I know album tour bundles are a thing in the US, but I don't recall an instance of it ever happening in the UK.

Has it been done here and does it count towards the album charts?

nope, don't count and rightly so

 

this is gonna be a very controversial topic in the US this week, I just read that Bon Jovi announced a tour from their 2-yr-old album and were given away the album for free to anyone buying tix, so since this counts for the album charts in the US, they're gonna be #1 with like 100K, which are 0K real sales and 100K free from the tour bundle :/

It has been done in the UK though to a lesser extent? It’s how Steps got to #1 with their Greatest Hits...

 

 

But aren't they paid for? You keep saying free copies but don't you have the album price included into what you pay for tickets?

no, you get the album for free, you get a code and you can redeem the album for zero $$$

it counts only if you redeem it

I expect the price of the album is included within the ticket price though, which is what Sammy was saying. It's not really free.

But you are paying for the ticket not for the album, regardless of whether the price of the album is included in the ticket price.

Lmao this Bon Jovi album is coming to drop from #1 to out of the top 40 in the US for the second time then, after it initially dropped 1-43 :lol:

no no you don't pay extra

everybody pays the same for the tix, normal price, then if you send an email and redeem it, they send you the album for free, if not, you don't get it

it's the biggest mess ever in billboard's rules

They surely do count in the UK. I bought my copy of Steps - Tears on the Dancefloor in the same transaction as concert tickets.

 

Type: Steptacular View Ticket + CD Album at £12.00 (1 per order)

Details: Block B, Row B, Seats: 12-13

Ticket Price: £100.00 x 2 = £200.00

Service Charge: £11.00 x 2 = £22.00

Facility Charge: £0.80 x 2 = £1.60

 

Additional items purchased:

 

Details: Steps - 'Tears On The Dancefloor' CD Album

Quantity: £12.00 x 1

 

Delivery Charge: £2.85

Total Charge: £238.45

 

(Yes I spent this much on Steps tickets, and it was incredible x)

But if I'm not mistaken you paid extra for the album. This Bon Jovi situation seems to be that people can get the album for free if they purchase a ticket.

Indeed, though my post was aimed at the original post about UK tour bundles specifically! I think you actually had to click somewhere to opt out of the Steps album being included, so essentially it was a part of a tour bundle.

 

Is the Bon Jovi “free album” thing specific to the US, or is that occurring here too?

It's a US specific thing as far as I'm aware, it's led to a lot of very questionable #1 / top 5 albums there that have massive drops in their second week. Certainly if it happens here it doesn't affect the chart in the same way (I guess the OCC wouldn't allow those to count as sales).

The OCC do allow album and ticket packages but to ensure fairness - and to prevent the exact same situation that happens on the Billboard albums chart from occurring - the OCC insist that the bundle must cost more than the standalone ticket. It's in the Album chart rules:

 

8.1 Album & Ticket Packages

 

Albums may be bundled with tickets provided each component is also available to buy individually. Album & Ticket bundles must have a greater retail value than the standalone ticket.

 

Access to a ticket pre-sale will be allowed with an album pre-order provided the album pre-order does not guarantee a ticket to the consumer.

 

Pre-sale ticket allocation may not be dependent upon the pre-order of an album. A customer not wishing to pre-order an album must be given equal opportunity to access the ticket pre-sale.

The one thing the chart rules don't make clear is how much extra above the price of the standalone ticket the bundle should cost. As above the rules merely state "Album & Ticket bundles must have a greater retail value than the standalone ticket". I'm sure charging 1p more would go against the spirit of the chart rules. But I can't work out if the rules on minimum pricing for albums apply to albums sold as part of a bundle. Those minimum pricing rules are meant for conventional album releases.

Edited March 4, 20187 yr by Robbie

In a perfect world I wouldn't want to allow it as the US does, it's clearly not someone opting to part with their cash for an album.

 

However, I find myself totally in favour of it today. In an age where your 'album sales' rocket because you have a track on a spotify playlist or similar, how can we possibly count things where someone is making no concsious choice to engage with an album (rather than a track), and then not count it when someone is paying £70 to see an artist and is voluntarily seeking out their new album.

 

Secondly as an aside, and a chart forum is the wrong place to say this, it's right these acts have contemporary recognition. Bon Jovi had 375,000 americans part with $70+ yet would get less press than someone who got 20,000 people paying $10 for an album. Until we have a popular multi metric overall artist chart which includes tickets i'm all for these type of guys getting contemporary recognition for their huge ahcievments.

Yeah, I really don't see the issue with including them if it costs extra with the album and you have the option not to buy it.

I don't believe there is an issue if the album and ticket bundle is worth more than the ticket alone. The issue is including the album in the price of the ticket.

which is always the case

But the US charts aren't based purely on sales. It is more a popularity chart with youtube views counting etc. So I guess Bon Jovi selling obviously a huge amount of tour tickets shows they are popular.

It shows they are popular, it does not show the album is popular. The album chart is not an artist popularity chart, or at least it should not be.