Week 6

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Ok, even the third week normally sees steep declines. Didn't NLOTH drop about 40% from week 2 to week 3? Twilight is "new" in that it's in its 2nd or 3rd week since the DVD release.

Actually what I meant originally is that most had been out a week or two and this was their 2nd or 3rd week.
 
Ok, even the third week normally sees steep declines. Didn't NLOTH drop about 40% from week 2 to week 3? Twilight is "new" in that it's in its 2nd or 3rd week since the DVD release.

Its not new, the soundtrack has been out for 22 weeks. Billboard 200 does not count sales of DVD's.

All I was doing was commenting about your statement that the only reason that U2's sales increased this week was because of EASTER. Well, there are several albums that did not increase, but actually had a decrease even though it was EASTER. Some of those albums have been out for months.
 
Besides last weeks' debuts experiencing usual drops, the rest of the top 20 had gains or very little decline. And considering U2 was dropping 30%+ every week before this, those declines that maoilbwhatever listed aren't that bad.

And of course, he totally ignored gains of near 100% by Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, significant gains by Kelly Clarkson, The Fray, Nickelback, pink, britney, etc., in other words artists that people usually snap up on a holiday. Which means U2 actually underperformed this week. As usual.

Come tomorrow, billboard will be reporting a huge spike in sales across the board compared to last week, helped by Rascal Flatts as well as Easter.

The underperforming U2 eh...? Well, here are some figures from last week that you need to study:

The following are the top selling albums of 2009 in the United States at the end of 14 weeks. NLOTH has only been out for only 5 of these weeks.


WEEK 14

Rank - Sales - TITLE - Artist
01 - 865,265 - FEARLESS - Taylor Swift
02 - 780,478 - NO LINE ON THE HORIZON - U2
03 - 604,802 - DARK HORSE - Nickelback
04 - 592,774 - TWILIGHT - Soundtrack
05 - 590,666 - I AM…SASHA FIERCE - Beyonce
06 - 501,910 - WORKING ON A DREAM - Bruce Springsteen
07 - 452,778 - THE FAME - Lady GaGa
08 - 451,488 - THE FRAY - The Fray
09 - 447,081 - 808S AND HEARTBREAK - Kanye West
10 - 438,313 - INTUITION - Jamie Foxx
11 - 431,129 - ALL I EVER WANTED - Kelly Clarkson
12 - 376,352 - A DIFFERENT ME - Keyshia Cole
13 - 374,469 - CIRCUS - Britney Spears
14 - 335,959 - PAPER TRAIL - T.I.
15 - 311,104 - NOW 29 - Various
16 - 295,922 - FUNHOUSE - Pink
17 - 281,185 - WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS - Jason Mraz
18 - 273,502 - FREEDOM - Akon
19 - 271,491 - LOVE VS MONEY - The-Dream
20 - 269,725 - VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS - Coldplay
21 - 256,006 - DAVID COOK - David Cook
22 - 254,410 - ONLY BY THE NIGHT - Kings Of Leon
23 - 249,514 - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Soundtrack
24 - 246,819 - 19 - Adele
25 - 233,505 - NOW 30 - Various
26 - 232,747 - YEAR OF THE GENTLEMAN - Ne-Yo
27 - 230,985 - MAMMA MIA - Soundtrack
28 - 227,979 - THA CARTER III - Lil' Wayne
29 - 225,281 - HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE - Soundtrack
30 - 220,274 - ROCK N ROLL JESUS - Kid Rock
31 - 211,580 - GOOD GIRL GONE BAD - Rihanna
32 - 210,588 - ONE OF THE BOYS - Katy Perry
33 - 208,884 - TAYLOR SWIFT - Taylor Swift
34 - 205,249 - RAISING SAND - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
35 - 201,208 - THE FOUNDATION - Zac Brown Band
36 - 193,448 - TESTIMONY:VOL 2-LOVE AND POLITICS - India.Arie
37 - 192,420 - WHEN THE WORLD COMES DOWN - All-American Rejects
38 - 192,234 - LEARN TO LIVE - Darius Rucker
39 - 188,904 - 2009 GRAMMY NOMINEES - Various
40 - 188,442 - LOVE ON THE INSIDE - Sugarland
41 - 171,547 - DEFYING GRAVITY - Keith Urban
42 - 168,458 - LOTUS FLOW3R - Prince
43 - 167,237 - THEATER OF THE MIND - Ludacris
44 - 159,496 - FEEL THAT FREE - Dierks Bentley
45 - 158,494 - DAY AND AGE - Killers
46 - 158,103 - IT'S NOT ME IT'S YOU - Lily Allen
47 - 157,646 - THE POINT OF IT ALL - Anthony Hamilton
48 - 155,575 - HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR - Soundtrack
49 - 155,026 - DA REALIST - Plies
50 - 154,792 - SOUL - Seal
51 - 154,671 - DEATH MAGNETIC - Metallica
52 - 153,411 - SWAN SONGS - Hollywood Undead
53 - 151,852 - CARNIVAL RIDE - Carrie Underwood
54 - 143,962 - JENNIFER HUDSON - Jennifer Hudson
55 - 140,608 - THAT LONESOME SONG - Jamey Johnson
56 - 139,201 - EVOLVER - John Legend
57 - 138,216 - SCARS AND SOUVENIRS - Theory Of A Deadman
58 - 136,966 - BLACK ICE - AC/DC
59 - 136,659 - UNCLE CHARLIE - Charlie Wilson
60 - 136,254 - KIDZ BOP 15 - Kidz Bop Kids
61 - 135,887 - FOLIE A DEUX - Fall Out Boy
62 - 134,279 - GREATEST HITS VOLUME 1 - Rascal Flatts
63 - 133,200 - SPIRIT - Leona Lewis
64 - 131,527 - IN A PERFECT WORLD - Keri Hilson
65 - 130,500 - NOTORIOUS - Soundtrack
66 - 130,484 - THE REBIRTH - Bobby V
67 - 128,600 - GOLD-GREATEST HITS - Abba
68 - 127,832 - INCREDIBAD - Lonely Island
69 - 126,042 - WRATH - Lamb Of God
70 - 123,069 - FEARLESS - Jazmine Sullivan
71 - 119,752 - THE PROMISE - Il Divo
72 - 117,696 - ONMYRADIO - Musiq Soulchild
73 - 117,049 - LADY ANTEBELLUM - Lady Antebellum
74 - 113,549 - THE RECESSION - Young Jeezy
75 - 111,906 - THR33 RINGZ - T-Pain
76 - 111,279 - ISOULJABOYTELLEM - Soulja Boy Tell'em
77 - 111,000 - GREATEST HITS - Guns N'Roses
78 - 110,884 - ROCKFERRY - Duffy
79 - 110,832 - DAVID ARCHULETA - David Archuleta
80 - 109,879 - TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT - Hinder
81 - 109,683 - THE SOUND OF MADNESS - Shinedown
82 - 109,093 - ORACULAR SPECTACULAR - MGMT
83 - 108,500 - GREATEST HITS - Journey
84 - 106,843 - 3D CONCERT EXPERIENCE - Jonas Brothers
85 - 104,374 - QUIET NIGHTS - Diana Krall
86 - 103,978 - ALL HOPE IS GONE - Slipknot
87 - 103,039 - SAVING ABEL - Saving Abel
88 - 97,350 - LEGEND - Bob Marley & the Wailers
89 - 97,157 - DOLL DOMINATION - Pussycat Dolls
90 - 96,832 - MIDDLE CYCLONE - Neko Case
91 - 96,000 - TEN - Pearl Jam
92 - 95,968 - INDESTRUCTIBLE - Disturbed
93 - 95,050 - THE BALLADS - Mariah Carey
94 - 94,890 - GOOD TIME - Alan Jackson
95 - 93,919 - LUCKY OLD SUN - Kenny Chesney
96 - 93,500 - CHRONICLE:THE 20 GREATEST HITS - Creedence Clearwater Revival
97 - 91,308 - A LITTLE BIT LONGER - Jonas Brothers
98 - 90,000 - TOTAL CLUB HITS 2 - DJ Skribble
99 - 89,400 - CHINESE DEMOCRACY - Guns N'Roses
100 - 89,200 - NOW MOTOWN - Various



A few days from now, will get week 15 results for 2009 and NLOTH will be up to nearly 820,000 and still way ahead at #2 for the year.



Here are some worldwide stats for 2009 to consider:


Best Selling Albums During 2009 WORLDWIDE

1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2.286.000
2. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1.315.000
3. Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 1.238.000
4. Lady Gaga The Fame 1.204.000
5. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 1.201.000
6. Soundtrack Twilight 1.173.000
7. Taylor Swift Fearless 1.096.000
8. Pink Funhouse 945.000
9. Britney Spears Circus 920.000
10. Nickelback Dark Horse 912.000



Best Selling Albums Released in 2009 WORLDWIDE

1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2.286.000
2. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1.315.000
3. Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You 712.500
4. Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted 675.000
5. The Fray The Fray 587.000
6. Soundtrack Slumdog Millionaire 502.000
7. The Prodigy Invaders Must Die 499.000
8. Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand 486.000
9. Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés Font Leur Cinéma 2009 444.000
10. Annie Lennox The Collection 287.000


U2 have nearly a 1 million copies sold lead on the 2nd best selling album of 2009 to this point. A nearly 2 to 1 lead on most of the albums in the top 5.
 
Its not new, the soundtrack has been out for 22 weeks. Billboard 200 does not count sales of DVD's.

All I was doing was commenting about your statement that the only reason that U2's sales increased this week was because of EASTER. Well, there are several albums that did not increase, but actually had a decrease even though it was EASTER. Some of those albums have been out for months.

Why can't you just accept the obvious? Most of the ones that decreased had only been out a week or two. It is clear by looking at the other gains this week that U2 also gained because of Easter. End of story. There is nothing to debate.

You misunderstood my point about Twilight. What I meant was that the soundtrack was hot again or "new" because of the DVD release. The DVD release is what propelled it back up the charts, so in a way it's as if the soundtrack was "re-released".
 
Why can't you just accept the obvious? Most of the ones that decreased had only been out a week or two. It is clear by looking at the other gains this week that U2 also gained because of Easter. End of story. There is nothing to debate.

He'll believe us when the 30% drops resume next week.
 
mods cannot be everywhere 24/7, we rely on members to report posts when they feel a rule is being broken.

that being said, i've read this thread and i don't really see what rules gibsonexplorer is breaking where he needs to be banned. dissent is allowed; it's not against the rules to have a negative opinion or anything.
 
Quick question, aren't Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson rather big amongt teenage fans?, and are "easter presents" usually bought for teenages these days?,

i still cannot get the people who come to this part of the forum, and actually WANT the album to fail, and act all "smug" with comments like "he will have to belive when the 30% drop returns" etc etc,
 
I'm mostly interested in "how it fares", I don't want it to fail or succeed, just want to know how it does. I'm interested to read other people's opinions and explanations, either positive or negative.
 
This spike is mainly 'cos of Easter week but also 'cos it didn't fall too bad. Should do around 120k WW at MediaTraffic this week. Hope it can stay top 5.
 
a 4% increase is good, theres no other way of looking at it. hopefully normal service wont be resumed next week, fingers crossed.
Nickleback seem to be a lot bigger than U2 in the US though. but theres always been bands selling more albums in the US, yet U2 are considered by many to be the biggest. I guess this is down to tour sales?
 
Why can't you just accept the obvious? Most of the ones that decreased had only been out a week or two. It is clear by looking at the other gains this week that U2 also gained because of Easter. End of story. There is nothing to debate.

All the albums I pointed out had been out for 3 WEEKS AT LEAST. I don't think I could have made that more obvious.

So, its Easter week, you claim that is why U2 went up, how come the following albums went down?

19 24 THE-DREAM DEF JAM/IDJMG 23,556 -16% 5th week

20 28 DAVID COOK 19/RCA/RMG 20,860 -20% 21st week

23 30 T.I. GRAND HUSTLE/ATLANTIC 19,493 -11% 27th week
 
He'll believe us when the 30% drops resume next week.


If there was an Easter surge like there is a Christmas surge, then virtually all albums on the chart experience an increase, even albums out for only a short period of time. The fact that there are several albums that have been out for months that decreased, instead of increasing, despite it being Easter week, calls into question the assumption that it was simply Easter week that created the rise in sales.
 
a 4% increase is good, theres no other way of looking at it. hopefully normal service wont be resumed next week, fingers crossed.
Nickleback seem to be a lot bigger than U2 in the US though. but theres always been bands selling more albums in the US, yet U2 are considered by many to be the biggest. I guess this is down to tour sales?

Nickleback's new album Dark Horse only sold 326,361 copies in its first week on chart in the United States. It was released the last week in November, the biggest sales week of the year! In contrast, U2's album was released during the slowest market time period of the year, the first week in March, but U2's NLOTH sold 484,000 copies in its first week! Dark Horse benefited in the last weeks of 2008 because it was the Christmas season.

In any event, Nickleback would have to have album sales 5 times NLOTH for them to be even considered on par with U2 in the United States. When was the last time Nickleback played stadiums in the USA? They usually play arena's or sheds at low ticket prices.
 
All the albums I pointed out had been out for 3 WEEKS AT LEAST. I don't think I could have made that more obvious.

So, its Easter week, you claim that is why U2 went up, how come the following albums went down?

19 24 THE-DREAM DEF JAM/IDJMG 23,556 -16% 5th week

20 28 DAVID COOK 19/RCA/RMG 20,860 -20% 21st week

23 30 T.I. GRAND HUSTLE/ATLANTIC 19,493 -11% 27th week

You don't understand. I said had been out 1 or 2 weeks, which means the ones that had been out 2 weeks are in their 3rd week. We are talking about the same thing. Even the records that went down, went down by less than they would have otherwise. In other words, Easter helped everyone. So even if there are three albums that may support your idea that U2's increase was not related to Easter, there are many, many more that do suggest that Easter helped U2's sales. Yet despite this, you still feel the need to argue. I think deep down you know Easter was the reason for the bump, but you just like to argue for the sake of arguing. As hard as it might be for me, I'm going to try to ignore your ramblings from now on. There's really no point in me discussing the business with you because you don't know what you are talking about. You're just someone who has access to a bunch of data, but no idea how to interpret it. You also lack the ability or desire to carry on a disciplined debate.
 
Nickleback's new album Dark Horse only sold 326,361 copies in its first week on chart in the United States. It was released the last week in November, the biggest sales week of the year! In contrast, U2's album was released during the slowest market time period of the year, the first week in March, but U2's NLOTH sold 484,000 copies in its first week! Dark Horse benefited in the last weeks of 2008 because it was the Christmas season.

In any event, Nickleback would have to have album sales 5 times NLOTH for them to be even considered on par with U2 in the United States. When was the last time Nickleback played stadiums in the USA? They usually play arena's or sheds at low ticket prices.

Nickelback are the biggest band in the US right now maybe not in tour sales but in albums they easily are. The album they released in 2005 sold 7 million copies and the new one has sold 2 million and is gonna outsell U2 this year easily in the US. Nickelback may be awful but they're popular

You don't understand. I said had been out 1 or 2 weeks, which means the ones that had been out 2 weeks are in their 3rd week. We are talking about the same thing. Even the records that went down, went down by less than they would have otherwise. In other words, Easter helped everyone. So even if there are three albums that may support your idea that U2's increase was not related to Easter, there are many, many more that do suggest that Easter helped U2's sales. Yet despite this, you still feel the need to argue. I think deep down you know Easter was the reason for the bump, but you just like to argue for the sake of arguing. As hard as it might be for me, I'm going to try to ignore your ramblings from now on. There's really no point in me discussing the business with you because you don't know what you are talking about. You're just someone who has access to a bunch of data, but no idea how to interpret it. You also lack the ability or desire to carry on a disciplined debate.

The Easter boost to sales is mainly concentrated on albums teenagers would buy, obviously this means U2 won't receive the huge boost that other acts do but they did get an undeniable boost from it. If anything it shows they're just relevant with teenagers
 
You don't understand. I said had been out 1 or 2 weeks, which means the ones that had been out 2 weeks are in their 3rd week. We are talking about the same thing. Even the records that went down, went down by less than they would have otherwise. In other words, Easter helped everyone. So even if there are three albums that may support your idea that U2's increase was not related to Easter, there are many, many more that do suggest that Easter helped U2's sales. Yet despite this, you still feel the need to argue. I think deep down you know Easter was the reason for the bump, but you just like to argue for the sake of arguing. As hard as it might be for me, I'm going to try to ignore your ramblings from now on. There's really no point in me discussing the business with you because you don't know what you are talking about. You're just someone who has access to a bunch of data, but no idea how to interpret it. You also lack the ability or desire to carry on a disciplined debate.



The idea that Easter was the reason for the increase in sales is NOT indisputable based on what is known.
 
All the albums I pointed out had been out for 3 WEEKS AT LEAST. I don't think I could have made that more obvious.

So, its Easter week, you claim that is why U2 went up, how come the following albums went down?

19 24 THE-DREAM DEF JAM/IDJMG 23,556 -16% 5th week

20 28 DAVID COOK 19/RCA/RMG 20,860 -20% 21st week

23 30 T.I. GRAND HUSTLE/ATLANTIC 19,493 -11% 27th week

You never explained why about 20 albums in top 50 that are not debuts went up. You want to point out 3 albums that went down? Are you serious?
 
Nickelback are the biggest band in the US right now maybe not in tour sales but in albums they easily are. The album they released in 2005 sold 7 million copies and the new one has sold 2 million and is gonna outsell U2 this year easily in the US. Nickelback may be awful but they're popular

You can't be the biggest band in the USA if you can't sellout small amphitheaters on a brand new tour to promoted a new album. Nickleback is struggling to sellout amphitheaters at low ticket prices and is unable to. Yes, Nickleback does have an album in their catalog of prior albums that sold 7 million copies in the United States. Guess what, U2 has a couple of albums in their catalog that have sold more than that in the USA.

But sticking with current albums Dark Horse has sold 1,770,067 but has been out for several months which included the Christmas selling season. U2 is at 780,000 after 5 weeks about to go up to 820,000 for its 6th week.

So far in 2009 though, NLOTH has sold 780,000 to about 600,000 for Dark Horse. So if were just going by 2009 sales, its far from clear that Dark Horse is going to outsell NLOTH and it certainly will not be easy. U2 already has a 33% lead even though their album has only been out for 5 weeks!

By the way, really popular bands don't struggle to sellout amphitheaters on a brand new tour promoting a new album, at low ticket prices.
 
You don't understand. I said had been out 1 or 2 weeks, which means the ones that had been out 2 weeks are in their 3rd week. We are talking about the same thing. Even the records that went down, went down by less than they would have otherwise. In other words, Easter helped everyone. So even if there are three albums that may support your idea that U2's increase was not related to Easter, there are many, many more that do suggest that Easter helped U2's sales. Yet despite this, you still feel the need to argue. I think deep down you know Easter was the reason for the bump, but you just like to argue for the sake of arguing. As hard as it might be for me, I'm going to try to ignore your ramblings from now on. There's really no point in me discussing the business with you because you don't know what you are talking about. You're just someone who has access to a bunch of data, but no idea how to interpret it. You also lack the ability or desire to carry on a disciplined debate.

Didn´t he go by the sting2 alias before? If so, let me tell you he´s one of the most respected persons around here. Hardly a clueless fellow with a lot of data at hand let alone not being able to carry a discipline debate.
If he´s not sting2, well, just ignore my remarks.
 
How did this thread become so divisive? Did Sarah Palin just join?

How about we stick to what we know about their promotional plans , and the rate that the US market is shrinking. (average for the last 3 years is 15% per year - so literally the market is running at about 62% of what it was 3 years ago). I dont have handy stats on the other markets but I'd guess the IFPI has them.

Dire predictions of woe , comparisons with artists who play to a COMPLETELY different market , name calling etc all serve to cheapen the value of the thread.

We cant all take U2/Universal/LiveNations promotional strategies personally. Lets track the stats and see how they turn out.

Regardless of how they promote Magnificent its unlikely to be a huge hit in its own right because US radio is too segmented these days. Of course they could get Kanye West to rap over the top about how Magnificent he is (not a serious suggestion people - chill). After all he's never short for words about that. I saw him at Lolla last year and could smell the ego 400 yards from the stage !
 
Well, lets see, who are the people who keep claiming that the biggest selling album of the year is a sales flop and that the 360 tour is going to sell poorly in the USA? :wink:

if it takes 2 months to match the 1st week sales of the worst U2 album ever made, then yeah, it's a sales flop no matter what the economic conditions are.
 
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