Always been juiced & manipulated of course, it's just seems much easier to do over the past 5 specifically with the growth of streaming.
Two major things tho, they have a HUGE advantage in terms of there not being widespread bootlegging of their material. How many people you know are still getting MP3's & loading there phones/ipads/laptops etc etc
On top of that streaming affords you listens that you would never get just based off playlist, mixes, suggested etc etc... Youtube numbers are now calculated into billboard certifications ? albums being certified gold because of one huge single being on it
I know billboard has been trying to make improvements but when people start comparing new age numbers to even as recent as 5-10 years ago its two completely different games. Drake had the #1, 2 & 3 songs in the country or some ****..... it's been maybe a month & not one of them is above 25. It's easier then ever to manipulate "sales" & accolades
Pre Soundscan, Billboard called up record stores and literally just asked the managers what was selling that week. Basically a honor system. What could be easier to finesse than that ****
Hip hop sales went up after Soundscan was introduced
Then they figured out how to manipulate Soundscan, work the mom and pop shops etc.
Early 90s, dropping a single and immediately debuting at top 5 on the charts wasn't really a thing. They figured out you could run up the radio spins and just hold off on putting the song out for sale (can't be eligible for the charts if it's not for sale). Wait til its spinning crazy
then drop it for sale and ride up the charts off the combo of spins and sales. Same thing, everybody started debuting on the charts super high after that
I agree, its always been tough to compare current/contemporary success with previous gens but it's because every couple years _'s figure out new ****, then they try to account for it, rinse and repeat lol
RIAA Gold/Platinum is a whole other thing cause they went off albums shipped, as opposed to sold. Which obviously makes it possible to press up and ship a million records and get that platinum plaque without actually selling a million records.
I feel like the new **** just a different side of the same coin. _'s was hot when they killed the bundles, Nicki ranted for like 2 months about that Travis Scott ****