1974, Jon Bon Jovi, U2, John Mayer, Van Halen, Gwen Stefani, Steely Dan, Maroon 5, and many others, calls Billboard’s handling of the weight between paid and unpaid streams a victory for artists and encourages more to stand up to the tech giants.

Azoff is a co-founder of Oak View Group, which is parent company to Pollstar.

February 20, 2026

Irving Azoff open letter re Billboard/YouTube

When you least expect it, expect it! That’s what I love about our business: someone always surprises you. I have been waiting to see who’s willing to stand up to the bully that is YouTube, and kudos to Billboard for doing just that.

A few months ago, I wrote a Billboard Guest Column detailing how YouTube is using its market power to coerce everyone for its own financial gain. When faced with the strength and tyrannical tactics of YouTube, many companies can’t fight back. Imagine my surprise and delight when Billboard actually took a stand against YouTube and did not give in to their unreasonable demands! 

Last December, YouTube threw a tantrum and threatened that if Billboard did not count free and paid streams equally for chart purposes, YouTube would pull all its data from the Billboard charts. Guess what???  Billboard refused to give in and did not let YouTube dictate the rules and control the Billboard charts. 

I applaud Billboard for being willing to stand up!  YouTube pays music creators – artists and songwriters – less than any other comparable digital service and should not have influence over the Billboard charts. When YouTube starts paying artists and songwriters on par with other music services, then its streams can be counted the same as Apple, Spotify, etc. Until then, we should all be happy to let YouTube take its toys and go home. 

Since 2018, Billboard has correctly counted paid streams more heavily than free streams when determining chart position. It makes sense, because Billboard’s charts are supposed to be a measure of commercial success. Despite this, it appears that Billboard had agreed to place more weight on YouTube’s free streams to try to convince them to stay; that makes no sense to me, but my guess is that Billboard was most likely trying to appease GoogleGoliath. Apparently, that concession wasn’t enough to satisfy YouTube. YouTube continued to demand that Billboard make no distinction between free and paid streams on the charts. This “our way or the highway” behavior is what we’ve seen from YouTube time and time again.

Why does YouTube care about the Billboard charts? It seems like this is another attempt by YouTube to increase its leverage over artists, songwriters, and rightsholders. If YouTube controls the charts, my guess is they think it will make them even more powerful. And then, guess what? In the next round of negotiations with labels and publishers, YouTube will continue to use its power to try to lower rates they pay again. YouTube already pays less than the other streaming platforms, and it could get even worse for all of us.

We should all support Billboard in standing up for artists and songwriters by not giving in to YouTube’s clear attempt to control the charts. And when YouTube pulls these shenanigans again, the industry needs to stand up and not allow YouTube to deepen its power over artists. If YouTube chooses not to participate in Billboard’s charts unless it sets the rules in its favor, that’s fine by me. Until YouTube starts paying artists and songwriters more, I say good riddance – we’re all better off without them.