Disclaimer: This article contains no jokes. It is somewhat informational. I apologize in advance if information does not entertain you.
Almost two weeks after the release of his album, "Father of Asahd", DJ Khaled is reportedly planning a "major lawsuit" against Billboard over the disqualification of over 100,000 bundled sales. This isn't the first time Billboard has faced criticism over their sales system, as Nicki Minaj had similar grievances against Travis Scott less than a year ago.
Bundling an album with a cheaper or more tangible asset to increase sales is no new practice; Prince was the first to do it in 2004, by giving copies of his album "Musicology" to fans who purchased tour tickets, Jay-Z partnered with Samsung for the 2013 release of "Magna Carta", U2 infamously paired their 2014 "Songs of Innocence" album with the iPhone 6 and the list goes on. Each of these albums experienced unprecedented amounts of success, with Prince earning his first top-5 album in a decade, Jay-Z intantly going platinum upon release and U2 being pushed into the ears of half-a-billion iPhone users.
The glaring success makes it shocking that it took almost five years for album bundling to become the norm in rap. It wasn't until Travis Scott utilized the method with daily merch drops to jump from an artist that sold 88,000 first week to an artist that shocked the world with 537,000 first-week sales. Natural progression along with his superstar girlfriend certainly played a part, but it's worth noting that almost half(267,000) of "Astroworld"s first-week sales came from an untraditional approach(merch and streams). As far as Billboard is concerned, I bought "Astroworld" three times(two shirts and a sticker pack).
Travis Scott's gaudy numbers publicized the sales tactic that before him was only utilized by the elites of music to ensure their first-week numbers matched their status. Look no further than Taylor Swift bundling her 2012 album "Red" with a large Papa John's pizza or the Backstreet Boys utilizing the bundle method to gain their first number one album in nearly two decades. One of music's biggest tricks had been exposed to the public, and artists noticed.
According to the NYT, of the 39 titles that went to No. 1 in 2018, at least 18 were sold as part of ticket or merchandise deals.
The trend has continued into 2019, as artists like NAV have begun pairing their albums with popular brands to help push an album with little fanfare to number one status.
Currently, Billboard has no way to mandate the illusion of success that artists are creating, but reports state that constant discussion between the outlet and top music executives have been a priority. In the past, Billboard implemented a regulation that stated that a consumer must take a step to receive the bundled tour album, such as redeeming a code; however, no regulation exists in regards to merchandising.
The practice has no end in sight, with artists like TYGA — who is currently selling his $10 album for $5 with the purchase of a condom — are able to loosely connect their album to any item and far outweigh the monetary impact of streams.
As long as a $5 condom is equal to an album being streamed 1,400 times, the gimmick of album bundling will continue, and the honor of earning a number one album will be credited to marketing over the actual music.