Week 11

[zoocarolina]

I know I will get hated for saying it, but if U2 were to get on American Idol tonight on the finale and sing Magnificent, that's all it would take to get on top 100 downloads.

Sad but true.

 

[believer75]

Sad but true.

Yeah, it's the new American Bandstand or Ed Sullivan, but only in the sense it's how artists get their new product out there, much like they did on those shows.
I like Jamie Foxx but that new song is not the best...and it's still hovering around the top 100. He got a lot of exposure on AI this year.
I wouldn't care if U2 sang Magnificent tonight...it would be awesome. Those kids need to hear it. And their lives would be better for it

 

[zoocarolina]

Yeah, it's the new American Bandstand or Ed Sullivan, but only in the sense it's how artists get their new product out there, much like they did on those shows.
I like Jamie Foxx but that new song is not the best...and it's still hovering around the top 100. He got a lot of exposure on AI this year.
I wouldn't care if U2 sang Magnificent tonight...it would be awesome. Those kids need to hear it. And their lives would be better for it

I agree, you go where the masses go in this case and it would give them another shot at a young audience. To me it's not selling out by any means either.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

to clarify "underground" as compared to other mainstream u2 albums and not to other artists, ie not as big as say a jt, ab, etc bc i think we all thought it would be at that initial level, but it's still early, I think it will be comparable to htdaab at the end of its run

Relative to how other albums are selling this year, NLOTH is just as big as Joshua Tree was in 1987 or Achtung Baby was in 1991/1992 at this point. On July 4, 1987, U2 played Paris and Island records had a party before the show celebrating the fact that the Joshua Tree at that point was the biggest selling album worldwide of 1987 6 months into the year. U2 will be able to have the same party this year before their June 30, 2009 Barcelona show, celebrating the fact that "No Line On The Horizon" is the biggest selling album of the year worldwide at the 6 month mark, just like they did back in 1987 with Joshua Tree.

 

[Danny Boy]

good points and i think this is exactly what the music industry is worried about and imo singles are pushed too much, should be bait to an album, but I don't think it's happening as much as it used too, probably a reflection on our culture with a short-attention span

Singles are pushed too much? One of the major ways that the record industry has run itself into the ground is by expecting people to buy a whole album when they only want one song. This worked OK until Napster came along and people could download just the one song they wanted, but no one is willing to pay $15 dollars to get one song anymore.

Yes, 100K albums is worth 1 million singles, but there's no guarantee that 10% of those 1 million people would buy a whole album when they only want the one song.

Back in the 70's and early 80's I mostly bought 7" singles and only bought albums of bands that I really liked, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that system. If the record companies still put out singles and had a reasonable pricing structure for them, it could still be a profitable business.

 

[Native_Son]

Relative to how other albums are selling this year, NLOTH is just as big as Joshua Tree was in 1987 or Achtung Baby was in 1991/1992 at this point. On July 4, 1987, U2 played Paris and Island records had a party before the show celebrating the fact that the Joshua Tree at that point was the biggest selling album worldwide of 1987 6 months into the year. U2 will be able to have the same party this year before their June 30, 2009 Barcelona show, celebrating the fact that "No Line On The Horizon" is the biggest selling album of the year worldwide at the 6 month mark, just like they did back in 1987 with Joshua Tree.

 

[zoocarolina]

Relative to how other albums are selling this year, NLOTH is just as big as Joshua Tree was in 1987 or Achtung Baby was in 1991/1992 at this point. On July 4, 1987, U2 played Paris and Island records had a party before the show celebrating the fact that the Joshua Tree at that point was the biggest selling album worldwide of 1987 6 months into the year. U2 will be able to have the same party this year before their June 30, 2009 Barcelona show, celebrating the fact that "No Line On The Horizon" is the biggest selling album of the year worldwide at the 6 month mark, just like they did back in 1987 with Joshua Tree.

touche and I take back my lame attempt at "underground", you have me convinced that this album is doing quite well!

 

[zoocarolina]

Singles are pushed too much? One of the major ways that the record industry has run itself into the ground is by expecting people to buy a whole album when they only want one song. This worked OK until Napster came along and people could download just the one song they wanted, but no one is willing to pay $15 dollars to get one song anymore.

Yes, 100K albums is worth 1 million singles, but there's no guarantee that 10% of those 1 million people would buy a whole album when they only want the one song.

Back in the 70's and early 80's I mostly bought 7" singles and only bought albums of bands that I really liked, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that system. If the record companies still put out singles and had a reasonable pricing structure for them, it could still be a profitable business.

Excellent points! Can we all chase it back to illegal downloading then as part of the issue for the decline in album sales and the fact that the record companies moved to slowly to roll out alternatives?

 

[Danny Boy]

Excellent points! Can we all chase it back to illegal downloading then as part of the issue for the decline in album sales and the fact that the record companies moved to slowly to roll out alternatives?

Yes, I think that if the record companies had been proactive about digital technologies back in the late 90's then the landscape would be much different now.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

I know I will get hated for saying it, but if U2 were to get on American Idol tonight on the finale and sing Magnificent, that's all it would take to get on top 100 downloads.

you are probably right, unfortunately, lets hope they avoid such a ploy.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

touche and I take back my lame attempt at "underground", you have me convinced that this album is doing quite well!

Here are the top 10 selling albums worldwide, of 2009, as of last week:


Best Selling Albums in 2009

1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2.715.000
2. Lady Gaga The Fame 1.836.000
3. Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 1.565.000
4. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 1.536.000
5. Soundtrack Twilight 1.535.000
6. Taylor Swift Fearless 1.467.000
7. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1.422.500
8. Pink Funhouse 1.201.000
9. Nickelback Dark Horse 1.122.000
10. Soundtrack Hannah Montana: The Movie 1.061.000


Notice that the #2 album of the year is nearly 1 million copies BEHIND NLOTH. Less than 7 weeks to go until the 6 month mark as well as U2's first show of 360 in Barcelona. The top 10 above gets updated tomorrow with this past week of sales.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Back in the 70's and early 80's I mostly bought 7" singles and only bought albums of bands that I really liked, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that system. If the record companies still put out singles and had a reasonable pricing structure for them, it could still be a profitable business.

Back in the late 1980s, 7" singles would cost 2 to 3 dollars per single. Essentially, if you bought four singles released from an album, you would have been better off buying the album instead. But now, a single song is only worth 10% of the album. Adjusted for inflation, today's 99 cent singles would be about 45 cents in 1987. But actual 7" singles in 1987 sold for at least 2 dollars.

The real thing that is hurting the industry is not the fact that a CD cost $15 dollars, but that people can get the entire CD for free in a number of different ways. By the way, if CD's were still the same price they were in 1989, they would cost $25 to $30 dollars in 2009! Today's CD's at regular prices are dirt cheap compared to the late 80s and early 90s.

 

[BVS]

The real thing that is hurting the industry is not the fact that a CD cost $15 dollars, but that people can get the entire CD for free in a number of different ways. By the way, if CD's were still the same price they were in 1989, they would cost $25 to $30 dollars in 2009! Today's CD's at regular prices are dirt cheap compared to the late 80s and early 90s.

Exactly. Those that think pricing is a factor are kidding themselves, CD prices have not changed that much at all, if anything they've gone down since they first were released.

The only way the industry will be profitable is if they find a way to beat pirating... I have my doubts.

 

[Vox02]

Spain

NLOTH: #12 (#12)

The Joshua Tree: #84 (#76)

Vox

 

[Mirrorball06]

US

42 u2 no line on the horizon 10573 -29 892869 but Billboard.com says #43.

 

[fedeu2]

Here are the top 10 selling albums worldwide, of 2009, as of last week:


Best Selling Albums in 2009

1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2.715.000
2. Lady Gaga The Fame 1.836.000
3. Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 1.565.000
4. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 1.536.000
5. Soundtrack Twilight 1.535.000
6. Taylor Swift Fearless 1.467.000
7. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1.422.500
8. Pink Funhouse 1.201.000
9. Nickelback Dark Horse 1.122.000
10. Soundtrack Hannah Montana: The Movie 1.061.000


Notice that the #2 album of the year is nearly 1 million copies BEHIND NLOTH. Less than 7 weeks to go until the 6 month mark as well as U2's first show of 360 in Barcelona. The top 10 above gets updated tomorrow with this past week of sales.

Everything you stated is correct but it is pretty clear that the REAL competition this year has not started yet. Correct me if I´m wrong but from position 2 to 6, those are albums released in 2008.
I guess we will be in a much better position to assess NLOTH success when numbers for Eminem´s new album are out. For me, he and Green Day are the first real contenders this year. Initial sales for Green Day´s new album appear underwhelming to say the least.

What other big artists are going to release new material this year?

 

[vaz02]

50 cent im told.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Here are the top 10 selling albums of 2009 as of week 21, with the new sales week added in which just came out this evening:

Best Selling Albums in 2009

1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2,770,000
2. Lady Gaga The Fame 1,945,000
3. Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 1,623,000
4. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 1,596,000
5. Soundtrack Twilight 1,581,000
6. Taylor Swift Fearless 1,532,000
7. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1,437,000
8. Pink Funhouse 1,260,000
9. Soundtrack Hannah Montana: The Movie 1,173,000
10. Nickelback Dark Horse 1,158,000

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

but it is pretty clear that the REAL competition this year has not started yet.

How so? What is the "REAL competition"? Its week 21 of 2009, week 26 is the half way point, when will this "REAL competition" start showing up?

Correct me if I´m wrong but from position 2 to 6, those are albums released in 2008.

Late 2008. Albums released in 2008 hit the ground running with the first week of 2009. These albums had 10 weeks of sales in 2009 before NLOTH was even released.

I guess we will be in a much better position to assess NLOTH success when numbers for Eminem´s new album are out.

Those will be out next week at this time. But whether one outsells or does not outsell Eminem is far from being the only way to assess the relative success of a given album. Seeing where the album places among all albums for the year is the best way.

For me, he and Green Day are the first real contenders this year. Initial sales for Green Day´s new album appear underwhelming to say the least.

Green Day's first week of release of "21st Century Breakdown" got them 417,000 copies in sales around the globe.

What other big artists are going to release new material this year?

Not sure, but they are going to have to sale over 3 million albums in a very short time period if they want to compete with U2 for the top selling album of the year. U2 will probably sell at least 4 million copies of NLOTH before the end of the year. In 2008, that was good enough to make the top 5 for the year. In 2009, that might be just enough to make that album the biggest seller of the year.

 

[hey you]

nloth n.10 this week on mediatraffic with 55.000 copies sold. so far have sold 2.770.000 on mediatraffic +7,5% not coverage by them the amount worldwide is 2.976.000. next week will pass 3 mln.

 

[fedeu2]

Ok, thanks for the data. My point was that in order to be fair, we should compare NLOTH with albums released in 2009. Otherwise, we wouldn´t be considering sales for the first few weeks which in general account for an important proportion of overall sales for a given album. I know this does not work exactly like the movies but kind of, specially with big artists.
For example, what´s the total for the first 11 weeks of sales of Beyonce´s latest? Then again, you would say that´s not a fair comparison since she benefited from the Christmas season in 2008 and that´s true.
That´s why I think Eminem´s and Green day's new albums are perfect to compare with. And also Coldplay´s Viva la vida for this matter.

Those 417,000 copies for 21st century breakdown account for just three days of sales right? Still, those are awful numbers.
If Green Days fans are as negative as U2 fans (at least U2 fans in this forum and others) I wonder what are they saying and doing right now?
A mass suicide should be in order!

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Ok, thanks for the data. My point was that in order to be fair, we should compare NLOTH with albums released in 2009.

Ok, here is this weeks global sales totals for that:


Best Selling Albums RELEASED in 2009

1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2,770,000
2. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1,437,000
3. Soundtrack Hannah Montana: The Movie 1,173,000
4. Lily Allen It s Not Me, It s You 982,500
5. Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted 974,000
6. The Fray The Fray 715,000
7. Rascal Flatts Unstoppable 688,000
8. The Prodigy Invaders Must Die 668,000
9. Depeche Mode Sounds Of The Universe 623,000
10. Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand 560,000


This chart just looking at what has been released in 2009 puts the sales success of NLOTH much further ahead than the chart looking at all sales regardless of when the album was released.

For example, what´s the total for the first 11 weeks of sales of Beyonce´s latest?

2,801,000

Then again, you would say that´s not a fair comparison since she benefited from the Christmas season in 2008 and that´s true.

Your also not considering the fact that the market continues to decline and sales in 2009 are down by 20% across the market for all albums compared to 2008. If you succeeded in releasing an album in 2008, you naturally would sell more than if you waited to release it in 2009 because of the market for albums and the general economy which continue to rapidly decline.

And also Coldplay´s Viva la vida for this matter.

Its not accurate to compare and album released in the 2nd quarter of 2008 to one released in the 1st quarter of 2009. Market conditions, as well as the overall economy are very different. Again, the only accurate comparison that can be made for 2009 albums, is comparing their sales levels to other album sales in 2009. That after all, is how the year end charts for 2009 will be determined.

The year end charts in 1987, did not use sales from 1986 to determine the top albums of 1987, except a little bit in the case of Billboard which has a chart year that runs from mid November to mid November instead of the usual January 1 to December 31.

Those 417,000 copies for 21st century breakdown account for just three days of sales right? Still, those are awful numbers.

Actually, those are great numbers when you really think about it. After only 3 days, its almost in the top 10 for the best selling albums released in 2009.

 

[fedeu2]

This chart just looking at what has been released in 2009 puts the sales success of NLOTH much further ahead than the chart looking at all sales regardless of when the album was released.

Indeed and I was aware of that. That´s why I mentioned new albums from Eminem and Green Day.

2,801,000.

Ok so she basically sold the same as U2.

Your also not considering the fact that the market continues to decline and sales in 2009 are down by 20% across the market for all albums compared to 2008. If you succeeded in releasing an album in 2008, you naturally would sell more than if you waited to release it in 2009 because of the market for albums and the general economy which continue to rapidly decline.

You´re right. Although I heard the market decline is closer to 15%.

Its not accurate to compare and album released in the 2nd quarter of 2008 to one released in the 1st quarter of 2009.

Are market conditions so dissimilar between the first and second quarter of the year? This is clearly the case when comparing with the third quarter but not sure about the second one.

Actually, those are great numbers when you really think about it. After only 3 days, its almost in the top 10 for the best selling albums released in 2009.

Considering the tremendous success of American Idiot I don´t think Green day are too happy with album sales so far. It is still too early to judge though.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Ok so she basically sold the same as U2.

Again, its not an accurate comparison because she released her album in 2008, PLUS she got the benefit of holiday sales.

You´re right. Although I heard the market decline is closer to 15%.

For the whole market yes. But for the top selling albums, the decline is deeper than 15%.

Are market conditions so dissimilar between the first and second quarter of the year? This is clearly the case when comparing with the third quarter but not sure about the second one.

No, but were comparing quarters from different years, and in that case they can be very dissimilar. The 1st quarter of 2009 is very different in overall sales from the 2nd quarter of 2008. If Coldplay had released Viva La Vida in March or June of 2009, it would be selling significantly less than it did in 2008.

Even the success of the Joshua Tree was primarily measured by how well it did against other albums selling in 1987, long before the declining market conditions of the past decade.

Considering the tremendous success of American Idiot I don´t think Green day are too happy with album sales so far. It is still too early to judge though.

American Idiot was released in 2004. Sales are down over 50% in 2009 from where they were in 2004. Thats for the whole market, for the top selling albums, the decrease is even larger. Green Day know this, and I'm sure they would feel very lucky if they were eventually able to sell 5 million copies of their new album worldwide.

 

[mikal]

kind of off topic, but does anyone know how the song "Kiss Me Through The Phone" is doing? i hear it a lot. it must be successful! i love successful music!!!

 

[beLIEve]

From Billboard, which only shows the Top 5 or 10 albums for select countries:

Argentina - 9
Italy - 7
Mexico - 9
Portugal - 10

Magnificent remains at #13 for another week on "Top Radio Airplay Singles" in Europe. Maybe that is helping NLOTH, as it remains at #5, with three of the albums above it being release this last week or 2 weeks ago. Not bad, relative to the market.

 

[beLIEve]

Guess we've been using the United World Chart for a while now to gather Global Sales data, but there is another site that has been mentioned before that also claims to track Global sales. The list of countries covered is longer than what is provided on the United World Chart, and NLOTH sales (and other albums) have consistently been a little higher each week on this site: World Top 50 Albums

For week 11, NLOTH stays at #6 on this chart, selling 89,100 during the period from May 4-10, which does not match up with the dates tracked on United or Billboard. It also list Magnificent as the #33 single in the world, up from 84 last week. All versions of the song count.

Anybody think one source is better, or more accurate, than the other?

 

[fedeu2]

No, but were comparing quarters from different years, and in that case they can be very dissimilar. The 1st quarter of 2009 is very different in overall sales from the 2nd quarter of 2008. If Coldplay had released Viva La Vida in March or June of 2009, it would be selling significantly less than it did in 2008.

Fine so come March 2010 NLOTH would need to sell in excess of 6 million copies to match the success of VLV which currently has sold over 7,5 million, nearly exactly a year after its release.
Hope I´m wrong but I highly doubt NLOTH will manage to sell that much.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Fine so come March 2010 NLOTH would need to sell in excess of 6 million copies to match the success of VLV which currently has sold over 7,5 million, nearly exactly a year after its release.
Hope I´m wrong but I highly doubt NLOTH will manage to sell that much.

NLOTH does not need to match or outsell Viva La Vida any more than the Joshua Tree needed to match or outsell "Brothers In Arms" by Dire Straits, in order to be considered a massive success equal or greater than U2's biggest commercial success's through out their career.

 

[ic170]

Fine so come March 2010 NLOTH would need to sell in excess of 6 million copies to match the success of VLV which currently has sold over 7,5 million, nearly exactly a year after its release.
Hope I´m wrong but I highly doubt NLOTH will manage to sell that much.

Yeah exactly, even though no one can deny it's done well given the era we live in, I just doubt the tour will bump sales much beyond a 4, 5 place rise and by then it might be in the low 70s if still in the chart. These shows seem more about the spectacle of the design, the bombast + the big swathe of tix sales might be a reflection of U2 past / rather than present unfortunately... If the band absolutely ram the new songs down the uninitiated throats then who knows but I feel it's peaked as far as big sales are concerned... ie. the album seems to have peaked position wise in the UK and over here regarding these low 40s positions... it's not hanging around the top 10 / midteens like popular sellers do...

...so because of this alas already deep in the dark and nasty bowels of UMG Inc an uber-deluxe edition is being put together for Christmas mwhahahah puny serfs...