That SuperM thing wouldn't have robbed Summer Walker if this rule existed at that time right?

That reminds me of when L'Oreal was selling Camila's make-up kits for a lower price if you bought them along with the album 

Edited November 26, 20196 yr by ProudLBS

So artists can just release merch and get an album sale now?!

Merch bundles are just so stupid in general but these new rules are a step in the right direction so let's celebrate that  

 

The Billboard 200 is an album sales chart, not a t-shirt sales chart. We have streaming to compensate for the lack of pure sales anyway. If they really wanted their chart to capture which albums are the most consumed in America then ideally they would do away with merch bundles, tour bundles, and make streaming weigh more in the overall calculation. 

3 minutes ago, Rev8 said:

so they only removed the "sell a tshirt, get a 1#" option right?

Quote

Then, after purchasing the ticket, the customer will receive an offer to redeem the album and have it mailed to them or to download it. Only the albums that are redeemed count toward Billboard's charts,

This is the only thing that could lower the sales from tour bundles but I don't think it will be a big thing.

2 minutes ago, Bindi said:

What bundling effort did Taylor have?

Every item on her website came with a copy, even a doormat 

3 minutes ago, jpow said:

I don’t get it.  Can someone summarize? 

Merch bundles need to cost  $3.49 more than the individual merch item to be counted as an album sale. They also can't be sold on third party sites

Edited November 26, 20196 yr by tellem

Ugh, they should get rid of it entirely, tour bundles aswell. 

BB charts are just so easily trick-able now. 

about time 

Have merch bundles ever been cheap though? I remember Travis selling hoodies + album for like $80.  

1 minute ago, tellem said:

Merch bundles need to cost  ≥$3.49 than the individual merch item to be counted as an album sale. They also can't be sold on third party sites

What?  A t-shirt needs to cost $3.50 more than the album and then the t-shirt counts as an album sale?

6 minutes ago, JawBreaker said:

*

Girrrrrl

Just now, Hurem said:

Have merch bundles ever been cheap though? I remember Travis selling hoodies + album for like $80.  

It's still cheating if the individual price of hoodie is somewhere above $80

 

Glad BB did something for the frauds

8 minutes ago, Cherry123 said:

Y'all can't take literally three minutes to read?  I highlighted the most important parts.

i only read the 1st sentence of this post

7 minutes ago, Pop Art said:

 

 

Basically, sales through merch bundles will only count if the album is available separate from the bundle as well on the same website and if the merch bundle is at least $3.49 more than the price of the merch without the bundle. Also these bundles will only count if sold through the artist's official site and not through any third party sites. Tour bundles remain unaffected. Pretty common sense stuff if you ask me.

sounds plausible tbh  

Just now, jpow said:

What?  A t-shirt needs to cost $3.50 more than the album and then the t-shirt counts as an album sale?

I thought it was a t shirt with an album needs to cost $3.49 more to be counted. It can’t be a gaga born this way deal with a t shirt

 

no * allowed

SuperMs impact

Just now, slw84 said:

I thought it was a t shirt with an album needs to cost $3.49 more to be counted. It can’t be a gaga born this way deal with a t shirt

 

no * allowed

I’m still confused tbh.  Can someone help? 

8 minutes ago, jpow said:

What?  A t-shirt needs to cost $3.50 more than the album and then the t-shirt counts as an album sale? 

Delete.. refer to my nest post

Edited November 26, 20196 yr by Cryptique

Tour ticket bundle sales are sketchy af but since we’re living in an era in which even ****ing free YouTube views count as album sales

9 minutes ago, liberalmusiclover said:

Remember when Nicki was releasing $5 merch and STILL lost to Travis?

TRULY iconic  

Just now, Cryptique said:

$3.49 is the minimum amount of the bundle but it won't be counted automatically..

Unless,

1. The items can be bought separately in the same store (website)

2. And all items' individual prices are lower than the bundle sale.. say $3 for a tshirt and $3 for an EP.. sold as $3.49 for tshirt+CD.. then it'll be counted

Delete delete.. it says at least $3.49 more than the merchandise..

 

Say $5 tshirt bundled with an album should be $8.49 to be counted

10 minutes ago, DancingShoes said:

This is definitely going to affect indie exclusive merch bundles poor alt-pop, pop punk, etc acts 

Why? The changes aren’t too drastic.

Well, it's a start.

Basically this only applied to merchandise bundles, and there's still ways around it. As of January 3, 2020:

 

- Merchandise in a bundle containing an album must also be available separately, so you're not forcing the album onto a sweater, shirt etc.

- The merchandise that's in a bundle will have to be priced lower than the bundle rather than being sneaky and slipping in a sale.

- Albums released prior to this are in the same model, so ex. Celine Dion would have to adhere going forward to count her shows past this.

- Merchandise that's bundled with an album needs to be at least $3.49 more than the cost of the products purchased. So if you there was a shirt and album bundle and the shirt is listed as $40 and the album is $10 the bundle will have to be more than $53.49.

- Ticket and album bundles are NOT included in this as the album is included in the ticket, and is made aware to buyers prior to a sale. (So even though there's no option to not have an album included it's like 'Well why would you buy tickets to an artist and not redeem the album?)

 

Here the part of ticket/album bundles:

The new policies do not affect albums that are part of a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer bundle, where the price of an album is part of the cost of a ticket and the album's inclusion is promoted to the customer at the beginning of their purchase experience. Then, after purchasing the ticket, the customer will receive an offer to redeem the album and have it mailed to them or to download it. Only the albums that are redeemed count toward Billboard's charts, indicating a desire by a consumer to receive the album.