6ix9ine’s latest album TattleTales was initially projected to sell upwards of 150,000 units in its debut week, but that number has dropped considerably. HITS Daily Double is now projecting the album will move only 40-50,000 units. Akademiks speculated that the drop is due to "bundles being ineligible."
After touting his ability to put up numbers, 6ix9ine’s updated projections have set off a chain reactions with Lil Durk, Blueface, Lil Tjay, and (seemingly) Trippie Redd eagerly responding to his updated first-week performance projections on the Billboard 200.
In July, Billboardannounced plans to eliminate the practice of artists using singles or albums bundled with merch and/or concert tickets to count towards either the Billboard 200 or Hot 100.
These new rules stipulate that "all albums bundled with either merchandise or concert tickets must be promoted as an add-on to those purchased in order to be counted on the charts." If the artist attempts to include merch or a ticket as part of a "baked-in, single-price option," the totals amassed through this process will not count towards their sales figures.
Billboard said it will "no longer allow sales of physical albums or singles that are bundled with digital downloads to be reported as digital sales." Basically, physical copies will not be counted towards an artist's official tally until the item is shipped. Billboard specifically identifies 6ix9ine as an artist who has previously used this tactic to "boost their chart positions."
It appears 6ix9ine tried to do it again with TattleTales, offering a digital download, along with a physical copy that "will start shipping in approximately 3 weeks."
