Billboard Announces New Chart Rules: No More Merch & Ticket Bundles

Billboard is changing its chart rules to no longer count music and merchandise bundled with concert tickets.

The trade will also no longer let sales of physical albums or singles that are bundled with digital downloads be reported as digital sales. Only when the physical goods ship will the sale be counted. Billboard said in a statement that it believes the resulting charts will more accurately reflect consumer choice.

In January, Billboard instituted rules for bundling including that the music be available without a bundle but now acknowledges that was not enough.

Billboard says it 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”.

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.

Today, Billboard made an announcement as of when this changes will take effect. They expect the changes to start in October.