Drake Reacts to YouTube’s Planned Billboard Return

Drake criticized the music industry in an Instagram post after YouTube announced it would return to Billboard’s charts in 2027 under revised streaming rules. The rapper wrote “Wtf this game so cooked” on November 11 while sharing a screenshot about the change, but did not say what specifically prompted his reaction.

YouTube stopped supplying streaming data to Billboard in January 2026, after objecting to the chart system’s greater weight for paid subscription plays than for free, ad-supported listening. YouTube said the weighting undervalued listeners who use its ad-supported service. The company’s global head of music, Lyor Cohen, announced the planned return on November 9, saying the revised methodology better reflects how fans listen across subscription and ad-supported services.

The change will affect the Billboard 200 and related album charts. Under the current formula, 2,500 qualifying ad-supported streams from an album count as one album consumption unit; beginning with charts dated January 16, 2027, 1,500 will count as one unit. Paid subscription audio and video plays will continue to count at 1,000 per unit.

That means an album with three million qualifying ad-supported...