Billboard Introduces ‘Fan Packs’ to Album Charts

Limited combinations of merchandise and physical albums will be counted on Billboard’s album charts starting this summer, but with new rules to prevent the issues that led to the elimination of such “bundles” three years ago. 

The new combinations of merch and albums, dubbed “fan packs,” will allow fans to support their favorite artists on the charts in a way that research suggests that many would like to. However, the packs will be restricted to just two options per album release — a sweatshirt with an LP and a t-shirt with a CD, for example — with the requirement that each individual item must also be sold separately in the same web store. Fan packs will include only merch — not tickets, meet-and-greet opportunities, virtual items or non-tangible benefits — and they must also contain a physical copy of an album: Combinations of digital downloads and merch will not count towards the charts. In addition, fan pack offerings must be approved in advance of their on-sale date by Luminate and Billboard.

“Fan Pack offerings are a way to recognize the dynamic artist-fan relationship,” said Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard executive vp of charts and data partnerships. Forty-eight percent of Gen Z listeners wish artists provided more merch items so that fans could show their support for their favorite acts, as do 47% of all physical music-purchasing listeners, according to Luminate’s Music 360 report from spring 2023. In addition, Pietroluongo noted that fan packs “provide an efficient one-click step for consumers to purchase merchandise and music.”

Selling albums together with merchandise or concert tickets is a long-running industry practice known as “bundling.” In 2004, Prince famously bundled in-demand tickets to his live shows with his Musicology album, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, making it his highest charting release in 13 years. 

As streaming rose and album sales declined in the second half of the 2010s, bundles proliferated, with artists often linking numerous pieces of merch — in some cases, more like knickknacks — to a digital download of their album. In 2019, artists who landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 thanks in part to a ticket bundle, merch bundle, or both included Celine Dion, Luke Combs, Kanye West, SuperM, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, Madonna, NF, Tyler, the Creator, Billie Eilish, Khalid, Jonas Brothers, Vampire Weekend, Ariana Grande, Thomas Rhett and Backstreet Boys.

While album bundling became a standard industry move, it also became controversial. Some executives argued that bundles distorted the charts, making them more about overall fandom than album popularity or music consumption.