Based on the Nielsen 2020 mid-year report, here’s the Top 10 albums in the USA with a list of how many album versions and merch options that also sold a digital copy of the album are or were available for sale in the artist’s shop. You can access the list and screenshots taken from the artists’ stores through this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZP7FuS2wmTGFubEB1b2nhhLHje80f9i2?usp=sharing.
I compiled a similar document for Nielsen’s 2019 end of year report and make a similar disclaimer: I didn’t compile this information to shame or belittle the sales of the artists in this list. I did it to point highlight how out of hand the bundling situation is in the USA. Shame on the label executives for encouraging this system, and shame on Billboard for allowing it to get this far.
Highlights from the list: the average number of album versions and merch bundles available was 29.1 and the median was 23.5. The highest number of merch bundles I could find for a single artist was 93, though not all were on sale at the same time. Only 2/10 artists didn’t use merch bundles. Only 1/8 artists scheduled to tour in 2020 who sold tickets (pre-COVID) did so without the use of tour bundles (though it’s possible that figure should be 2/8 artists as the data was inconclusive on 1 of them).
Update 31/08/20
I’ve also started keeping track of how singles are sold on artist’s stores and on digital sales platforms for songs that hit #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The list and accompanying screenshots are also accessible through this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1ZP7FuS2wmTGFubEB1b2nhhLHje80f9i2.
