Catalog Status?

[STING2]

Dr. Who,

Do you have this weeks soundscan reports from Melissa? ATYCLB should be spending its first week on the catalog chart this week. I'd be very interested to know where it ended up!

 

[doctorwho]

I will be out of town for a few days and I don't have time to write much now, but here's a quickee...

Melissa had not sent me SoundScan reports for the last few weeks, but she sent me this weeks.

"8 Mile" is the #1 album with over 700K units sold.

ATYCLB pops on the Catalog charts for the first time this week - at #91. It sold 2902 copies this week and 3227 copies last week. So it's still floating around 3000 copies sold per week. I'm sure by now it has officially crossed the 4M barrier in actual consumer sales. I'll let someone else do the math to get an estimate (based on the last time I reported numbers ).

U2's first "Best Of" charts at #55 this week on the Catalog charts with 3528 copies sold - it sold 3374 last week. I imagine that several of U2's albums will get a boost this coming week with the second "Best Of" release.

Lastly, both the DVD and VHS versions of the "Elevation" concert video sold over 650 copies last week.

Next week should be interesting.

 

[STING2]

Very interesting! Thanks Dr. Who for that update. So, after 11 weeks of wondering what ATYCLB sales in the USA were, we finally have a figure and its first week on the Catalog chart. #91 I'm sure is a lot lower than some people here anticipated. 2,902 copies is a much larger drop than I thought we would see as well. I imagine though that this figure of 2,902 copies in sales is the lowest sales week ATYCLB has had yet. Based on that, will know for sure at a minimum where the album stands in total soundscan sales in the USA. Its difficult to estimate for the 10 weeks in which there is no information, but its safe to say it has not sold less than 2,902 copies so far.

Thanks again for that update! Very interesting indeed!

 

[STING2]

Here is a very very conservitive estimate for the soundscan total for ATYCLB in the USA currently. Were missing soundscan info for week 95 to this week which is week 105. Thats 11 weeks. But Dr. Who just supplied last week and this weeks soundscan info for ATYCLB. Obviously last weeks sales of 3,227 were probably the lowest sales figure at that point, but being conservative, if you use that as the sales figure for the other 9 missing weeks plus adding this weeks and last weeks to the total soundscan figure at the end of week 94, you get: 3,993,870. I'm 99.9% sure its sold well beyond this, but as of right now, we have 9 weeks of missing chart and sales info, so I think its best to be conservative. So being conservative, the above figure based on this weeks sales should reach 4 million in two weeks. I'd wish they would go ahead and certify it, but I think they are going to wait until February when the stores have fully restocked all their product from the Christmas season. I'm hoping that there will be a complete recertification of all of U2s albums. Last one took place back in 1995.

By the way, anyone know if record clubs like BMG and others are offering ATYCLB in their package deals? This occur's more often once an album reaches catalog status.

 

[Bastian]

Thank you so much Dr. Who!

I'm really interested in U2 figure sales.I'd like to see where will chart Best of 80-90, ATYCLB, JT the next week,and if AB will come back on the catalog chart...

THANKS again!

 

[STING2]

Thanks to Dr. Who, I can provide an interesting update on ATYCLB chart/sales progress to date with the week ending Dec. 14 in Billboard.

For the week ending August 31 ATYCLB was at #199 in its 94th and last week on the Billboard 200. At that point, ATYCLB exact soundscan sales in the USA stood at:

3,958,698

9 weeks then followed with no information because the album was not yet eligible for catalog status. But Dr. Who has been able to dig up the past 6 weeks of info since ATYCLB has been charting on the Catalog chart.

Week 95 - 103 ?

Week 104 - 3,227
Week 105 - 2,902 #91 debut on Catalog Chart
Week 106 - 3,018 #104
Week 107 - 2,529 #182
Week 108 - 2,428 dropped off Catalog Chart
Week 109 - 4,583 #155 re-entered Catalog Chart

Thats a total of 18,687 in sales for ATYCLB the past 6 weeks. At a minimum, ATYCLB has now sold exactly:

3,977,385

There are of course 9 weeks of sales information that we don't have that need to be added to that total.

Its great to see ATYCLB rebound like this. I wonder if its because of the Special or if this means ATYCLB is on a lot of new fans Christmas list? Hope it can chart for the rest of the Christmas season.

 

[doctorwho]

Thanks Sting2! I was hoping someone would do this so I wouldn't have to.

I think it's safe to estimate 3,000 copies sold for those 9 weeks. In fact, I think that estimate is on the low side (it could be more like 3,500 copies sold - on average - for those 9 weeks). Still, using 3K as the weekly average, that gives us another 27,000 copies sold. Add that to the sum we know for sure - namely 3, 977,000 copies, and we have 4,004,000 copies sold. In other words, ATYCLB has officially crossed the 4M barrier in the U.S. in terms of copies sold. YAY!

Of course, if anyone still doubts this, then we can always wait one more week. If ATYCLB sells another 3-4K copies this week, then it will have easily passed that barrier.

Regardless, it has now sold more than enough copies to be certified as 4x Platinum in the U.S. Hopefully, when the labels start to certify the "Best Of", they'll also certify the "Elevation" video and recertify ATYCLB. I also wish they would recertify some of the older albums (like JT).

 

[STING2]

I think we may have to wait until stores re-stock their supplies after the Christmas season. I think we may see a recertification of a number of albums by January/February.

 

[STING2]

Week 110 for ATYCLB brings good sales of 4,755 copies as ATYCLB comes in at #148 on the Catalog chart. Its impressive to see this album continue to sell like this after well over two years. I thought it would get buried in the holiday sales period and not make it on to the catalog chart but it is doing very well. Total sales now stand at:

3,982,140

+ 9 weeks of sales that are unkown.

 

[WHYWHY]

That's awesome it's finally passed the 4M barrier in the U.S. Looks like ATYCLB might be on a little rise for the next few weeks...possibly with after-Christmas specials we may see it sticking around in the top 150 on the Catalogue Charts for a little longer.

God Bless.
WHYWHY.

 

[STING2]

Week 111 brings sales of 5,880 for ATYCLB! This is the most it has sold since it was on the Billboard 200 album chart! Total sales now stand at:

3,988,020

+ 9 weeks of unkown sales data!

 

[STING2]

ATYCLB is currently at #164 on the Catalog chart.

 

[doctorwho]

Week 111 brings sales of 5,880 for ATYCLB! This is the most it has sold since it was on the Billboard 200 album chart! Total sales now stand at:

3,988,020

+ 9 weeks of unkown sales data!

If we estimate 3K in sales for each of those 9 weeks, then total sales are 4.015M. Great job U2!

Based on the sales right before ATYCLB left the Catalog charts and the sales when it returned, I think this 3K estimate is solid. However, even if it is a bit high, clearly ATYCLB has sold enough to officially cross the 4M copies sold barrier in the U.S.

I do wish it was recertified. I state this because every so often, there's an article that discusses U2's albums, and they list ATYCLB as triple Platinum. However, as we all know, it is quadruple Platinum - and that is quite an achievement. Not only is this a million more copies sold, but in today's world, with file-sharing programs, even current big selling artists have trouble reaching this milestone. So it makes ATYCLB's feat all the more impressive.

But as STING2 wrote before, ATYCLB will probably be recertified at the same time the 90's "Best Of" receives certification - which will most likely be in January.