Tyler, The Creator Beats Meek Mill Even After Inflated Tidal Numbers

Tyler, The Creator feared that Tidal's inflating of Meek Mill's numbers would cost him the number one spot on this week's Billboard album chart.

It didn't because Tyler's Flower Boy [100,641 SPS] finished second to Lana Del Rey's Lust For Life [103,085] and edged out Meek's Wins & Losses [98,594].

We did learn exactly how much Tidal's inflation was worth.

[Related: Tyler, The Creator accuses Tidal and Meek of cheating.]

Meek's Wins & Losses got 12K more SPS in Billboard's accounting than it did in Hits Daily Double's, who didn't include the free streams Meek got when he placed his album in front of Tidal’s firewall.

Here's why HDD didn't:

Atlantic’s Meek Mill, on the other hand, ruffled some feathers when Wins & Losses, which bows at #3 with nearly 87k, was put up in front of Tidal’s paywall. Counting these streams, as Billboard apparently plans to do, would represent a reckless and absurd acceptance of blatant chart manipulation. Remember: These free streams generate no revenue and thus equate to free goods, making them ineligible for chart inclusion. Also, the presence of the album in front of the paywall opens the way for unlimited use of bots to drive up streaming totals, unencumbered by accounts or logins. Knowing that—and since these streams were not provided to our chart partner, BuzzAngle Music—we are not counting them.