Billboard has removed all physical sales data, including CDs and other formats, from its weekly Market Watch breakdown that compiles Luminate data.

This change follows earlier controversy when Luminate modified its sales calculation methodology in early 2024, which led to:

• Strong pushback from independent retailers
• Creation of a rival indie-sales chart
• Removal of vinyl figures from Market Watch
• Discrepancies between Luminate and RIAA data

The "Album Consumption Units by Format" section, which previously included CD, vinyl, track-equivalent, audio-on-demand-equivalent, digital, and other data, has been completely removed from the October 24th Market Watch report.

Billboard now acknowledges that "there is not available comparable historical data to provide an accurate year-over-year trend regarding physical sales," though they maintain that "the new modeled methodology more accurately represents the independent retail market."

This situation suggests two possibilities:

1. Previous sales statistics may have been inflated
2. There could be a genuine decline in physical format sales

The removal of physical sales data represents a significant shift in how music industry performance metrics are reported and tracked.

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