TIMES TACKLES BIBLE BUNDLE BUNGLE

The New York Times dove into the Bible’s bundle bungles over the last 18 months, noting that 18 of 39 #1 albums in 2018 were part of a product/concert ticket package.

The article comes on the heels of Billboard taking nearly a week to decide which merchandise sales related to Tyler, the Creator’s Igor and DJ Khaled’s Father of Asahd were valid to count toward their sales totals. Billboard’s president says it will announce a tightening of the squishy rules on merchandise bundling this year. The Times figures a sale has 1,400 times the impact of a full album stream.

The next big bundled album may well be Taylor Swift’s first one under her new deal with Universal. Despite not having a released date, Swift’s camp is already accepting advance orders on various pieces of merch. Will the rules change before it’s released? Stay tuned.