Billboard and Luminate Recognize First New Physical Music Format Since the CD
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, September 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — KiTbetter celebrates a major milestone for artists, labels, fans, and physical music as Billboard expands chart eligibility to include qualifying Smart Media Albums, a new category recognizing how fan relationships with albums continue to evolve.
Beginning with the Oct. 2–8, 2026 tracking week, qualifying KiTalbums will be eligible for inclusion in Billboard’s album consumption and sales charts through Luminate’s updated consumption data. KiTbetter is one of only seven approved vendors and manufacturers currently recognized under the new Smart Media Album eligibility update.
According to Luminate, Smart Media Albums mark “the first time we’re adding a new physical music format since CDs,” underscoring the significance of Billboard’s eligibility update for artists, labels, and fans. The announcement also reflects Billboard’s broader recognition that “the ways fans experience and collect music are evolving,” and that chart methodology must continue to account for “new music technologies and ways in which fans are discovering, collecting, and engaging with music and artists.”
For KiTbetter, the announcement reinforces a belief that has shaped the company from the beginning. Albums deserve formats that preserve ownership, collectibility, and the full creative world an artist builds around the music.
“For the past decade, we have worked to create a new medium for music fans and artists, one that combines digital connectivity with a physical format designed for continued use and preserves the lasting value of album ownership,” said Joe Seok, CEO of KiTbetter. “Billboard and Luminate’s recognition of Smart Media Albums is a meaningful step forward. The KiTalbum was built for this moment, giving artists greater freedom to tell their stories and fans an album they can see, hear, hold, collect, and revisit.”
The KiTalbum is an artist-designed hybrid physical and digital album format that pairs a collectible physical release with a complete digital album experience inside the KiTplayer app. Each KiTalbum can include a keepsake box, collectible artwork, photo cards, stickers, credits, lyrics, music, videos, photos, and expanded fan experiences.
Fans open the digital KiTalbum experience by clicking the KiT near their phone or tablet. The KiT uses KiTbetter’s patented ultrasonic sound signature to connect the physical album to its digital world, where fans can play music, watch videos, view artwork, read lyrics and credits, and return to the album again and again.
The new Billboard eligibility expansion gives artists and labels another chart-eligible physical music format to support U.S. release strategies alongside traditional formats such as vinyl records and CDs. Four KiTalbum packaging types are now eligible, giving artists and labels added flexibility across fan experiences, price points, retail programs, collector editions, and chart campaigns.
KiTalbums are already available at indie retailers across the U.S. through ThinkIndie Distribution, with a growing international retail presence that includes Tower Records Japan, Rough Trade, and Townsend Music in the U.K., and select retailers across Europe and Asia.
As Scott Register, Head of A&R at ThinkIndie Distribution says, “Over my 30 years in indie retail, a few new configurations for physical music delivery have come along that, for one reason or another, didn’t take hold. These take the best of the physical and digital worlds and combine them in the perfect space. Add to it the KiTalbum’s ability to connect artist communities, and we think this could be a real home run.”
The announcement also moves the U.S. closer to major global markets where KiTalbums are already recognized in multiple chart systems. As fans continue to seek music experiences they can collect and keep, the Smart Media Album category creates a new path for music-focused formats that preserve the emotional value of physical albums while reflecting how fans engage with artists today.
About KiTbetter
KiTbetter, a subsidiary of South Korean media technology company Muzlive, is reshaping music ownership through the KiTalbum, a patented hybrid physical and digital album format that gives fans something to hold and artists a more direct, profitable way to share their work. Each KiTalbum combines premium packaging, collectible artwork, music, videos, photos, lyrics, credits, and expanded fan experiences through KiTplayer, available for iOS and Android. KiTbetter for Artists gives independent artists an easy way to create KiTalbums and sell them through KiTbetter’s online store, which ships to more than 200 countries worldwide. KiTbetter also operates a flagship retail experience in Hongdae, Seoul, reflecting the brand’s deep connection to fan culture, collectibility, and physical music discovery. Since releasing the first connected album in 2014, KiTbetter has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and holds multiple patents on its proprietary technology.
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