Luminate has introduced new requirements affecting how digital and physical album sales are reported on Shopify via Single. As these policies continue to evolve, additional updates may be required for Single users. Any future changes will be posted on this page.
Important: As of 2/21/25, Luminate has stated the "burden of proof" that sales are authentic now falls on data providers like Single, at the risk of losing reporting eligibility platform-wide. Therefore Single retains the right to exclude sales for any reason if we believe they are inorganic.
With that said, if all of the guidelines below are followed - it is unlikely that sales will be removed.
2/21/25 - Additional Verification Requirements for Reported Sales
- Orders made with business credit cards will be excluded.
- Emails on physical album orders will be validated through a 3rd party.
- Luminate will only accept d2c sales from Official Artist, Label & Distributor storefronts. All unauthorized stores must be reviewed and approved by Luminate no less than 14 days from reporting sales.
- Stores reporting through Single must remain active throughout the entirety of any reporting week for the sales in that period to be accepted by Luminate.
2/12/25 – New Verification Requirements for Reported Sales
To comply with Luminate’s latest standards, Single must now verify all album sales through additional screening before reporting to Luminate/Billboard.
The following checks are now in place:
- Orders must be marked as shipped before reporting.
- The Shopify risk assessment for each order must be lower than “High Risk.”
- Tracking numbers must be included for all reported physical sales.
- Orders placed via a proxy or VPN (physical and digital) will be excluded.
2/7/25 – Digital Album Redemption Requirement
To ensure reported sales reflect actual fan engagement, Luminate now requires that digital albums be actively redeemed before they count toward the charts.
- A sale only counts if the fan clicks the download link in their digital delivery email and downloads the file.
- If the fan does not redeem their download, the sale will not be reported to Luminate.