Travis Scott, a prominent figure in hip-hop known for his influential music. And Sabrina Carpenter, a rising pop star, has recently been entangled in a Billboard 200 chart dispute.
Scott’s mixtape ‘Days Before Rodeo‘ was reported to have sold just over 361,000 units, placing it slightly behind Carpenter’s ‘Short ‘n Sweet‘, which garnered 362,000 units. The close sales numbers have led to a controversy that questions the accuracy and fairness of Billboard and Luminate’s charting process.
Travis Scott’s Allegations Of Inaccurate Sales Reporting
Scott’s team has formally disputed the chart results, alleging that nearly 1,300 units sold before the cutoff were not counted in the final tally. They argue that this discrepancy could have shifted ‘Days Before Rodeo‘ to the top position, surpassing Carpenter’s album.
“This was never about Travis versus Sabrina — it’s about the integrity of the process and the questionable tactics used in U.S. charting,” a representative for Travis Scott told Rolling Stone.
Related: Watch: IShowSpeed Beats Travis Scott In A Foot Race Challenge At Fanatics Fest
The letter further criticized the Billboard 200 process for “arbitrary discarding of verified sales from trusted providers.” It pointed to what Scott’s team described as “archaic indie retail weighting processes” and decisions that seemed “inconsistent with historical precedent.”
It also included a conversation with Tommy Stalknecht, CEO of Single, which operates Shopify. According to the screenshots reviewed but not verified, Stalknecht reported an “extremely high volume of orders” following the release of a deluxe version of Scott’s mixtape.
Stalknecht claimed that nearly 1,300 units sold in the last 15 minutes before the midnight cutoff were not counted by Luminate. The letter alleged that Scott’s team reached out multiple times to Luminate to rectify the issue but received no response.
Related: Sabrina Carpenter Pens Sweet Note For Fans After Her ‘Short N Sweet’ Tour Gets Sold Out
Scott’s team claims that they faced “this exact same issue” when Scott released ‘Utopia‘ in 2023. It led to Luminate adding back a certain number of sales. “Everyone was fully in the dark from Luminate all weekend,” read the letter.
Billboard And Luminate Stand By Their Numbers
Luminate has defended its practices, stating, “We are confident that our numbers are correct in accordance with our processes and methodology.” Despite this, Scott’s team remained unconvinced.
The letter also questioned Luminate’s “indie retail ‘weighting,'” which they say gave Carpenter a push over Scott this week, and which offers “no option” for transparency. “It clearly bumped Sabrina’s final number of units just above Travis by almost the exact amount of units we erroneously ‘lost’ that would have counted toward week 1,” read the letter.
In Case You Missed: Travis Scott Arrested After Drunken Fight With Bodyguard In Paris
Adding another layer of controversy, Scott’s team questioned the objectivity of Luminate’s employees. They specifically pointed out that one of them had previously worked at Island Records, Carpenter’s label.
The letter suggested that this connection might have influenced the chart results, implying a potential conflict of interest. “Logic would dictate” that the employee “has a personal incentive to encourage the artist signed to his previous employer while under his tenure to ‘win’ the race this week,” the letter stated.
