Originally posted by Popmartijn:
I did some more research on U2's sales figures for ATYCLB. I've found ATYCLB's sales for the last six weeks. Here they are:
19411 (01/23)
26112 (01/16)
28045 (01/09)
41931 (01/02)
71594 (12/27)*
46032 (12/20)
For the date noted with a *, that week, the total sales were 3,230,673 copies. Now, if we add the figures of the other four weeks, we have a total of 3,346,172 copies sold of ATYCLB. Last week, Doctorwho estimated that ATYCLB had sold about 3,355,000 copies. As you can see, he was only 25,000-30,000 copies off (less than 1%). Congrats Doc, those estimates were quite accurate.
P.S. Does anyone have $7,500 to spare? Apparently, that is the subscription fee for unlimited access to Soundscan figures for 12 weeks (access to up to 20 titles costs $1,600 for 12 weeks).
*Bows worshipfully to PopMartijn*
WOW! Great job on getting all that SoundScan data. And thanks for the compliments!
$7500 for 12 weeks of SoundScan, eh? While I think having SoundScan data is interesting, my estimates, while a bit high, are reasonable. Therefore, I think paying that much for a mere 12 weeks access is just, oh, a "wee bit" silly.
As you stated, I would have been about 29,000 copies high - HOWEVER, if I can do some "blame-passing" my estimate was high because of others here. Yes - I succumbed to peer pressure.
I tend to estimate low on purpose, but others felt some of my estimates were too low, so I revised them - hence why I was high.
Nonetheless, I was at least close. More important, thanks to you digging around on the 'net, PopMartijn, you found the actual total SoundScan sales. Great job! You probably saw the same charts that Melissa used to send me. I haven't heard from Melissa in quite some time now, so I'm not sure what's going on in her world. But I don't really care who gets the SoundScan information, as long as it is available. Matter of fact, by you doing this PopMartijn, it means less work for me!
LOL!
With PopMartijn's figures, the first 64 weeks for ATYCLB on the U.S. Billboard charts are:
3-5-12-22-23-24-20(1xP)-18-22-16
19-19(2xP)-25-33-37-35-11-15-25-31
38-40-42-45-45-48-50-48-50-58
60-53-50-66-74-82-81-89-88-99
105-106-108-104-78-66-53-50-57-55
54-58(3xP)-62-67-80-77-78-76-69-71
74-58-39-56
"POP" was out of the Top 100 after 19 weeks and "Zooropa" was out of the Top 100 after 31 weeks. ATYCLB fell out of the Top 100 after 40 weeks, however, it has now returned for an additional 20 weeks. It has spent 60 out of 64 total weeks in the U.S. Top 100 and 23 weeks in the U.S. Top 40.
Approximate weekly sales for the first 64 weeks of ATYCLB are (rounded to nearest thousand):
428,000 + 176,000 + 119,000 + 125,000 + 100,000 + 113,000 + 154,000 + 259,000 + 108,000 + 66,000 + 59,000 + 57,000+ 47,000 + 44,000 + 41,000 + 49,000 + 85,000 + 74,000 + 54,000 + 48,000 + 43,000 + 39,000 + 37,000 + 39,000 + 30,000 + 29,000 + 26,000 + 29,000 + 25,000 + 24,000 + 27,000 + 30,000 + 31,000 + 24,000 + 22,000 + 18,000 + 19,000 + 17,000 + 17,000 + 15,000 + 14,000 + 14,000 + 13,000 + 13,000 + 16,000 + 19,000 + 21,000 + 23,000 + 22,000 + 22,000 + 24,000 + 25,000 + 24,000 + 23,000 + 21,000 + 28,000 + 28,000 + 30,000 + 46,000 + 72,000 + 42,000 + 28,000 + 26,000 + 19,000
Total U.S. SoundScan sales after 64 weeks are: 3,346,172 (note: due to the rounding involved in the weekly estimates, the total there is slightly higher than the actual SoundScan total).
Although the album dropped to #56 this week this is still impressive. A quick glance through the U.S. Billboard charts shows that only one other album that has been out for 64 weeks or longer is ranked at #56 or higher. Also, clearly overall sales are still low. This time last year, the #56 album sold 25,000 copies. I have last year's SoundScan data for this week, so PopMartijn, if you want to compare, we can do so.
One interesting note... Jay-Z released an album the same week that ATYCLB was released. Jay-Z's album beat U2 to the #1 spot that week. However, that Jay-Z album has long since fallen from the Top 200. In the interim, Jay-Z released another album. This album also hit #1. However, if you look at this week's Billboard charts, you'll see that Jay-Z's new album is ranked #85, despite being out only 19 weeks. In other words, it looks like ATYCLB, while not hitting #1, will outlast two of Jay-Z's albums (even though both of those reached #1).
With ATYCLB still floating nicely in the Top 100, the album should continue to hold on well. The Super Bowl performance coupled with some Grammy wins could keep the album going strong through March! The album *might* see hit 4x Platinum before finally exiting the charts.
On a slightly different topic...
One thing that annoyed me recently was when I read a comment from a retailer stating that ATYCLB didn't benefit from the holiday sales. This statement is erroneous. The sales for Christmas week, along with the week before and after the holiday, were 160,000 copies. It took U2 10 weeks to sell that many copies back during the summer. In other words, thanks to the holiday, ATYCLB sold as many copies in 3 weeks that it took 10 weeks to do earlier in the year. Don't you hate it when people state erroneous information? I think everyone should follow the charts like we do - then the world would be at peace.
[This message has been edited by doctorwho (edited 01-24-2002).]