Billboard & Luminate Data Policy Updates / Rule Changes for 2022
1) DIGITAL BULK RULE ADJUSTMENT
Beginning with the tracking week of Dec. 31, 2021, through Jan. 6, 2022, Billboard and Luminate will revise the policy regarding multiple purchases of a DIGITAL ISRC or UPC (Songs or Albums) by a customer in a tracking week. This update will align with long-standing policies at digital providers that represent the majority of digital music sales
Currently:
● A customer who purchases 1-4 units (at ISRC or UPC level) in a week will have their sales ingested by Luminate without adjustment.
● A customer who purchases 5-9 units (at ISRC or UPC level) in a week will have their sales reduced to 4 units.
● A customer who purchases 10 or more units (at ISRC or UPC level) in a week will have their sales dismissed.
Beginning with the tracking week of Dec. 31, 2021, through Jan. 6, 2022:
● A customer who purchases 1 Digital unit (at ISRC or UPC level) will have their sales ingested by Luminate without adjustment.
● A customer who purchases 2 or more Digital units (at ISRC or UPC level) will have their sales reduced to 1 unit.
The policy will not change for physical UPC sales as bulk will continue to be applied using the current standards noted above.
2) PRICING POLICY UPDATE:
Unit sales for albums priced below $3.49 at any point will not be eligible for inclusion on the Billboard album charts and will not count towards sales data presented by Luminate.
Unit sales for digital tracks priced below $0.69 at any point will not be eligible for inclusion on Billboard’s charts and will not count towards sales data presented by Luminate.
● This is a change from prior rule which was only applicable for titles in their first four weeks of release.
● The rule also applies to reissued titles.
The below parameters have existed since the first implementation of the Pricing Rule and will remain in effect:
● Unit sales for albums with 8 or fewer tracks will not be eligible for charting if the retail price is less than the sum of the tracks on the release, multiplied by $0.39.
● For digital-only deluxe editions, any extra content of 10 or more tracks would be considered the equivalent of an extra disc. Each additional 10 tracks thereafter would be the equivalent of an additional disc.
● Minimum pricing for a multi-disc physical album (not a single disc with extra tracks), where the extra disc is audio content, will be $3.49 times the amount of discs being made available.
If a retailer offering a title for less than the above stated prices is a daily reporter to Luminate, sales will be removed for charting purposes solely for the dates in which the title was priced less than the minimum.
If a title was priced under the minimum during a portion of the day, all sales for that title on that day will not count towards the Billboard charts unless accurate transaction data for that title during the specific sales hours can be provided to Luminate for verification.
If a retailer offering a title for less than the above stated prices is a weekly reporter to Luminate, all units for that title sold by the retailer in the week will be removed for charting purposes unless accurate transaction data for that title on the sale date(s) can be provided to Luminate for verification.
3) UPDATE AND REFRESHER ON BUNDLES Including Alternate Digital Covers & Digital Autograph Covers:
FOR ALBUMS:
Album sales cannot be reported if bundled with merchandise or ticket to an artist event/concert – even if album and merchandise or ticket are available a la carte.
Merchandise is essentially anything that is not the album itself, including (but not limited to) clothing, paper goods, accessories, virtual items, concert pre-sale codes, access to merchandise or meet-n-greet opportunities, contest entries (with or without No Purchase Necessary entrance options), fan club access, and so forth.
An album can be promoted as an add-on sale to a merchandise
item or ticket – not baked-in to merchandise or ticket. Customer would make
clear choice to purchase an album on its own, as a separate item, and album
purchase must not yield any benefits or discounts to customer (this
includes an album purchase yielding a discount on another album). Album price
must be no lower than $3.49.
For more details, go to: https://support.mrc-data.com/agent/luminate/music-operations-hub/knowledge-base/page?articlestatus=latest&rootcategoryId=501721000000508001&categoryId=501721000008663165#Solutions/dv/501721000009098214/en
Physical format albums sold within a finished goods boxed set/package, that may contain clearly artist/album-branded merchandise items), can continue to count as a sale as normal, following advance approval (minimum four weeks prior to release date).
Merchandise includes, but is not limited to:
°Clothing
°Accessories
°Concert Pre-Sale Codes
°Access to Merchandise
°Meet and Greet Opportunities
°Contest Entries (with or without No Purchase entrance options)
°Fan Club Access
°Paper goods like signed art cards, additional signed CD booklets/inserts, etc.
**However, items such as clothing and paper goods may be contained within a
finished goods physical album boxed set/package, and count as a sale,
following advance approval (minimum four
weeks prior to release date).
**Artist Signatures on pre-packaged physical albums are allowable if the
signature is contained on the booklet or album packaging and not part of a
loose item distributed along with the album.
The following non-tangible items are also considered to be merchandise:
Virtual and/or digital items such as:
°NFTs
°Digital Album covers that may include personalized text/notes, animated or
moving images, virtual or augmented reality capabilities
.
**However, digital album covers can continue to have alternative digital
covers that have been acceptable in the past, which may include static images,
including printed static ‘digital signatures’.
FOR SINGLES:
Sales of singles/tracks are not reportable if
bundled with merchandise.
That includes any finished goods package.
Merchandise includes, but is not limited to:
°Clothing
°Accessories
°Concert Pre-Sale Codes
°Access to Merchandise
°Meet and Greet Opportunities
°Contest Entries (with or without No Purchase entrance options)
°Fan Club Access
°Paper goods like signed art cards, additional signed CD booklets/inserts, etc.
The following non-tangible items are also considered to be merchandise:
Virtual and/or digital items such as:
°NFTs
°Digital Song covers that include digital signatures, personalized text/notes,
animated or moving images,virtual or augmented reality capabilities
.
**However, digital song covers can continue to have alternative digital
covers that have been acceptable in the past, which may include static images.
But not a digital signature or any other virtual enhancement.
**Artist Signatures on pre-packaged physical singles are also NOT ALLOWABLE.
Beginning with the tracking week of Dec. 31, 2021, through Jan. 6, 2022:
Sales from penitentiaries are among strata that will not be chart eligible, alongside already ineligible strata as flea markets, sales from traveling vehicles, etc.
Luminate, in consultation with Billboard, periodically reviews new as well as existing retail strata for eligibility to count in its numbers and in Billboard’s charts.
If there are any concerns over
eligibility please reach out to the Luminate Data Partners team at music.merchantservices@luminatedata.com.