iHype.
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Post by iHype. on Jul 13, 2020 16:47:39 GMT -5
billboard.com/articles/business/9417842/billboard-new-chart-rules-no-more-merch-ticket-bundles
Billboard is changing the rules to its Billboard 200, Hot 100 and other album and song charts. The announcement comes in an effort to rectify how sales are counted with respect to album bundles with merchandise and concert tickets, as well as instant digital sales attached to purchases for physical albums delivered at a later date.
On the issue of bundling, the latest rule changes supersede a number of others that were previously instituted in January. Those included a requirement that albums bundled with merchandise be available for purchase concurrently and individually on the same website, as well as a requirement that merchandise sold on its own be priced lower than bundles that included the album. Additionally, merchandise/album bundles could only be sold on an artist’s official direct-to-consumer web store and not via third-party sites.
Now, Billboard -- in an acknowledgement that those measures have fallen short of the intended goal of accurately reflecting consumer intent -- has decided to eliminate the practice of counting albums bundled with merchandise and concert tickets on its album and song charts altogether.
Beginning this fall, all albums bundled with either merchandise or concert tickets must be promoted as an add-on to those purchases in order to be counted on the charts. Those included as part of a baked-in, single-price option (along with the merchandise or ticket), with the album cost undisclosed to the consumer, will no longer be counted. It is Billboard’s belief that the resulting charts will more accurately reflect consumer choice.
In addition, Billboard will no longer allow sales of physical albums or singles that are bundled with digital downloads to be reported as digital sales, thereby eliminating the practice of “spontaneous” non-manufactured items being used to influence first-week chart rankings. Under the new rules, only when the physical item -- ostensibly what the consumer is buying -- is shipped will it be counted in Billboard’s official tallies.
Billboard is implementing these changes to address widespread concerns that an accurate measure of consumer intent -- which has been the basis of the Billboard charts since their inception -- is being undermined by increasingly-common bundling practices. The new guidelines will better ensure that Billboard chart rankings more accurately reflect the conscious purchasing decisions of consumers and level the playing field for all artists.
Though the sales strategy of bundling albums goes back decades, more recently it has been employed by artists and labels to try and boost album sales, which have been continually falling over the last several years but are worth considerably more than streams on the charts. In 2019, overall album sales dropped 18.7%, making it the fourth year in a row where album sales dropped by at least 10%.
Despite the latest rule changes on album bundling, Billboard will continue to work with the industry to reflect merchandise sales within existing charts such as the Artist 100, as well as potential merchandise-specific charts down the line.
The practice of selling vinyl, CDs and other physical releases that won’t be manufactured and shipped to consumers for weeks or months -- while offering a digital download that can be redeemed instantly -- has become widespread as of late, with artists including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and 6ix9ine all recently using the tactic to boost their chart positions. The latest rule changes will render that tactic ineffectual.
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shayonce
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Post by shayonce on Jul 13, 2020 16:50:53 GMT -5
finally!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2020 16:56:17 GMT -5
Probably the end of #1 albums for acts like Madonna, Bon Jovi. etc. who would debut at #1 due to bundles and then tumble.
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ddlz
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Post by ddlz on Jul 13, 2020 17:29:08 GMT -5
Another meaningless '''rule'' where Billboard wants to give the false impression that they're doing something when in fact it achieves very little to nothing. You either get rid of tour/merch bundles completely or you become irrelevant, meaningless, gimmicky chart. It's that simple.
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iHype.
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Post by iHype. on Jul 13, 2020 17:35:50 GMT -5
Another meaningless '''rule'' where Billboard wants to give the false impression that they're doing something when in fact it achieves very little to nothing. You either get rid of tour/merch bundles completely or you become irrelevant, meaningless, gimmicky chart. It's that simple. This is a vague amount of information we have so far, but if they're changing bundles guidelines to-- ~ You have a price of a ticket at checkout, then if you choose to opt-in for a bundle, an additional cost is added~ that would actually probably very well shake up the popularity of ticket bundles. People redeemed them because they weren't paying anything additional, and even then it was less than half of ticket buyers that did that on average. The other option would be, simply asking someone to opt-in for a bundle with no additional cost. I don't get why they'd make an announcement around that, because that is basically what the current rules for tour bundles are. They get an email with a link to redeem the album, optionally, for no additional cost.
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Post by daysintheeast on Jul 13, 2020 17:46:21 GMT -5
Another meaningless '''rule'' where Billboard wants to give the false impression that they're doing something when in fact it achieves very little to nothing. You either get rid of tour/merch bundles completely or you become irrelevant, meaningless, gimmicky chart. It's that simple. feels like the same rules as the merch bundles. artists will just put those opt-out options at obscure places in small font just like how they are putting the merch with no bundles at the bottom the merch websites
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kcdawg13
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Post by kcdawg13 on Jul 13, 2020 17:51:35 GMT -5
I can't believe they didn't implement this months ago when artists were still selling ticket bundles despite the fact that tours were cancelled. Kenny Chesney should of not gotten that #1.
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ddlz
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Post by ddlz on Jul 13, 2020 17:52:20 GMT -5
Another meaningless '''rule'' where Billboard wants to give the false impression that they're doing something when in fact it achieves very little to nothing. You either get rid of tour/merch bundles completely or you become irrelevant, meaningless, gimmicky chart. It's that simple. This is a vague amount of information we have so far, but if they're changing bundles guidelines to-- ~ You have a price of a ticket at checkout, then if you choose to opt-in for a bundle, an additional cost is added~ that would actually probably very well shake up the popularity of ticket bundles. People redeemed them because they weren't paying anything additional, and even then it was less than half of ticket buyers that did that on average. The other option would be, simply asking someone to opt-in for a bundle with no additional cost. I don't get why they'd make an announcement around that, because that is basically what the current rules for tour bundles are. They get an email with a link to redeem the album, optionally, for no additional cost. Exactly. It all comes down to additional cost and whatever it is in play or not. If not, then nothing changes.
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iHype.
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Post by iHype. on Jul 13, 2020 18:23:41 GMT -5
Omg they cancelled single bundles
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Post by violentdreams on Jul 13, 2020 18:25:59 GMT -5
This'll probably greatly reduce album sales in general. I expect like five albums per year to sell over 200k if they refuse to reweigh streaming to be higher.
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higilo
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Post by higilo on Jul 13, 2020 18:26:54 GMT -5
Does this mean Juice's totals will be less now? Would be a shame.
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Jul 13, 2020 18:28:52 GMT -5
^No. It starts in October.
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Post by daysintheeast on Jul 13, 2020 18:29:20 GMT -5
Omg they cancelled single bundles looks like 6ix9ine was the last straw
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HolidayGuy
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Post by HolidayGuy on Jul 13, 2020 18:33:49 GMT -5
It also could mean fewer or no top 10 entries for acts who've had album-redemption/merchandise-bundle offers. Should be interesting.
Was only a matter of time before the digital-copy-attached-to-physical-singles tactic would get the ax.
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iHype.
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Post by iHype. on Jul 13, 2020 18:36:36 GMT -5
New bundle rules for singles: - Doing bundles with physical CDs/Vinyls will no longer count as bundled digital sales the same week. - Any physical CD/Vinyls sales will not count until the week the item is shipped.
New bundle rules for albums: - Tour bundles now have to be "opt-ins", meaning a ticket is sold without bundles, but the customer can check a box/option that allows them to add the bundle to their purchase
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2020 18:36:45 GMT -5
i used to pray for times like this
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strongerq
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Post by strongerq on Jul 13, 2020 18:46:34 GMT -5
This'll probably greatly reduce album sales in general. I expect like five albums per year to sell over 200k if they refuse to reweigh streaming to be higher. Weather they reweight streming is irrelevant for sales. In 2019: 21 albums sold over 200K (2 over 500K). Out of those 10 album would have sold 200K without tour bundles, 2-4 are a maybe, the others are NO WAY. In 2020 there are 6 albums that have sold 200K+ (MID YEAR), 4 of them sold 200K without tour bundles, 1 is a maybe and good old Kenny is a HELL NO.
Or you meant 200K first week, so that's why you mentioned streaming.
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Choco
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Post by Choco on Jul 13, 2020 18:49:47 GMT -5
I love this change tbh. When you have random #1's then gone the next week like "Stuck with U" and "TROLLZ", something fishy is going on. This would have prevented a few other recent #1's like "bad guy" and probably "Say So" as well, but at least those didn't feel as cheap because they actually were hits before that last push to #1.
As for albums, the chart is kinda meaningless to me anyways. What matters is total sales/SPS at the end of the day.
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Post by Baby Yoda Hot100Fan on Jul 13, 2020 18:53:05 GMT -5
Omg they cancelled single bundles It would guess Travis Scott will try to get a couple of those to debut at #1 in the Hot 100 before that goes into effect.
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HolidayGuy
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Post by HolidayGuy on Jul 13, 2020 18:53:14 GMT -5
^strongerq- it's tricky to say for sure, though. Would someone who bought a ticket to see an act perhaps have purchased the album if there was no album-redemption offer? Maybe; maybe not. Maybe that first week, maybe during a later week. It's really speculation in the end. Of course, some who even redeem copies of an album purchase the album via traditional means.
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Choco
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Post by Choco on Jul 13, 2020 18:55:58 GMT -5
Travis, Nicki, 6ix9ine and Justin are probably calling their managers right now to ask if any potential singles can be moved up to September or sooner than that before the rule change is made.
The touring thing was specially ridiculous for acts like Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney and even Madonna. 97% of the fans going to the concert are there for the old stuff, not the new album that no one particularly likes.
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kanimal
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Post by kanimal on Jul 13, 2020 21:20:16 GMT -5
^strongerq- it's tricky to say for sure, though. Would someone who bought a ticket to see an act perhaps have purchased the album if there was no album-redemption offer? Maybe; maybe not. Maybe that first week, maybe during a later week. It's really speculation in the end. Of course, some who even redeem copies of an album purchase the album via traditional means. This has been the popular question/defense since bundles originated many years ago. The argument has been undermined, however, by old albums returning to the Top 10 (if not #1) once "new bundle redemptions" took effect. This definitely happened with Bon Jovi a few years ago, and I seem to recall it happening with a few others - maybe Metallica and P!nk? It's admittedly plausible that a diehard fan, one who paid to go to an artist's concert, would have bought the album in the first week anyway. But it's far harder to argue that tens of thousands of diehard fans would have randomly decided to buy an album in one specific week - many months after it first came out.
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HolidayGuy
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Post by HolidayGuy on Jul 13, 2020 21:28:53 GMT -5
^Yes, I'd agree that in those instances, there would be less speculation in that regard. :)
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Post by jamatthews83 on Jul 14, 2020 0:13:36 GMT -5
They should've just let albums die and come up with a new concept for streaming, rather than compare apples and oranges.
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Jul 14, 2020 0:25:43 GMT -5
I think the UK route is a good way to go for album chart. Bundling is basically unknown there and average streaming numbers for album tracks are the key.
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shayonce
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Post by shayonce on Jul 14, 2020 0:48:30 GMT -5
I think the UK route is a good way to go for album chart. Bundling is basically unknown there and average streaming numbers for album tracks are the key. bundling is massive in there too but with different style.
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shayonce
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Post by shayonce on Jul 14, 2020 0:52:18 GMT -5
with this rule, it's safe to say bundle loophole is completely gone.
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Jul 14, 2020 1:13:18 GMT -5
I think the UK route is a good way to go for album chart. Bundling is basically unknown there and average streaming numbers for album tracks are the key. bundling is massive in there too but with different style. I don't think bundles is allowed for charts though? Didn't Prince album failed to chart because it was given away for free with a magazine or sth.
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failstoner
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Post by failstoner on Jul 14, 2020 1:16:11 GMT -5
Do artists really pay big attention to chart placements? I know 6ix9ine obviously does lmao but I don't think it's that important for them to adjust release dates before the decision takes into effect
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shayonce
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Post by shayonce on Jul 14, 2020 2:27:20 GMT -5
bundling is massive in there too but with different style. I don't think bundles is allowed for charts though? Didn't Prince album failed to chart because it was given away for free with a magazine or sth. bundles from artist shop is counted. and UK bundle is more about music item bundles, like 3 cassette set, or vinyl+cd+cassette set, etc. and unlike billboard they count each music item in bundle as sales. so 3 cassette = 3 sales.
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