‘Billboard’ To Introduce New Rules For Merchandise/Album Bundles

Billboard reported today (Nov. 26) that it is changing the rules to its albums charts, affecting the way sales will be counted on those tallies in respect to merchandise bundles.

Effective Jan. 3, 2020, in order for an album sale to be counted as part of a merchandise/album bundle for the Billboard charts, all the items in the bundle must also be available for purchase concurrently and individually on the same website; and the merchandise item sold on its own will have to be priced lower than the bundle which includes both the merchandise and the album. The merchandise bundles can only be sold in an artist’s official direct-to-consumer web store and not via third-party sites.

All album releases from the Jan. 3, 2020 start date onward must adhere to the new rules, even if the bundles went on-sale before then. For already released albums, those looking to count further sales on the albums charts from must also adhere to the new rules from the start date onward.

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LB Cantrell

LB Cantrell is Editor/Director of Operations at MusicRow magazine, where she oversees, manages and executes all company operations. LB oversees all MusicRow-related content, including the publication’s six annual print issues and online news. She is a Georgia native and a graduate of the Recording Industry Management program at Middle Tennessee State University.

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