"We are introducing new combinations of merch and albums, dubbed ‘fan packs.’”
On April 5th, Billboard introduced ‘Fan Packs’ as it made changes to its ranking calculation method. Billboard announced that merchandise-inclusive albums will now be reflected in the chart rankings. In other words, the revival of “bundles” from three years ago.
‘Fan packs’ refer to the combination package of merchandise and physical albums such as a sweatshirt with an LP or a t-shirt with a CD.
As history knows, the concept of bundling (i.e. artists linking merchandise to albums) boomed in 2010 as the digitalization and streaming became more dominant in the music industry. With many controversial issues, in 2020, Billboard changed the bundling rules and totally removed bundling from their charts. Back then, Billboard announced that they would exclude bundling from chart rankings as they had analysed that bundling undermined fair competition.
In the past, bundle albums that included merchandise attached to physical albums were popular in the United States. For example, Taylor Swift’s bundled Papa John's pizza with her album and DJ Khaled bundling 50 different types of merchandise with his numerous albums.
Since declaring that Billboard would strictly manage the charts through crackdowns on bundle sales, just after three years, we are back to square one. Billboard has chosen to regress to the year 2020. However, Billboard has made new “rules” to the bundle regulations, they say.
Firstly, they have restricted the number of merchandise items to two. Billboard believes that in any case, the merchandise should not overshadow the main album. Additionally, there is a condition that the merchandise can only be sold physically attached to the physical albums, excluding digital albums. More importantly, the merchandise will require approval from Billboard.
It is just another list of plausible justifications in some sense.
"This decision is aimed at more accurately reflecting consumers' conscious purchasing decisions and creating a fair stage for all artists." (Billboard, 2022)
Is it truly a measure for fairness? The debate is back on the table again. It has been interpreted as a means to curb the exponential rise of K-pop. And to many, it is understandable, as fan packs are a favorable method for local sales in the United States.
Music critic Kim Do-Hun explained, "Billboard has reduced the proportion of downloads in the calculation of rankings and instead, has filled up the space with bundle sales, highlighting the physical products. It can only be seen as a move to curb K-pop."
In January last year, Billboard implemented regulations on limiting duplicate purchases. They reduced individual digital purchases from four per week to just one per week. The implementation was to prevent bulk purchases by K-pop fandoms.
The problem is that even this measure lacks transparency. They have not and still do not disclose precise figures. They have only selectively revealed artist records in the top tier of the main charts from time to time.
In the end, artists have no choice but to accept the report card given by Billboard. Even if a world-class star like BTS’ Jimin asks why he dropped from 1st to 45th place on the ‘Hot 100’ chart, there is no answer.
On April 4th, Jimin rocketed to the top ranking with his solo debut track ‘Like Crazy.’ According to Billboard, it recorded a total of 254,000 downloads and CD sales, 10 million online streams and 64,000 radio plays.
But what about the following week? A music prediction site ‘Chartessential’ estimated Jimin’s flow would continue to hit 8.4 million online streams, 130,000 album sales and 100,000 radio plays.
This performance corresponds to at least 6th to 8th place. However, Billboard dropped Jimin down to 45th place. Dispatch also sent an inquiry email to Billboard but have yet received a response.
Billboard boasts the highest authority in the world. However, they change the rules to their liking, and even the methodology still remains dishonorable in the dark.
In the end, K-pop must fight a foul and raw deal.
