Did Interscope blow it on U2's singles?????

[BEAL]

After BD, nothing made a dent in the charts. The next highest was Stuck was it not? And that was somewhere around the 50's...maybe.

I was just thinking that Interscope really blew it with the other songs. Walk On, Stuck, Elevation, and possibly others could/should have been big hits. All they had to do was flex a little muscle. they did with BD and it worked perfect.

I dunno, I guess I'm just a little sad how the singles turned out. yes, every single won a grammy, but Walk On was hardly ever played on the radio...AND IT WAS RECORD OF THE YEAR!!!!

p.s. has anyone heard anything about a new single being played????

 

[STING2]

Well I think Interscope flexed their muscles with every single they released from the album. The problem is that everyone in the industry is flexing their muscles, and just flexing your muscles does not mean the single is going to be a hit. There is a lot of competion out there for the airplay space on radio. Radio has to love it, people have to fall all over it when they hear it the first time and request it again and again. Its a combination of things which a achieves a hit and a lot of it is luck. Remember, Beautiful Day while being successful peaked at #21. But the album has sold amazingly well despite this. It has sold nearly 4 million in the USA and 11 million worldwide. U2 is clearly the most popular artist in the world today, solo or group.

Unfortunately, There is not going to be another single from the album which I feel is a mistake. The album will cross the 4 million mark and 11 million mark but its going to take a little time now that sales of slowed. A 5th single would have pushed the album past that point already. The band is clearing the deck for September when the next single for either a best of or new album will be released.

 

[Zooropa]

not releasing any CD singles here in the US certainly hurt a lot.

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Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Zooropa FTP

 

[womanfish]

i don't think that not releasing the singles on CD in the U.S. hurt much. It is a common practice to not do so now days. Single sales are quite low, so many groups don't release them so that people have to buy the album instead of just getting the single (the main objective for any artist)
What it did hurt is the chart position of singles on the U.S. chart.
Because single sales are factored into chart position, BD probably could have hit top 10, and post BD singles would have also charted higher. But - this by does not mean that they would have received any more airplay or helped the album sell more.

 

[Lilly]

yes, they did blow it on the marketing. however, i believe they play them quite often on the radio. depends on your station i suppose. but, one thing they DIDN'T do was overplay the other singles, i mean i got sick of bd after a while too.

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Rebel with a cause....and a red car.

 

[JessicaAnn]

I sometimes wonder about U2 marketing practices here in the US. I wonder whether they are serious about attracting new audiences or trying to keep the old fans happy.

Singles and music videos get little to no attention/airplay here in the US (well, at least the amount of airplay in my neck of the woods is little to none).

But ...
* A good amount of press before and after ATYCLB's release--tons of good reviews (reviewers were tripping over themselves to say how great the album was).

* U2 on TRL; The video timeslide on MTV 2 ... good attempt to attract the younger generation and kick the arse of teen pop.

* U2 spent a good deal of time in the US on tour (compared with Europe).


Seriously ... I am confused sometimes ...

I am looking for a new job ... does U2 need someone to help with US marketing/PR?

 

[Basstrap]

well its not U2's if videos of singles get little airplay. Its up to the stations and fans to make that happen.
As you said, U2 have really gone quite out of their way for the US during the elevation tour, as they always have done.

The reason why no singles were released in the US has already been mentioned. US is amongst the lowest when it comes to purchasing singles.