Washington, DC (CelebrityAccess News Service) — XM Satellite Radio, the nation’s leading satellite radio service, announced that Nielsen Broadcasting Data Systems (BDS) will begin tracking music played on XM Satellite Radio starting next month.
Record labels depend on Nielsen BDS for information about radio airplay. As the music industry’s leading music-monitoring service, Nielsen BDS provides data that Billboard magazine uses to determine its airplay charts. XM Satellite Radio is the first and only satellite radio company to be monitored by Nielsen BDS.
Nielsen BDS will utilize its extensive computer technology to identify songs played on ten XM Satellite Radio channels 24 hours a day, 365 days a year throughout the United States. XM playlists, as monitored by Nielsen BDS, will be available to Nielsen BDS subscribers and included in its national airplay charts.
"BDS monitoring heralds a new stage in XM’s growth and importance as our commitment to breaking artists can now be fully illustrated and documented to the music community," said Lee Abrams, chief programming officer for XM Satellite Radio. "The fact that BDS wants to track the songs played on XM is a great reflection of the impact that XM is making on radio listeners."
"Nielsen BDS is committed to providing meaningful information on music airplay whether from terrestrial radio or from any other significant delivery platform. XM’s pioneering role in satellite radio and their overwhelming consumer acceptance makes it clear that their information will impact Nielsen BDS’s services in a very positive way," said Rob Sisco, president of Nielsen Music and COO of Nielsen Retail Entertainment Information.
