YouTube Launches its Own Billboard Top 100 Music Chart

I told you YouTube was getting more serious about music discovery.

Less than two months after the launch of Music Tuesday’s on the YouTube blog – an editorial offshoot crafted by the musos at YouTube that highlights their YouTube.com/Music featured selections –  the world’s largest video sharing site today debuted the YouTube 100 Music Chart.

It’s the initial makings of a Billboard style weekly list of “song traffic across official music videos, user-uploaded videos and viral debuts, and uses this data to provide a holistic view of song popularity.” The most interesting and innovative component of the chart is who’s on it.

This week’s Top 10 includes On the Floor by Jennifer Lopez, Judas by Lady Gaga, E.T. by Katy Perry, Look at me Now by Chris Brown, and a few spots down at #9 is Friday by Rebecca Black. A few more spots down at #44 is Nice Peter, sandwiched between Rihanna and Lil Wayne. That’s homegrown YouTube talent listed alongside international pop stars with major recorddeals (plus a few acts that count as both), which makes for great opportunities for up-and-coming musicians to get more easily recognized by producers and brands looking for fresh talent. Pretty cool, right? I think so, too.

YouTube promises it will archive its charts for “future exploration of original recordings, music memes, and pop hits.” In the meantime, you can check out the Top 100 at YouTube.com/Music. And if you want a lean back music video viewing experience, click on the “Play the top 20” button to watch hit after hit.