How Much Did Merch Help

Propel Travis Scott’s 'Utopia' to

Number One?
Travis Scott landed his third number one album with Utopia
selling 496,000 units in its first week. How much did his merch
bundles help? Here are the numbers.

BY MIKE DESTEFANO Aug 09, 2023

Alexander Tamargo / Getty Images for E11EVEN

Travis Scott officially landed his third number one album

yesterday with Utopia selling 496,000 equivalent album
units. That total makes it the highest hip-hop debut of
2023.

While the album obviously streamed well, all 19 tracks

charted on the Hot 100 including the Drake-assisted
“Meltdown,” which debuted the highest at number 3, you
know Travis Scott also made sure to drop off a ton of
merch bundles for his fans to celebrate. If you’ve been
keeping track throughout his career, the merch is a big
part of the experience. And it has many purposes. Fans
receive memorabilia and Scott gets some help on the
Billboard charts.

But didn’t Billboard stop counting merch packs? Well,

they did, but as of May 2023 the rules were tweaked once
again, meaning Utopia arrived at the perfect time. Get
some more details on how much Utopia merch helped
propel the album to the number one spot, below.

Didn’t Billboard Stop

Counting Merch
Packs?

Via Cactus Jack

Yes, back in 2019 Billboard changed its rules to limit

the gaming of the system with bundles. Before,
Travis Scott could sell and bundle merch however he
liked to ensure that those numbers would go towards
his album sales/streams. But with the new rules,
Billboard said that bundles had to be available on
their own so customers had the option to not
purchase the album if they didn't want to. The
merch also had to be priced lower on its own than it
would be as part of the bundle.

In 2020, they stopped counting bundles altogether.

But that changed again in May 2023 to allow “fan
packs” to be eligible on the Billboard charts. Each
pack sold equals one album sale. “Fan Pack offerings
are a way to recognize the dynamic artist-fan
relationship,” said Billboard executive VP of charts
and data partnerships Silvio Pietroluongo. However,
there are still limitations. Only two bundled options
can be offered for an album and the other item in the
bundle must be a physical item. This means a T-shirt
can be bundled with a CD or a hoodie can be bundled
with a vinyl record. Both of those bundles options
will count as an individual album sale. Digital
downloads can’t be coupled with merch. Merch must
be bundled with a CD or vinyl in order to count as a
unit sold. Merch has no impact on sales when
purchased independently.

So, How Much Did

the Merch Actually
Account For?

Jason Koerner / Getty Images

According to Billboard, Utopia went number one

with a total of 496,000 album sales. When you break
it down, 230,000 come from SEA (streaming
equivalent albums), 252,000 come from album sales
(a combination of digital downloads, CDs, and
vinyls), and 1,000 come from TEA (track equivalent
albums).

So, where does the merch come into play? Of the

252,000 album sales, roughly 75,000 of them came
by way of merch and zine bundles. Utopia would
have still topped the number two album this week,
Post Malone’s Austin (113,000 total album sales),
without the merch bundles. But the merch bundles
still played a role in pushing Travis Scott’s first-week
numbers for Utopia even higher.

What Merch Was

Available?

Via Cactus Jack

To celebrate the release of Utopia, Travis Scott has

offered a wide variety of merch bundles on his web
store. Those drops have included various graphic T-
shirts and hoodies, which are typical for Scott. Some
featured special collaborative graphics created by
Kaws and Saint Michael. Scott's also released
interesting options like studded belts, white Air
Force 1s lasered with Utopia logos, and even the
famed Utopia briefcases seen carried around by
Travis and other feature artists ahead of the album’s
release. We wouldn’t be surprised if he releases more
merch down the line to keep Utopia at the top spot.

Travis Scott offered five unique album covers for fans

to choose between on both CD and vinyl, which
featured photography from the likes of Pieter Hugo
and Kristina Nagel. These CDs and vinyls were also
available in 15 unique box sets along with merch
that fans could choose between. Photo zines with six
unique covers are also currently available on Travis
Scott’s web store that are bundled with a special
edition CD.

For a Limited Time,

Albums Were Only
$4.99 If You Bought
Merch

ADVISORY
EXPLICITCONTENI

Via Cactus Jack/Epic Records

For a limited time after Utopia dropped, Scott's team

allowed shoppers to purchase an album for just $4.99
when they purchased a piece of merch. For instance,
if you buy a Utopia zip-up hoodie, you would then be
able to add the physical album that usually sells for
$12 to your cart for just $4.99 (the same price that a
digital download is being sold for). The discounted
price undoubtedly enticed many consumers. And
since this is not technically a bundle deal, each sale
counted as one unit sold.

TRAVIS SCOTT BILLBOARD MERCH

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