Independent creators Eric July of Rippaverse and Dan Vasc made major waves in the music world this week when their single Glorious Death, tied to the upcoming animated project Norfica, debuted at No. 7 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart. But according to July, that impressive placement came despite serious obstacles—and the duo may have been unjustly denied the No. 1 spot due to a quiet rule change and misleading guidance from the industry itself.
In a revealing livestream episode of Rip and the Silverback, July explained that the majority of their digital sales were not counted by Billboard, despite his team following all the directions provided by Luminate, the company responsible for compiling chart data for Billboard.
Understanding that the combined fanbases of Rippaverse and Dan Vasc could generate major numbers, July reached out to Luminate well before the single’s release to ensure everything would be properly reported. Because most Rippaverse fans shop directly through the company’s official site, July wanted to verify that those direct sales would be eligible.
Luminate explicitly recommended a Shopify-based platform called Single, assuring July that it would report his direct-to-consumer sales to Billboard. July spent time, energy, and money setting up an entirely new storefront on Shopify and integrating Single into his release strategy. All promotional efforts, including ads and social media posts, pointed fans to the new storefront powered by Luminate’s suggested solution.
And then the truth came out.
The first sign that something was wrong came when the Billboard chart rankings were released. Throughout release week, Glorious Death had dominated both Amazon and iTunes, reaching No. 1 on Amazon across all genres for four consecutive days and holding steady in the Top 5 on iTunes Metal and Rock charts. At no point during the week were artists like Muse or Three Days Grace seen ahead of them on either storefront. Yet when the Billboard rankings dropped, those same artists were listed above July and Vasc, despite showing no visible lead in sales.
That discrepancy raised immediate red flags and led July to contact Luminate for clarification.
July then discovered that none of the sales through Single were counted. According to Luminate, a 2023 policy change disqualified direct-to-consumer digital downloads from Billboard chart eligibility—even if reported through a platform they themselves had recommended. July noted that the majority of Glorious Death sales occurred through this route, meaning thousands of legitimate purchases were discarded from the final tally.
To make matters worse, July only learned of the disqualification after the fact. Single later issued a refund for the fees associated with the release—an unprompted move that July sees as a tacit admission that they misled him.
A screenshot from the trailer to the Saints and Sinners collection from The Rippaverse – Rippaverse
So, with the bulk of sales coming through Single and going completely uncounted, Glorious Death managed to chart at No. 7. It even outperformed major label acts like Guns N’ Roses and Metallica on Amazon and iTunes throughout release week. It stands to reason that, if the sales numbers were counted fairly as originally laid out by Luminate, there’s a good chance that Glorious Death would have claimed the top spot on the Billboard charts.
It certainly seems as though Glorious Death was unfairly kept from the top spot due to a combination of industry gatekeeping and opaque reporting standards that favor label-backed artists.
Avery Silman aka Isom in Isom #1 (2022), Rippaverse
But July remained proud of the single’s performance and was highly optimistic about the future.
“It’s a cause for celebration,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were misled. At the end of the day, we still debuted No. 7 as a completely independent project. Most of our sales didn’t even count and we still are top 10.”
“That’s why I say with such certainty, now with that knowledge, the next Norfica song will chart number one,” Vasc added.
A screenshot from the trailer to the Saints and Sinners collection from The Rippaverse – Rippaverse
In an era where independent creators are increasingly outpacing corporate media, this controversy underscores the continued struggle between new media and legacy institutions. Even when the audience shows up and buys in, the system isn’t always built to recognize them.
But if July’s track record is any indication, the system may not be able to ignore them much longer.
How do you feel about Glorious Death and its place on the Billboard Charts? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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I don’t normally listen to Metal, but this track was able to meet me in the middle with melodic moments rather than just wall-to-wall metal screaming that characterizes many metal songs these days.
Just listened to the song, it’s pretty good, I could put this on my playlist, fits alongside Dream Theater.
This just confirms that the billboard charts are a scam and a marketing tool for the mainstream music industry. Even if this wasn’t a political hitjob, the big labels don’t want the customer to see how much power he has to elevate an indie project.
That aside, the song is a banger and I’m glad I supported it, alongside the comic book.