Overview
As of 2nd October 2026, Serenade Smart Formats are chart-eligible in the US and Canada. The rules are set by Billboard and compiled by Luminate, and apply the same way to both the US and Canadian charts.
Billboard and Luminate are the primary reference point for any rules. Where anything below is unclear for your release, contact them directly or reach out to Serenade, we're happy to guide you through it.
Contacts
Serenade — anything about products, formats, artwork, manufacturing, or general questions: support@serenade.co
Luminate — For questions about US or Canada rules for Smart Formats: Shane Tobin stobin@luminatedata.com.
Eligible Music Releases
Only albums are chart eligible as Formats for the US & Canada.
Eligible Smart Formats
Currently, the following Serenade formats are approved for the US & Canada:
Other formats beyond these may be eligible case by case. Please ask us if you have any ideas or contact Billboard/Luminate directly.
For the US and Canada, digital assets on the Serenade platform cannot be downloadable by the fan but only streamable and viewable within the digital page.
Fans are required to sign in or create an account to access the content.
Chart Sales
This is the biggest difference from the UK, Australia and Germany: For Smart Formats in the US & Canada the sale does not count at digital redemption. Tapping the product is not a reporting event.
The sale counts at the point of purchase in a physical store, or at the point of shipment for D2C/mail order.
Once the product has been purchased or shipped, it counts as the sale, whether or not the fan ever taps or accesses the digital experience.
The retailer reports the sale, the same as with any other physical release. Serenade does not send chart or redemption data to Luminate for the US and Canada; this flows through point-of-sale reporting via your normal retail and D2C channels.
Because the sale is locked in at shipment/purchase rather than at redemption, everything the fan will receive has to exist and be finalised at the moment the product ships — see the content rules below.
The same transaction is counted differently depending on the chart:
Chart | Smart Format Sale |
Billboard album consumption chart (Billboard 200) | 0.5 equivalent album unit |
Billboard album sales chart | 1.0 full album sale |
Luminate market share calculation | 1.0 full album sale |
This is part of an introductory phase by Billboard/Luminate and weighting may change at a later date.
There is no Indie Store weighting or modelling for Smart Media Albums.
UPC Rules
An album campaign can have up to two Smart Format UPCs for the entirety of the campaign in order for them to be chart eligible.
The two chart-eligible UPCs must be designated before pre-order or on-sale/release/street date, whichever comes first.
UPCs must be registered with Luminate at least three days in advance of pre-order or on-sale/release/street date (whichever comes first), and categorised as a Smart Media UPC.
Registering and Approving Smart Formats
It is the responsibility of the artist team or label to register and approve their Smart Formats
You must:
Confirm your approved product configuration with Serenade.
Create your UPCs
Register and categorise those UPCs with Luminate at least three days before pre-order or on-sale.
Publish a contents disclosure on the product page covering everything the digital experience will contain, live before pre-order opens.
Confirm retail pricing is at or above the minimum (see Pricing below).
Billboard/Luminate have the final say on approval and rulings.
Pricing and Bundling
Minimum retail price: USD $7.99, mirroring the minimum for a CD. Below that, the sale is not chart eligible.
There is no bundling.
This is a hard rule, and different from the UK, Australia and Germany, where bundling rules are allowed.
Bonus Content and Content Rules
Beyond the album's audio tracks, the following digital content is permitted during the onboarding phase:
Bonus audio tracks
Audio commentary, voice messages or audio interviews from the artist
Music videos, behind-the-scenes video, interviews — 30 minutes or less, and no longer than the running time of the audio tracks
Text-based lyrics, liner notes, album production credits
Digital images/photos — limit 30
For the US and Canada, digital assets on the Serenade platform cannot be downloadable by the fan but only streamable and viewable within the digital page.
Fans are required to sign in or create an account to access the content.
Rules that apply to Smart Format Content
For the US and Canada, digital assets on the Serenade platform cannot be downloadable by the fan but only streamable and viewable within the digital page.
Fans are required to sign in or create an account to access the content.
No randomisation of any digital item.
No digital signatures, signed packaging or signed inserts.
The core track list must match the standard release, so it can merge with the widely available version for chart tracking.
Bonus tracks are fine as extra content, but they can't replace the standard track list.
Disclose everything at the point of sale — the consumer must be told what the digital experience contains at the time of purchase or pre-order.
No adding content after purchase. The product can't deliver content beyond what was disclosed at the time of sale, and everything must be complete at the moment of shipment or purchase. A Smart Media Album is treated like a CD in this respect: whatever is in the package when it ships is the album, permanently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I release a single as a Smart Media product?
Not chart eligible. Only albums count — singles, individual tracks and multi-song single bundles are excluded.
Can I release more than two Smart Media versions of an album?
Yes, but only two UPCs across the album's lifetime can be designated chart eligible, and that has to be decided before pre-order or on-sale.
Does the fan have to tap the product for the sale to count?
No. The sale counts at purchase or shipment. Taps are not a reporting event in the US and Canada, unlike the UK, Australia and Germany.
Can I add a surprise bonus track to the experience after release?
Not on a chart-eligible release. Contents must be complete at shipment and can't exceed what was disclosed at the point of sale
Can I do random variants or chase cards?
No. Randomisation isn't permitted for any digital or physical item on a chart-eligible release.
Can the artist sign the packaging or an insert?
No. Signed packaging, signed inserts and digital signatures are all excluded.