Kanye West is the first beneficiary of a new chart rule, with the Official Charts Company allowing streaming-only albums to qualify for the albums chart.
West’s The Life Of Pablo debuted as a Tidal exclusive in February, but charts for the first time at No. 30 in this week’s chart, after racking up 2,722 streaming ‘sales’. The album has yet to be released physically or appear in download stores, although it is now widely available on streaming platforms.
So far, the change only affects newly released studio albums, with streaming-only greatest hits, live, anthology and other compilation-type albums still excluded from the albums chart.
