On 3/27 5 seconds of summer released their 4th album, CALM; a culmination of 2 yrs, but arguably a lifetime, of hard work, personal experiences, and sonic evolution. We were gifted a revolutionary album, arguably the best we've seen #AddressThe10k #FessUpBillboard @billboard

Three days after album release the band announced that over 10k copies of CALM had been sent out early due to a clerical error that Ticketmaster was responsible for , meaning their debut week was considered to be before the album even dropped. #AddressThe10K #FessUpBillboard

While the charts showed a debut at #62 on the billboard 200, fans around the world banned together after this tragic announcement to insure another chart topping album for the band #Addressthe10k #FessUpBillboard @billboard

I’ve never seen anything quite like this. The dedication and outpouring of love from fans was unprecedented in the week following CALM’s release. Individual people buying several albums at a time and many fans streaming on loop for 24 hours a day #AddressThe10k #FessUpBillboard

With 3/3 number 1 albums under our belt it seemed like now more than ever, our boys needed our help to achieve that fourth #1

#AddressThe10k #FessUpBillboard @billboard

Even being down by 10k records CALM sold 132k units in its first week and without the 10k landed us at #2 just behind The Weeknd’s phenomenal album, After Hours, by a mere 3k. The numbers we pulled during debut week is nothing short of impressive #AddressThe10k #FessUpBillboard

However, we knew CALM was a number 1 album. The boys deserved this victory. We deserved this victory, and @billboard took it from us...and thus the revolution began #AddressThe10k #FessUpBillboard @billboard

Shortly after the Billboard 200 chart was announced showing CALM at #2 billboard whipped out a rulebook explaining a “long standing policy” that album debuts count the week customer RECEIVES the album.

Had Billboards actions in the past actually reflected this policy I’m sure we'd be much more willing to tolerate the injustice. However, early release is common, most recently Harry Styles’ Fine Line was released in stores weeks early and he was not punished on the charts.

The discrepancy between @billboard 's treatment of 5sos and other artists in the same situation reeked of favoritism and corruption, this quote unquote unbiased company had exposed their true colors to the wrong audience #Addressthe10k #FessUpBillboard

The injustice at the hands of billboard, withholding CALM’s rightful spot at #1 sparked a full out riot from fans. With 3 worldwide trending tags in one day, outcry to media outlets and billboard executives alike, a war began in an attempt to convince billboard to reconsider

It wasn’t long before radio stations, media outlets from Forbes to Rolling Stone, and people that work in the industry, came forward sharing their opinions on the situation. The consensus among anyone who would listen was that bb made a mistake #Addressthe10k #FessUpBillboard

The band remained understandably quiet on the subject, liking a few tweets calling out bb and vague messages of thank yous and i love yous broke the silence until ashton posted a video addressing the situation in the best way he could #Addressthe10k https://twitter.com/Ashton5SOS/status/1247675355663446016?s=20

It was eye opening and heart wrenching how worried he was to speak out against the company. Clearly choosing his words carefully, he voiced in his tweet, that saying the wrong thing could cost them future partnerships with media outlets. #Addressthe10k #FessUpBillboard @billboard

The pain in ash’s voice didn’t go unnoticed as we hung onto every word. His final sentiment probably hitting us hardest, “keep voicing when things are wrong, and I hope to be as brave as you are” Though his words chosen carefully, the message was abundantly clear #Addressthe10k

It was time for us to be a voice for them, as they had been for us for all these years. It was time to save the band that had saved us so many times. #Addressthe10k #FessUpBillboard @billboard

Ash’s video lit a fire under us as we entered day 4 of fighting this fight, we knew the band that had gotten us through our darkest times, saved our lives, and taught us to stand up for what’s right, needed us to do what they had been preaching for a decade #Addressthe10k

The lyrics they had written as teenagers about not conforming and standing up to the corrupt system had never been more relevant. A common theme among all 4 albums most recently with the 3rd single No Shame, the band isn’t afraid to shed light on the darkest parts of the industry