KANYE STREAMS INTO THE FOREFRONT

Although sales will likely account for a minuscule piece of his total (The Life of Pablo is for sale only on his website), Kanye West looks headed for for #2 on our next Sales + Plus Streaming (SPS) chart. Since going wide to Spotify, Apple Music and other services last week, preliminary data suggests Pablo (G.O.O.D./Def Jam) is on track for some 90m streams, which would put him at 60k+ SEA.

This would, as far as we know, be the first time an album scored such a high SPS ranking with virtually no sales—a benchmark for the new era.

Speaking of new eras, this dramatic development coincides with the announcement that Scooter Braun is now on Yeezy's management team. Will Braun—who showed the biz his ability to move the needle last fall when he helped propel Justin Bieber to a huge sales bow that stunned chart-watchers—now facilitate another dramatic turnaround for an artist?

Controversy is said to be swirling around the question of how any sales Kanye's website generates will or won't be reported, causing some drama at the Industry Bible regarding whether the album would be eligible to chart.

Stay tuned for updates tomorrow and throughout the week. For more on the battle for chart dominance, go here.