Are physical singles (CDs, cassettes, vinyls, etc.) counted for charting purposes the week they're sold or the week they ship? I've been having this discussion with a few people in different threads and there doesn't seem to be a consensus. Especially now that physical singles are making a slight comeback for mainstream artists hoping to boost their songs' charting chances (be sure to buy Mimi's AIWFCIY 7" and cassette to help ha get the 19th #1 by the way), I think this is a fair question.

 

The question arises since logically, it should count the week the sale was made. However, in the case of Mariah's AIWFCIY physical singles, she's shipping on 12/20 - the exact start date of the tracking week of Christmas, AKA the week she has the best chance to get the #1. Why would they ship them then and not sooner unless the points for the sale wouldn't happen until then, AKA when they're shipped? I can see an argument being made that they're shipping them closer to Christmas since it's a Christmas product, but that's a little too close, and I highly doubt most purchasers will receive the items until after Christmas.  So I don't think that's the reason.

 

Another recent example is Me! You'd think the sales for all those physical singles she was peddling during the song's release week would have counted for that week (especially since the very reason they were put up was to best Old Town Road), but there's been discussion that they weren't actually counted until they shipped during the album release week since Me! unexpectedly and unexplainably shot up to #11 that week. (Yes it got a boost from the album release, but no one expected it to reach that high and chart predictors were blind sighted by how much it jumped and still can't explain how it reached so high. After the song was 26 positions higher than his predictions, our own @simmnfierzig has said of the situation, "The most confusing thing that has ever happend tbh".)

 

So, what do you think? Has Billboard ever addressed this?

when they ship, it cant be counted for charts unless its already released?

I know that in my country, Australia, they are counted the week it is shipped/released for our local artists.

According to Nielsen, albums are counted only when the item is shipped to the buyer, I assume the same rule extends to any other physical format.

Depends on the country. The US certifies shipments, so they probably count based on that. Other countries, like Italy, count the sale when the receipt is released in monitored physical stores or online stores and certify when the threshold is reached.

Edited September 24, 20197 yr by KillingYourCareer

1 hour ago, getinthezone said:

when they ship, it cant be counted for charts unless its already released?

 

47 minutes ago, marsblyr said:

According to Nielsen, albums are counted only when the item is shipped to the buyer, I assume the same rule extends to any other physical format.

Taylor, Ariana & more have added a ton of singles last minute to try snatch a high first-week debut.

 

So you must be able to choose either the week they are sold or the week they are shipped, as long as the song is already released.

 

Unless they all count x2 because of the digital single that is bundled with them, and the digital single is reported straight away whilst the physical is reported in the week they ship.

50 minutes ago, Kim Kardashian said:

 

Taylor, Ariana & more have added a ton of singles last minute to try snatch a high first-week debut.

 

So you must be able to choose either the week they are sold or the week they are shipped, as long as the song is already released.

 

Unless they all count x2 because of the digital single that is bundled with them, and the digital single is reported straight away whilst the physical is reported in the week they ship.

This is probably the case looking at the pricing. They seem to be priced in a way that digital and physical are two different items bundled together instead of just 1 sale.

1 hour ago, Kim Kardashian said:

 

Taylor, Ariana & more have added a ton of singles last minute to try snatch a high first-week debut.

 

So you must be able to choose either the week they are sold or the week they are shipped, as long as the song is already released.

 

Unless they all count x2 because of the digital single that is bundled with them, and the digital single is reported straight away whilst the physical is reported in the week they ship.

This has got to be it... Shawn's IICHY debuted at #2 BECAUSE of physical merch (cds, casettes, vinyls), BUT we've yet to receive them 5 months later 

On 9/24/2019 at 10:01 AM, James_Dean said:

This has got to be it... Shawn's IICHY debuted at #2 BECAUSE of physical merch (cds, casettes, vinyls), BUT we've yet to receive them 5 months later 

Yeah. A lot of the people buying Senorita complained about not yet receiving their IICHY singles. The single says 12-16 wks for shipping. I really don't think Nielsen waits until shipping time. But, physical singles were always sold in stores before too. I don't know if Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, etc. actually sold physical singles in stores (Wal-Mart & Target are pretty much all that's left), or if they just sold them on their respective artists' websites with the tshirts and more.

Bundle sales are all counted as "1".

 

so for physical = when they're shipped.

physical + digital bundle = when it sold as 1 sales.