Something’s fishy….the answer to my banter and questions posed below.

I find it very interesting that mere hours before the Soundscan charts were due to arrive in the inboxes of music execs. everywhere they decided on a new format-allowing single retailer exclusive albums to be elidgible to chart. 

“We know that some retailers will be uncomfortable with this policy, but it was inevitable that Billboard’s charts would ultimately widen the parameters of to reflect changes that are unfolding in music distribution. We would have preferred to make this decision earlier, but only became aware within the last 24 hours that Wal-Mart would be willing to share the data for this title with Nielsen SoundScan.”

This action has surely pissed off label heads everywhere because the outcome is that EVERYONE ELSE on the chart is pushed a position lower than projected.

Mind you, my problem does not lie with single retailer exclusive albums allowed to chart-I think that’s fair.  I just think it’s suspicious WHEN the decision was made.