Billboard 200- 6 U2 Albums Chart in Top 200

[CosmoKramer]

"Six U2 albums are listed on this week's chart, in the wake of an iTunes sale of the band's catalog (which followed the unprecedented free delivery of their new album, Songs of Innocence, to every iTunes account). All of the catalog titles were priced from $5.99 to $7.99. The band's 1987 classic The Joshua Tree is the band's top album. It re-enters at #47."-Billboard


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[CosmoKramer]

"Six U2 albums are listed on this week's chart, in the wake of an iTunes sale of the band's catalog (which followed the unprecedented free delivery of their new album, Songs of Innocence, to every iTunes account). All of the catalog titles were priced from $5.99 to $7.99. The band's 1987 classic The Joshua Tree is the band's top album. It re-enters at #47."-Billboard


Sent from my iPad using U2 Interference

We will find out which 6 and how much they sold tomorrow. The sales wont be that impressive but more the fact that they went from selling near nothing to 30k week over week in the US.


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[macawaca]

Billboard 200 - U2 entries:

Joshua Tree 47
U218 singles 52
Achtung Baby 78
Unforgetable Fire 142
Rattle & Hum 172
War 181

 

[CosmoKramer]

Billboard 200 - U2 entries:



Joshua Tree 47

U218 singles 52

Achtung Baby 78

Unforgetable Fire 142

Rattle & Hum 172

War 181

Nice....1983 to 1991...straight!


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[prbiker15]

Good stuff.

 

[doctorwho]

Nice....1983 to 1991...straight!


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Except for U218Singles.

As that release contains the best of the 2000 era anyway, it makes sense that it's so high on the chart. It provides the big hits through all of U2's career (with a few extra songs thrown in).

 

[doctorwho]

Per Billboard, the #1 album this week only sold 88,000 copies. There was a time when those sales numbers would only be good enough for #15 or so.

Therefore, if SoI can reach 100,000 or more in actual sales in October, it should be more than enough for #3 (depending on the competition that week - and it seems that there are some contenders).

Per a second Billboard article, SoI has now reached 38M downloads (for full or partial listening). Bono states that there will be another release strategy for their next album, which he predicts is 18 months away (perhaps something released mid-tour??).

While people still clearly buy CD's and vinyl, it's obviously nowhere near what it used to be. And, as noted in that same article, people are even abandoning mp3 purchases. Streaming (and probably illegal downloading) accounts for most of music. I don't stream myself as I tend to listen to very specific tracks when I want to hear music. But I can see the appeal of just paying for essentially a "station" that plays songs from the artists you like most.

So Apple and U2's next strategy may not work - but I'm happy to see U2 continue to challenge getting people to buy music. And other artists should be thrilled for U2 attempting to see what does and what does not work. This is especially true for new artists.

 

[Dragonfave]

Maroon 5 No. 1 On Billboard Artist 100 Again; Lecrae Debuts, Jhene Aiko Soars | Billboard

Maroon 5 tops the Billboard Artist 100 for a second week. Meanwhile, Lecrae debuts at No. 7 and Jhene Aiko blasts 88-9 as their new albums debut on the Billboard 200. Plus, two bands at the head of rock royalty, U2 and the Beatles, make their first Artist 100 appearances.

The Artist 100 provides the first weekly ranking dedicated to measuring artist activity across Billboard's most influential charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, Billboard 200 albums chart and the Social 50. The Artist 100 blends data measuring album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.

Meanwhile, two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bands draw their first Artist 100 ink, led by U2, new at No. 35. As the group released its album Songs of Innocence for free to iTunes and Beats Music account holders on Sept. 9, the set is not eligible for Billboard sales charts until it goes on sale on Oct. 14; thus, only purchased albums from U2's catalog count toward the band's Artist 100 sum this week, with those titles making up nearly all the quartet's Artist 100 points total.