Billboard updated its eligibility rules again, restoring some formats of sales packages in the calculations for chart positions. The institution announced new guidelines for the sale of “fan bundles”, reversing the previous decision not to allow them to count towards chart placement. Read the full rundown HERE.
Billboard Retrieved merch bundle from consideration in 2020, less than a year after the others were institutionalized restrictions aimed at reducing the gamification of album sales. Under the new rules, artists can only sell two different “fan bundle” variations, which must include a physical copy of the album and a merchandise item. Merchandise and album copies must all be purchased from the artist, independently of each other.
In mid-2019, a policy change on bundles allowed Tyler, the Creator It’s Igor to get the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 by DJ Khaled Father of Asahd, which is packaged with things like energy drinks. Although the albums have almost identical streaming numbers, DJ Khaled has smaller album-equivalent units which accounts for its position on the chart due to the bonds of the commodity. He reportedly challenged Epic Records for his No. 2 positions. Last year, Kanye West’s Injury 2 directed not worth it for the Billboard charts due to its exclusive distribution on West’s proprietary Stem Player.