Valence Media, the parent company of Billboard, agreed to buy the music industry data and analytics business of Nielsen Holdings, per Bloomberg.
Why it matters: This would reunite the music industry's top publisher of sales charts with the company that supplies its data. It also could let Billboard expand its data offerings, including possible subscription products.
Bottom line: "Billboard began publishing charts based on Nielsen’s data in 1991. The company had previously tracked sales by calling record stores across the country, a laborious and slow process. Nielsen, in contrast, captured sales by scanning the bar codes at retail checkout counters. Nielsen began monitoring digital downloads... in 2003 and has since adjusted the charts to factor in streaming." — Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg
