5 Seconds of Summer fans have launched an online campaign against the Billboard charts following a “shipping error” which has seen their latest album fail to reach #1.
Over a week ago, Australian pop-rock outfit 5 Seconds of Summer released Calm, their fourth album, and first since 2018’s Youngblood. Given how popular the group have consistently been for close to a decade, it goes without saying that fans were going to be keeping a close watch on the record’s performance.
While the band’s first three albums have managed to top both the ARIA and Billboard charts, Calm expectantly took out another #1 spot on Aussie charts this weekend. However, in the US, it was a different story, with Calm being relegated to a confusing #62 on the Billboard 200.
So, why would a group like 5 Seconds of Summer, who recently celebrated a billion streams for their single “Youngblood”, see such a drop in their chart performance in the US? Well, it can apparently all be summed up by the phrase “shipping error“, and fans aren’t happy.
Earlier in the week, 5 Seconds of Summer took to social media to announce to their fans that an error of sorts had seen their new record released around 40 minutes early on iTunes, meaning that the 10,000 streaming units racked up in that time would actually count towards the previous week’s chart, rather than the upcoming one.
“Hey guys, we found out a few days ago that due to a shipping error, around 10,000 copies of our album were sent out early in the U.S,” they wrote on Twitter. “Those albums will now appear in this weeks [sic] Billboard chart.
“We still wanna make our album chart next week as big as possible and want to thank you all so much, to everyone that is streaming or has bought the album.”
— 5 Seconds of Summer (@5SOS) March 30, 2020
While fans would have been prepared for 5 Seconds of Summer to make a big showing on the Billboard 200 when the chart positions were released, this error meant they had a handicap of 10,000 copies working against them. As a result, the band’s new album managed to hit #62 on the chart this week, while The Weeknd’s After Hours debuted at the top.
Although Billboard had predicted that 5 Seconds of Summer’s new album could “make waves in next week’s top 10”, data released by the organisation noted that The Weeknd achieved his position thanks to a total of “444,000 equivalent album units”, while Lil Uzi Vert was relegated to #2 thanks to 115,000.
Over on Hits Daily Double, The Weeknd’s album units were clocked at 134,905, while 5 Seconds of Summer trailed behind only slightly with 132,349, meaning that had these 10,000 album united been counted towards the current week, they would have scored their fourth #1 album on the US charts.
As a result, the group’s diehard fanbase have now begun to petition Billboard to count the 10,000 album unit discrepancy, with hashtags like #BillboardCountThe10k following on from last week’s #iTunesIsOverParty, which protested the early release of the record.
Billboard have not released any statement regarding the band’s chart position or the album unit discrepancy, though 5 Seconds of Summer recently took to Twitter to thank fans for their help in getting Calm to #1 in Australia.
“We are blown away by the news that our 4th record CALM has topped the Australian charts this week,” they wrote. “And to have our first four albums go to #1 in our home country is so so special; we can’t thank our fans enough for making this happen.”
In related news, 5 Seconds of Summer are set to visit Australian shores in November when they bring their No Shame tour to local fans. Check out the details below.
5 Seconds of Summer No Shame 2020 Australian Tour
Friday, November 27th
HOTA, Home of The Arts, Gold Coast, QLD (All Ages)
Saturday, November 28th
Riverstage, Brisbane, QLD (All Ages)
Monday, November 30th
HBF Stadium, Perth, WA (All Ages)
Wednesday, December 2nd
Bar on The Hill, Newcastle, NSW (All Ages)
Friday, December 4th
Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, VIC (All Ages)
Saturday, December 5th
Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sydney, NSW (All Ages)
Sunday, December 6th
Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sydney, NSW (All Ages)
Tickets on sale now via Live Nation
