StockX: Merch’s New Billion-Dollar Player

When The Weeknd’s fourth album, After Hours, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March, merchandise was at the heart of the biggest first sales week of 2020 to date. Over half of the total 444,000 album equivalent units — 275,000 — were album sales, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, spurred on by merch and ticket bundles, with The Weeknd packaging After Hours with more than 80 items. Fans could buy the album alongside everything from hoodies, T-shirts and face masks to