In a move far past when it should have been changed, Billboard altered its rules to reflect the way music is being sold.
If they would have remained the same, they would have had Britney Spears' new album Blackout as the number one album sold in the country, at 290,000 copies sold. The Eagles on the other hand, have sold 711,000 units of "Long Road Out of Eden" to explode into the number one position, regardless of Billboard says.
The issue at stake was the exclusive selling of the album through Wal-Mart (WMT), which with past rules would have disallowed it to be considered in sales. Former rules insisted that sales be counted only if distribution was across the general marketplace.
What forces the rule change of course would be Billboard losing relevancy, as they would have been considered a joke if they adhered to old rules that refused to count such high sales.
Geoff Mayfield, Billboard's director of charts, weakly said about the changes: "We know that some retailers will be uncomfortable with this policy, but it was inevitable that Billboard's charts would ultimately widen the parameters to reflect changes that are unfolding in music distribution."
The rule was put into effect in 1991 at the request of retailers and labels, not long after Billboard started using Nielsen SoundScan data.
This was an obvious attempt to limit deals being made that could benefit individual business who promote unique artists' works.
When "Garth Brooks: The Limited Series" sold 500,000 copies in 2005, Billboard refused to acknowledge the sales or interest in the product because of the antiquated rules. It's about time they're changed. The Eagles album sales are No. 1, regardless if they have changed the rules.
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