Was DJ Khaled Denied a #1 Album Because of Energy Drinks?

Sources say Billboard disqualified more than 100,000 albums, because they were bundled with an energy drink.

Bundle deals are an old gimmick where an artist attaches album downloads to another product to boost sales.  It’s become common in recent years to boost chart performance, now that streaming is tanking music sales.

Khaled is reportedly considering SUING Billboard over it, because Billboard supposedly promised that they’d include his bundles.  And he’s also mad because they DID count Tyler, the Creator’s bundles, which were combined with merch.

It’s unclear what the distinction was . . . but it sounds like Billboard didn’t like how fans were explicitly asked to buy up to a dozen energy drinks, specifically to boost Khaled and make his album #1.

Billboard said, quote, “In this particular instance, we saw an organization encouraging purchases among their members by promising them material and organizational benefits.”

Khaled’s team says they’d rather NOT do bundles . . . but their hands are being forced “by Billboard’s desperate, last-ditch effort to keep streaming from eliminating what’s left of music downloads.”

Regardless, Billboard is looking to change some of their rules on bundling.