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Billboard will eliminate the consideration of album and merchandise bundles when calculating its Billboard 200 and Hot 100 chart scores, Billboard reports. Bundling is the practice of selling merchandise along with a download of an album (typically for free) in order to boost sales numbers. Under the new rules, Billboard “has decided to eliminate the practice of counting albums bundled with merchandise and concert tickets on its album and song charts altogether,” as Billboard points out. Read the full report here.
The start date for Billboard’s new guidelines on bundling has yet to be announced. The new rules state that all albums bundled with concert tickets or other merchandise must be promoted as an add-on in order to be counted on the official charts. Additionally, the sale of physical records or singles bundled with digital downloads will no longer count as digital sales. The sale will only be counted for the charts once the physical album is shipped.
According to Billboard’s report, the change is being put into effect to address concerns that the charts do not reflect the conscious purchasing intentions of consumers, and to “level the playing field for all artists.”
Back in January, Billboard adjusted its bundling rules so that merchandise/album bundles would have to cost at least $3.49 more than the merchandise (because $3.49 is the minimum price of an album to qualify for the charts). Billboard now writes that those measures “have fallen short of the intended goal of accurately reflecting consumer intent.”