NLOTH Week 2

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I don't think there is anyway to "defend" the second-week performance - it is poor. This album is massively front-loaded as with a typical summer movie blockbuster.

Look at the Kings of Leon - their performance is phenomenal in the UK. They have hit singles, but it amazes me that they are sustaining sales based on that.

How can it be "poor" when it could still possibly sell more than a new release by someone who is deemed popular with the kids?, yes the drop could be quite big if those number are real, but whose to say U2 cant go on and sell 20k a week like KOL are doing?

For some reason you seem to have a strong desire to want to write the album of already,
 
Looking at 2nd week drops in 2008 in the US

Lil wayne dropped 69 percent

Coldplay dropped 65 percent

We should compare against them

Thanks for that info. :yes:

I compared to Springsteen as I felt he was in the same category and he just had a release.

But perhaps NLOTH is considered a bigger seller (at almost 500K) and as such, a larger second week drop is expected, like a summer blockbuster movie - as others stated. The good news is that even with a big second week drop, often a big film levels off and continues to have high grosses for a while. Hopefully this is true for NLOTH.
 
based on UK updates just now for sales up to today U2 still #1 on albums just about

and oasis hanging on to top 10 singles based on their physical sales as Falling Down in 190 odd on Itunes!

ROCK ON
 
well, to be fair, there's always a 50+% sales drop for almost any act that goes #1 the first week. the story will be clearer in week 3 about whether NLOTH is a true flop. if it suffers another massive drop *that* week, then NLOTH won't ever see double platinum certification in the US.
 
How can an album that has topped the charts in 33 countrys already, even be classed as a flop?
 
Strange article on this Faryl Smith the girl who was supposed to be "outselling U2", interesting they are now saying Universial SHIPPED 80.000 copies to retailers,:

Published Date: 13 March 2009
Faryl Smith has released the fastest-selling solo classical debut album yet.
The Britain's Got Talent star has shifted 20,000 albums in the first four days of release, breaking a record previously held by New Zealander Hayley Westenra - whose debut had in turn broken Charlotte Church's record in 2003, the Official Charts Company confirmed.

The 13-year-old's album, Faryl, released on Monday, remained at number one on the Amazon pre-sales chart all last week.

Her record label, Universal Classics and Jazz (UCJ), shipped more than 80,000 copies to retailers the week before release - more than any other Universal artist that week, including U2's album No Line On The Horizon.

The schoolgirl from Kettering, Northamptonshire, signed to UCJ for £2.3 million - the biggest contract yet awarded to such a young artist, UCJ said.

Dickon Stainer, managing director of UCJ, said: "Faryl is a phenomenon, and the new queen of popular classical music. Long may she reign."

Faryl is expected to storm into the national charts on Sunday - when she will sing at the England v France Six Nations match at Twickenham.
 
Strange article on this Faryl Smith the girl who was supposed to be "outselling U2", interesting they are now saying Universial SHIPPED 80.000 copies to retailers,:

Published Date: 13 March 2009
Faryl Smith has released the fastest-selling solo classical debut album yet.
The Britain's Got Talent star has shifted 20,000 albums in the first four days of release, breaking a record previously held by New Zealander Hayley Westenra - whose debut had in turn broken Charlotte Church's record in 2003, the Official Charts Company confirmed.

The 13-year-old's album, Faryl, released on Monday, remained at number one on the Amazon pre-sales chart all last week.

Her record label, Universal Classics and Jazz (UCJ), shipped more than 80,000 copies to retailers the week before release - more than any other Universal artist that week, including U2's album No Line On The Horizon.

The schoolgirl from Kettering, Northamptonshire, signed to UCJ for £2.3 million - the biggest contract yet awarded to such a young artist, UCJ said.

Dickon Stainer, managing director of UCJ, said: "Faryl is a phenomenon, and the new queen of popular classical music. Long may she reign."

Faryl is expected to storm into the national charts on Sunday - when she will sing at the England v France Six Nations match at Twickenham.

huh, if U2 are on course for another week at #1 how is this girl outselling them? she would have to sell nearly the entire 80k shipment to do that. not possible. + the rugby on sunday will be to late to influence this weeks chart
 
Wow talk about negative, as you can see, the whole world of CD sales are "down", its not just U2, for them to even be in contention of still being #1 next week is huge imo, i mean Kelly Clarkson as i have said will be very popular amonst the kids. so one would expect her to REALLY outsell U2 this week, but no she isnt, AND she had the "hit" single.

and as Irishteen said, NLOTH has the Third highest weekly sales worldwide since 2006, which IMHO is amazing!, but no your right lets focus on the negative.

sorry it was early. i was mostly surprised at the big drops in sales this week, as the first week sales were a bit more modest than a lot of people would have predicted, i was hoping there would have been a smaller drop. I totally expected the HTDAAB 50% ish drops as initial sales were sp huge. but yes the music industry has real problems. you never know this could be U2's longest at #1 in many countries given that its march not november.
 
As stated on mediatraffic, I think this sums up initial sales of NLOTH quiet well.

[quoteAs expected the new set from rock-giant U2 shoots easily atop of the global album chart after its bow at no.3 last week in consequence of earlier sales in Japan, France and some other countries. Now afterthe first full week at retail 'No Line On The Horizon' moved 1.182.000 copies worldwide, enough to outsold the nearest competitor 1:8. And that's the biggest weekly sales by an album since AC/DC 'Black Ice' arrived with 1.762.000 copies in the week 45, 2008. U2's former studio album 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' sold 1.854.000 copies in its first week at retail (50, 2004). On the other side 'Get On Your Boots', the first single from U2's new effort, shows a bad performance on the chart, it reached only no.24 till to date. 'Vertigo', the first single from 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' was no.2 in December 2004, 'Beautiful Day' from 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' held also no.2 (November 2000), 'Discotheque' from 'Pop' went to no.4 (February 1997), 'Desire' from 'Rattle And Hum' was another no.2 hit (November 1888) and 'With Or Without You' from 'The Joshua Tree' reached the top spot in May 1987..[/quote]

If only boots had been a bigger hit. that said its a v gd song, but has definately underachived what it should have. but what if GOYB had been first single 4 years ago and vertigo had been first single for NLOTH, im guessing GOYB would have been the bigger hit
 
How can it be "poor" when it could still possibly sell more than a new release by someone who is deemed popular with the kids?, yes the drop could be quite big if those number are real, but whose to say U2 cant go on and sell 20k a week like KOL are doing?

For some reason you seem to have a strong desire to want to write the album of already,

And for some reason you have an obsession with other people's "negativity", all over these forums. Sometimes you are right, sometimes you are wrong. I am just analysing the facts at hand, maybe you should stop making assumptions about people's intentions and desires.

I love the album and I am extremely interested in its future success. I am saying that such a massive drop is "poor" - a qualitative statement, not quantitative. Maybe U2 can go on and match KoL's sales - I hope they do - but that is a future event and forums are about discussion, not sycophantic agreement.
 
well, to be fair, there's always a 50+% sales drop for almost any act that goes #1 the first week. the story will be clearer in week 3 about whether NLOTH is a true flop. if it suffers another massive drop *that* week, then NLOTH won't ever see double platinum certification in the US.

And you´ll be very happy right?
 
well, to be fair, there's always a 50+% sales drop for almost any act that goes #1 the first week. the story will be clearer in week 3 about whether NLOTH is a true flop. if it suffers another massive drop *that* week, then NLOTH won't ever see double platinum certification in the US.

What are you doing here dude ?, Happy trolling...


I'm sick of this new breed of "fans".
 
As stated on mediatraffic, I think this sums up initial sales of NLOTH quiet well.

[quoteAs expected the new set from rock-giant U2 shoots easily atop of the global album chart after its bow at no.3 last week in consequence of earlier sales in Japan, France and some other countries. Now afterthe first full week at retail 'No Line On The Horizon' moved 1.182.000 copies worldwide, enough to outsold the nearest competitor 1:8. And that's the biggest weekly sales by an album since AC/DC 'Black Ice' arrived with 1.762.000 copies in the week 45, 2008. U2's former studio album 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' sold 1.854.000 copies in its first week at retail (50, 2004). On the other side 'Get On Your Boots', the first single from U2's new effort, shows a bad performance on the chart, it reached only no.24 till to date. 'Vertigo', the first single from 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' was no.2 in December 2004, 'Beautiful Day' from 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' held also no.2 (November 2000), 'Discotheque' from 'Pop' went to no.4 (February 1997), 'Desire' from 'Rattle And Hum' was another no.2 hit (November 1888) and 'With Or Without You' from 'The Joshua Tree' reached the top spot in May 1987..

so NLOTH 1.182.000
and HTDAAB 1.854.000 :hmm:
and we know NLOTH is ~350k copies behind HTDAAB in U.S. :hmm:
yeah, IF NLOTH will be a "flop"... America, it's all because of you. :doh:
 
As stated on mediatraffic, I think this sums up initial sales of NLOTH quiet well.

[quoteAs expected the new set from rock-giant U2 shoots easily atop of the global album chart after its bow at no.3 last week in consequence of earlier sales in Japan, France and some other countries. Now afterthe first full week at retail 'No Line On The Horizon' moved 1.182.000 copies worldwide, enough to outsold the nearest competitor 1:8. And that's the biggest weekly sales by an album since AC/DC 'Black Ice' arrived with 1.762.000 copies in the week 45, 2008. U2's former studio album 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' sold 1.854.000 copies in its first week at retail (50, 2004). On the other side 'Get On Your Boots', the first single from U2's new effort, shows a bad performance on the chart, it reached only no.24 till to date. 'Vertigo', the first single from 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' was no.2 in December 2004, 'Beautiful Day' from 'All That You Can't Leave Behind' held also no.2 (November 2000), 'Discotheque' from 'Pop' went to no.4 (February 1997), 'Desire' from 'Rattle And Hum' was another no.2 hit (November 1888) and 'With Or Without You' from 'The Joshua Tree' reached the top spot in May 1987..

If only boots had been a bigger hit. that said its a v gd song, but has definately underachived what it should have. but what if GOYB had been first single 4 years ago and vertigo had been first single for NLOTH, im guessing GOYB would have been the bigger hit[/QUOTE]

What's missing is how "The Fly" did in 1991.

I've said for a while now that GOYB is like "The Fly". "The Fly" hit #1 in the U.K., but that was due to some promotion claiming the CD single was only available for a short time (which turned out not to be true - similar to the promotion of the double CD set for the "Best Of 1980-1990" supposedly being limited, but not true).

And, of course, despite the success of "Discotheque", "Pop" was still a rather soft seller (especially in the U.S.).

This relates to Clarkson. Her single hit #1 based on nearly 250K sales on iTunes. But her album may not reach 200K in sales. Quite a difference. In other words, a hit single still doesn't guarantee a hit album.
 
Another good post doctorwho - I think a lot depends on how quickly U2 will transition to promoting Magnificent. Whilst I don't think it will be a big of a hit as we think (or it deserves) it should keep the album sailing until the tour...

What also interests me is that U2 sold out (say) 7 stadiums in the UK in 2005 - so would we not assume at least that many would buy NLOTH?
 
Incidentally, U2 played Comic Relief (annual charity broadcast seen by around 10m people on TV) tonight. They performed GOYB, missing a nice opportunity to start promoting Magnificent.
 
well, to be fair, there's always a 50+% sales drop for almost any act that goes #1 the first week. the story will be clearer in week 3 about whether NLOTH is a true flop. if it suffers another massive drop *that* week, then NLOTH won't ever see double platinum certification in the US.

Well Gibson, I'd like to show you what the top 10 SELLING albums released in 2008 have sold to date:

LIL WAYNE - Tha Carter III : 3 million
TAYLOR SWIFT - Fearless : 2,4 million
COLDPLAY - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends : 2,2 million
AC/DC - Black Ice : 2 million
BEYONCE - I Am... Sasha Fierce : 1,7 million
T.I. - Paper Trail : 1,6 million
METALLICA - Death Magnetic : 1,6 million
Various Artists - MAMMA MIA (soundtrack) : 1,5 million
JACK JOHNSON - Sleep Through The Static : 1,5 million
NICKELBACK - Dark Horse : 1,4 million


These are the 10 biggest selling albums in the United States from 2008. Only 4 albums in all of 2008 made it to the 2 million mark, and only 1 made it past the 2.5 million mark. Does that mean every album released in 2008 was a sales flop with the exception of the top 4? Of course not. Album sales are declining across the entire market every year since 2000 regardless of who the artist might be.

In 1997, selling over 1.3 million copies of POP in the United States was good enough to finish the year at #48. In 2009, selling over 1.3 million albums is enough to classify your album as a top 10 smash hit for the year! It only took 1.7 million copies sold to crack the top 5 in 2008. Sales in 2009 are already down 12%. Thats means only 1.6 million need to be sold to finish the year at #5. That is where Achtung Baby finished in 1992, at the #5 position based on what it sold during the year relative to all the other albums in the market.

In 2009, the #48 album for the year will probably do about 500,000 in sales, what No Line On The Horizon did in its first week. If "No Line On The Horizon" sales 1.6 million or more copies this year, it will be just as successful as Achtung Baby was in its first year of release. The market environment has changed and EVERYONE is selling less than they did years ago. So unit to unit comparisons of sales for past years and decades is simply inaccurate. How the album did relative to the other albums in the market at the time is the only way you could make comparisons between U2's different albums from different time periods.
 
Were 10 weeks into the year 2009. Week 2 for No Line On The Horizon will be the 11th week of the year.

Based on the first 10 weeks of 2009, about 20% of the year, here are the top 30 biggest selling albums in the United States:

Rank - Sales - TITLE - Artist
01 - 685,451 - FEARLESS - Taylor Swift
02 - 490,113 - I AM…SASHA FIERCE - Beyonce
03 - 484,000 - NO LINE ON THE HORIZON - U2
04 - 475,845 - DARK HORSE - Nickelback
05 - 459,012 - WORKING ON A DREAM - Bruce Springsteen
06 - 384,564 - 808S AND HEARTBREAK - Kanye West
07 - 369,000 - THE FRAY - The Fray
08 - 344,029 - INTUITION - Jamie Foxx
09 - 321,659 - TWILIGHT - Soundtrack
10 - 321,441 - A DIFFERENT ME - Keyshia Cole
11 - 313,932 - CIRCUS - Britney Spears
12 - 259,783 - THE FAME - Lady GaGa
13 - 259,000 - NOW 29 - Various
14 - 250,617 - PAPER TRAIL - T.I.
15 - 236,071 - FUNHOUSE - Pink
16 - 227,000 - FREEDOM - Akon
17 - 222.000 - VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS - Coldplay
18 - 211,000 - WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS - Jason Mraz
19 - 205,500 - DAVID COOK - David Cook
20 - 195,783 - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Soundtrack
21 - 193,000 - MAMMA MIA - Soundtrack
22 - 184,500 - 19 - Adele
23 - 184,049 - THA CARTER III - Lil' Wayne
24 - 183,563 - ONLY BY THE NIGHT - Kings Of Leon
25 - 183,000 - YEAR OF THE GENTLEMAN - Ne-Yo
26 - 178,000 - GOOD GIRL GONE BAD - Rihanna
27 - 175,000 - ROCK N ROLL JESUS - Kid Rock
28 - 169,000 - 2009 GRAMMY NOMINEES - Various
29 - 168,344 - RAISING SAND - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
30 - 165,000 - ONE OF THE BOYS - Katy Perry



After only ONE week of sales, U2 already has the 3rd biggest selling album of the year! By its 3rd week, No Line On The Horizon will be at the top of this chart!
 
Well Gibson, I'd like to show you what the top 10 SELLING albums released in 2008 have sold to date:

LIL WAYNE - Tha Carter III : 3 million
TAYLOR SWIFT - Fearless : 2,4 million
COLDPLAY - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends : 2,2 million
AC/DC - Black Ice : 2 million
BEYONCE - I Am... Sasha Fierce : 1,7 million
T.I. - Paper Trail : 1,6 million
METALLICA - Death Magnetic : 1,6 million
Various Artists - MAMMA MIA (soundtrack) : 1,5 million
JACK JOHNSON - Sleep Through The Static : 1,5 million
NICKELBACK - Dark Horse : 1,4 million


These are the 10 biggest selling albums in the United States from 2008. Only 4 albums in all of 2008 made it to the 2 million mark, and only 1 made it past the 2.5 million mark. Does that mean every album released in 2008 was a sales flop with the exception of the top 4? Of course not. Album sales are declining across the entire market every year since 2000 regardless of who the artist might be.

In 1997, selling over 1.3 million copies of POP in the United States was good enough to finish the year at #48. In 2009, selling over 1.3 million albums is enough to classify your album as a top 10 smash hit for the year! It only took 1.7 million copies sold to crack the top 5 in 2008. Sales in 2009 are already down 12%. Thats means only 1.6 million need to be sold to finish the year at #5. That is where Achtung Baby finished in 1992, at the #5 position based on what it sold during the year relative to all the other albums in the market.

In 2009, the #48 album for the year will probably do about 500,000 in sales, what No Line On The Horizon did in its first week. If "No Line On The Horizon" sales 1.6 million or more copies this year, it will be just as successful as Achtung Baby was in its first year of release. The market environment has changed and EVERYONE is selling less than they did years ago. So unit to unit comparisons of sales for past years and decades is simply inaccurate. How the album did relative to the other albums in the market at the time is the only way you could make comparisons between U2's different albums from different time periods.

Great, great post. I guess some people shoud get their facts right before dismissing the album or calling it a "flop".
Oh well, at least the word won´t ryhme with NLOTH as it did with Pop! :):)
 
but if you compare it to a band like Kings of Leon who have been out for months and are still selling 20k a week that's not great. Week 3 and 4 sales will be more telling though and then if Magnificent takes off it should be okay

You´re right but the singles off Only by the night were very successful. Sex is on fire was a massive hit everywhere. And they walked away from the Brits with Best International album right?
By the way, in my opinion OBTN is maybe the best album of 1998.
I just feel that NLOTH is even better though.
 
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