Theory about the vinyls shipping early, and a delay to the digital

Alright, this might sound like a far-fetched theory, but hear me out.

The vinyls were shipped early, and that feels intentional rather than accidental. Normally, physical copies are held back so they count toward first week sales once the album officially drops. Shipping them before release breaks that pattern, which suggests the release date might not be locked in.

There’s also the issue of how Billboard counts sales. For an album to count, it usually needs to be officially released and fully available. If the project isn’t finished or isn’t on streaming yet, those early vinyl shipments may not qualify. We’ve already seen something similar happen with Donda 2, where the rollout didn’t follow standard rules and ended up not counting in the traditional way.

So putting it all together, it’s possible the early vinyl shipments were done to clear inventory and keep momentum going, even if the album Bully isn’t ready to drop yet. If that’s the case, those early copies might not count toward official sales, but any new or replacement vinyls sent after the album is properly released, probably would.

It def feels like there’s less pressure for the album to drop on time. This might have been part of the plan all along, get the current vinyls out early, then press updated versions once the album is finalized.

If I’m misguided here, and you have more knowledge on these subjects, please feel free to educate.