SPS? Since people are technically paying $5-10 to listen to music.

You're not going to get a correct answer on ATRL because stans manipulate both formulas to their advantage depending on how their fav did.

Doesnt really matter which people prefer or consider "real"

Every measure of music deals with SPS. Billboard, RIAA, HDD, even the Grammys have all implemented streaming into their criteria

The decision has been made.

Sorry to break it for y'all but pure sales don't matter anymore.

The decision has been made to double count free streams and many smart people are suggesting they change their method to truly reflect album sellers vs those that commit fraud.

Pure sales

Well, both are equally important according to the charts. It's 2016, SPS is simply part of the industry now.

Depends.
Piranha needs SPS to be successful.
There are others who don't.

Obviously Sales. SPS is a constructed formula that could be very different in a decade or less, thereby making the current formula useless and irrelevant. At the end of the day, one copy sold means one sale counted and I find that more meaningful than an inconsistent construct.

Streaming is important but it won't be king until the industry revamps the system to emphasize streaming, not as a footnote that is tacked on and converted to sales after the fact

mte; beyonce, taylor and adele fans are obviously gonna say pure sales, where as rihanna, drake and ariana fans will say streaming.

ot: streaming. we are in 2016. to use some examples- work, one dance and hotline bling sold little over 2 million right? do you really think we should consider them to be 2xplatinum hits? they were huge lmao.

Obviously SPS since it incorporates all forms of music consumption.

Sales still do matter because it shows the artist's power and real demand.
there's difference between paying over $10 for 1 album you want and just listening few track on album with free.
artists can demand those pure sales are the one who truly respected as music artist rather than quick little single from radio.

Billboard's SPS is seriously flawed and inflation for label and artist. it's heavily driven by few single. it's more like artist or era chart now.
Billboard should follow UK's formula, weight down top 2 most streamed song to album track's avg.
this will truly represent album consumption, but Billboard won't do it for labels.
oh and streaming payola.

Sales. Streaming a song = a "sale" for an album is the most flawed concept ever. Ask the artist whats more important. Sales or streams. They'll probably say sales for the actual money.

that isn't true at all. i've seen many artists who say they have no problem with piracy or giving their music away for free because it allows them to reach a wider audience and then potentially get money via merch and touring. chance said this on ellen iirc. i doubt they'd have any qualms with streaming if you consider that.

This is a reflection of people's changing relationship to music. I don't think people value it as much as they used to. If people love an album enough then they'll purchase it. And I disagree with your utility comment, having a physical/digital copy is much more convenient than depending on streaming which requires data/wifi

lolwut? you can download music offline and pretty much every city in developed countries has wi-fi hotspots everywhere. not to mention a lot of carriers include streaming as part of your mobile sub now so you can stream music without using your allowances.

sounds pretty convenient to me!

Yeah you missed my point. what's MORE convenient? Comparing the two, no question physical/digital is more convenientl

And in America there is no widespread free wifi. Some places provide it to their patrons, but for the most part, if you are out in public it's hard to find it. If I want to stream while driving, I have to use data which is inconvenient

not true. my music consumption is not represented in music charts which are tabulated by SPS. I BUY music, only my purchase is incorporated, my consumption tho isn't. Nobody counts how much I listen to XY (only my LastFM ofc). So, i have streamed Brandon Flowers' album The Desired Effect 6,400 times according to my LastFM, but only my 3 album purchases counted for charts. I feel cheated on.