Record Store Day, The Music Business Association and Luminate announce new partnership regarding physical music sales data across independent retail sector in the US

25 April 2024 - Press release

Luminate Now Receiving Independent Sales Data from StreetPulse

Billboard Rebranding “Tastemaker Albums” Chart To Better Recognize Impact of Independent Store Sales

Today, Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), and Department of Record Stores (DORS), who work together as Record Store Day, The Music Business Association, and Luminate, the entertainment industry’s most trusted data provider, announced a new partnership for physical music sales reporting across the independent retail sector in the U.S.  The new partnership, which took effect on April 19, 2024, sees Luminate collecting independent physical music sales, inclusive of CDs, vinyls and cassettes, from StreetPulse, a music industry data provider that receives daily sales metrics directly from stores. The data from StreetPulse will be incorporated into the physical sales data that Luminate is already collecting directly from other retailers. The news comes following the retirement of Luminate’s previous weighted data science model at the start of 2024, in an effort to further increase the quality and accuracy of the sales metrics it reports from the independent retail sector. The new agreement and inclusion of data provided by StreetPulse will continue to drive that mission forward, allowing Luminate to report more direct U.S independent music retail data than ever before.

In conjunction with today’s news, Billboard, which  receives streaming, sales and airplay data from Luminate to fuel its iconic music charts, announced the rebrand of its Tastemaker Albums Chart to Indie Store Album Sales, which reflects weekly top-selling titles across independent stores in the U.S.         

"I'd like to thank the coalitions, the retail stores, and Luminate for taking this issue seriously and working together to reach a deal," said Music Business Association President, Portia Sabin. "Sometimes it takes a pinch to bring people together, and the industry response to the unweighting of physical data was perhaps necessary to highlight the importance of that data to our industry. I’d also like to thank so many people at the labels, distributors, and even individual artists for speaking out and helping us to reach an agreement, because whenever our industry comes together to achieve a common goal it is inspiring for our future."

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, who served as the Record Store Day 2019 Ambassadors, stated, “We truly love …the [independent] shops. They've always meant the world to us. When it gets to this time when you can help out the community and the community record stores, it’s a no brainer.” Upon hearing the news that indie retail and Luminate had reached an agreement, Pearl Jam’s official statement was: "For nearly as long as we've been a band, there'd been a system that worked. We’re just honored to play a part... so that our beloved record stores can again have a real seat at the table."

“This new partnership is the most significant development in the independent music retail industry since the creation of Record Store Day,” said Andrea Paschal of CIMS. “Our goal has always been to ensure comprehensive physical sales reporting, and bringing in data from StreetPulse, which collects actual sales from more U.S. indie retailers than ever before, will ensure that every purchase is cataloged and counted correctly.”

“Luminate is always working towards the goal of providing quality and accurate data to the industry,” said Chris Muratore, Director of Partnerships at Luminate. “We always strive to be a good partner to those across the many sectors of the music and entertainment industries, and we are happy to announce this new partnership in alignment with that mission and our values.”

"Comprehensive sales figures are crucial for everyone: for artists and their label partners, for Luminate to provide accurate marketplace reporting, and for independent retailers who rightly own and control their data and the subsequent insights,” said Secretly Group marketing director Hannah Carlen. “Physical retail remains strong and growing, and this deal will ensure that reality is reflected in sales and total consumption figures.”