Songs of Experience - Let The Chart Speculation Begin

[KUEFC09U2]

Man, to be beaten to the #1 spot by the fucking Beige Brothers is pretty galling. P!nk, she's fun and has some great songs, but tedious omnipotent Eddy and Sam Smiffy? Dear God, I mean, it's not new, we've alway had some really shit acts back home rise to the top, but just now we have so few if any huge great ones to counteract or balance the wheat from the chaf. Plus I assume these older albums winning the Top 4 was a series of X Factor 'bounces' as per usual because it's this time of year again?



I was always of the mind that they should just dedicate 2017 to The Joshua Tree's 30th, toast it and put on ice any new album until the new year, have the end of this year off (but keep Edge away from studios!!!) refresh the page and start anew in 2018 - with the single and the album in early to mid February ala 2009 and then the tour (as it is) in May onwards, but with the tickets going onsale post Christmas. Yeah, yeah I know it would have been a longer gap between Experience and Innocence, but two months isn't that big a deal and it would also probably mean a better chance at a #1 album at a quieter time in music, because going up against the UK's "finest" mass appeal acts around Christmas isn't a battle they are gonna win at this point in their career, but - maybe releasing the album post Festive season and sans the X Factor omnipotence and hype and it's appearance bounces might prove more fruitful on several levels. You get the bragging rights of the #1 record.



But.... they chose to add Songs of Experience onto the tail end of JT 2017 and well, here we are. And I know they have thick skins and are a tad seasoned to all of the ups and downs but they must be disappointed at some level at this number from what they always regarded as their 'second home".

They look like they are about to get number one in the US, I think that's all they are bothered about for some reason

 

[macphisto54]

The biggest advertisement is radio play of singles - they just dont seem to be getting this in the UK anymore (exception of Radio 2 to an extent). That said, they have easily gotten to #1 in the US without much radio play. I thought the size of their fan base would have easily carried them to #1 in the uk, I would have expected them to get to #1 even if they continue releasing albums way into their 70's, purely on their reputation and fan base.

I think US sales may have been boosted by the tour tickets/album bundle.

 

[aviastar]

I think US sales may have been boosted by the tour tickets/album bundle.

Billboard's quote was ~175k equivelent album sales (including all of the redeemed concert ticket bundles) for first week.

I like SOE, but I anticipate it's going to drop precipitously after week 1 (giveaway albums redemptions trickle down, album fades from public attention). It will fade into obscurity pretty quickly. Everybody who's interested will have already bought/redeemed it. It takes ~1500 streams to be an equivilent album unit so I suppose a bunch of us fans can stream it over and over and maybe boost those sales numbers a bit.

 

[rennowba]

They look like they are about to get number one in the US, I think that's all they are bothered about for some reason

To be fair America has always been their main focus. Can't blame them really the size of it. Uk is just a tiny island compared to the states

 

[Yahweh]

I think US sales may have been boosted by the tour tickets/album bundle.

They wearn't the first act to do this RHCP did it last year.

 

[rennowba]

Think it's just a case of demand for new u2 music has dropped off massively.There's still a decent enough demand for new music.

It happens to every artist when they get to a certain age. Theve had a phenomenal run 83-09 I'd say

I loved soi and I love soe so I'm happy, it's great when your favourite band does well, you route for them but as long as their releasing music we like then that's the main thing

 

[Yahweh]

Think it's just a case of demand for new u2 music has dropped off massively.There's still a decent enough demand for new music.

It happens to every artist when they get to a certain age. Theve had a phenomenal run 83-09 I'd say

I loved soi and I love soe so I'm happy, it's great when your favourite band does well, you route for them but as long as their releasing music we like then that's the main thing

As ive said before they are almost 60 - which is geriatric on the music scale. Hell I remember 20 years ago people were already calling U2 old.....now they are geezers for most people.

Time to make music for themselves and the fans that continue to support them and have for a very long time.

 

[rennowba]

As ive said before they are almost 60 - which is geriatric on the music scale. Hell I remember 20 years ago people were already calling U2 old.....now they are geezers for most people.



Time to make music for themselves and the fans that continue to support them and have for a very long time.

Totally 100% agree. I don't think the band would fully agree though as I still think they crave having that big hit, being in the mainstream and top of the charts. But I'm not complaining as I love the new record.

Maybe this will make them realise that their times sort of up in that market and just concentrate on pleasing the fans they have. Like I said their pleasing me so I'm happy

 

[rennowba]

Think also we can 100% now say the whole Apple soi release was a complete and utter disaster. If it was a way of reinventing themselves to a younger audience and new fans well then it 100% didnt worked. If it had of worked sales would have been very high for this record.100 million listened to the record now their gonna struggle to sell one

Biggest mistake of their career the Apple release was

 

[aviastar]

Think also we can 100% now say the whole Apple soi release was a complete and utter disaster. If it was a way of reinventing themselves to a younger audience and new fans well then it 100% didnt worked. If it had of worked sales would have been very high for this record.100 million listened to the record now their gonna struggle to sell one

Biggest mistake of their career the Apple release was

I dunno I think people had U2 fatigue even before SOI. They had their time...and an impressive run it was.

I never anticipated that SOE was gonna be a big seller...the fan base is pretty much aging out and I think even casuals aren't into buying new U2 albums. If they hadn't have given away SOI, it probably wouldn't have sold that well anyway.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

People acting like the bands time is over, they are about to hit number one in the US and I think that was the main objective, i still honestly feel if they promoted the album here in the UK they would have hit number one, but such is life

 

[aviastar]

People acting like the bands time is over, they are about to hit number one in the US and I think that was the main objective, i still honestly feel if they promoted the album here in the UK they would have hit number one, but such is life

They are going to hit #1 album for one week largely based on giveaways. None of the songs are charting.

 

[rennowba]

I dunno I think people had U2 fatigue even before SOI. They had their time...and an impressive run it was.

I never anticipated that SOE was gonna be a big seller...the fan base is pretty much aging out and I think even casuals aren't into buying new U2 albums. If they hadn't have given away SOI, it probably wouldn't have sold that well anyway.

Apart of me actually thought they did it because it took away the possibility of the album not doing well in the charts. They couldn't fail, well they thought they couldn't .

That goes all the way down to having the opinion to download it. With it being put on people iPhones. Again it takes away that possibility of failing. How stupid would they of looked if they offered a free record and hardly anyone downloaded it .

The release was irrelevant after the free give away.

 

[Haywa1979]

People acting like the bands time is over, they are about to hit number one in the US and I think that was the main objective, i still honestly feel if they promoted the album here in the UK they would have hit number one, but such is life

I agree. The simple fact is that almost NO ONE, outside of a couple of pop/hip-hop acts, sells a lot of albums anymore. On th rock/alternative size, this is even more true unless your band's name is Coldplay.

As crazy as it seems, U2 hitting #1 in the US on 180,000 sales is actually an extremely good result for a rock band going on 40 years.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

They are going to hit #1 album for one week largely based on giveaways. None of the songs are charting.

The best thing in the US has been a pretty decent radio "hit" for a band of their age

 

[Haywa1979]

They are going to hit #1 album for one week largely based on giveaways. None of the songs are charting.

Not true - there is nothing at all showing that most of the sales were due to giveaways. You're speculating based on no evidence.

And TBT has done very well on several formats, including the HAC format, which gets a big audience. TBT has performed better overall than any U2 song since Vertigo.

 

[aviastar]

Not true - there is nothing at all showing that most of the sales were due to giveaways. You're speculating based on no evidence.

And TBT has done very well on several formats, including the HAC format, which gets a big audience. TBT has performed better overall than any U2 song since Vertigo.

They gave away an album for every concert ticket sold for the US part of the tour. There's a bunch of shows. If even half of the redemptions were made this week, it's a sizeable chunk of that 180k. Every one of those redemptions is counted as a sale even though it was actually bundled as free music.

I think that it won't have any staying power....it won't stay on the album charts for several weeks...at least not in a top spot.

 

[Yahweh]

Im not saying there time is over - if they look at it the right way their time is just beginning where they can make music for themselves and their fans and not really give a damn how it sells.

Its not like they are playing Pop night at the casino down the street yet

 

[KUEFC09U2]

They gave away an album for every concert ticket sold for the US part of the tour. There's a bunch of shows. If even half of the redemptions were made this week, it's a sizeable chunk of that 180k. Every one of those redemptions is counted as a sale even though it was actually bundled as free music.

I think that it won't have any staying power....it won't stay on the album charts for several weeks...at least not in a top spot.

But again it would need proof of how many actually claimed the free CD

 

[rennowba]

People acting like the bands time is over, they are about to hit number one in the US and I think that was the main objective, i still honestly feel if they promoted the album here in the UK they would have hit number one, but such is life

It's not over , far from it. But their new music just isn't in demand as it once was.

What doesn't help is people just aren't buying rock bands records anymore. Rock is dying and dying fast. Hardly any bands sell many records anymore. Kids just aren't into guitar bands

 

[prbiker15]

If they were over, they still wouldn’t have the #1 album on the global iTunes Charts for more than a week.

They’ll most likely lose the spot by Monday, but it was a good run.

 

[Haywa1979]

They gave away an album for every concert ticket sold for the US part of the tour. There's a bunch of shows. If even half of the redemptions were made this week, it's a sizeable chunk of that 180k. Every one of those redemptions is counted as a sale even though it was actually bundled as free music.

I think that it won't have any staying power....it won't stay on the album charts for several weeks...at least not in a top spot.

It's very likely that most of the people who bought tickets would buy the album. Every single person that I know who bought a ticket was going to buy the album anyway.

 

[rennowba]

It's very likely that most of the people who bought tickets would buy the album. Every single person that I know who bought a ticket was going to but the album.

Yeah I do sort of agree with that. Obviously the free album offer has helped and sales would definitely be less if they didn't have the offer on. But I do think most buying tickets would buy the record anyway

 

[aviastar]

But again it would need proof of how many actually claimed the free CD

I understand your point.

The more important question is - are they winning over a substantial number of casuals and new fans, or is the sales largely to u2 fans? Because if it's the latter, then it's not going to stay a top album for successive weeks. If it's the former, it's got a chance to stay on the charts for a while as people 'discover' it and purchase it.

I am not sure how much of a reality that is, but I would bet that sales are largely to u2 fans...it's not winning a mass of new people over. I mean if all we are celebrating is that they can sell albums to people who already were going to buy them (u2 fans), it doesn't really say anything about the popularity of the album....which is what charts are supposed to measure.

 

[Haywa1979]

If they were over, they still wouldn’t have the #1 album on the global iTunes Charts for more than a week.

They’ll most likely lose the spot by Monday, but it was a good run.

Exactly. The doom and gloom on here is being significantly overstated. If you've been following trends over the past 5-7 years, none of this would be surprising.

U2 hitting #1 in the US is a great result and shows that U2 still moves the needle.

 

[Luzita]

They gave away an album for every concert ticket sold for the US part of the tour. There's a bunch of shows. If even half of the redemptions were made this week, it's a sizeable chunk of that 180k. Every one of those redemptions is counted as a sale even though it was actually bundled as free music.

I think that it won't have any staying power....it won't stay on the album charts for several weeks...at least not in a top spot.

According to the discussion earlier in this thread, redemption rates for this sort of ticket promotion are more like 20-30%. And many of the people who bought tickets would have bought the album even if there were no promotion. So the fraction of sales that’s due to the ticket bundle is quite unclear.

 

[TinKnight]

look all im saying is that i want them to hit number one so i don't feel bad streaming the new chris stapleton album

 

[macphisto54]

According to the discussion earlier in this thread, redemption rates for this sort of ticket promotion are more like 20-30%. And many of the people who bought tickets would have bought the album even if there were no promotion. So the fraction of sales that’s due to the ticket bundle is quite unclear.

Shame tickets for the European leg hadn't been released - it would of made the difference in the UK. I read that the gap between #5 and #1 was 18k albums.

 

[dopper]

They’ve trailed Stapleton on both US iTunes and Amazon CDs all week. If they hit number 1 in the US, it’s probably because of the ticket bundle.

 

[Luzita]

Billboard's quote was ~175k equivelent album sales (including all of the redeemed concert ticket bundles) for first week.

I like SOE, but I anticipate it's going to drop precipitously after week 1 (giveaway albums redemptions trickle down, album fades from public attention). It will fade into obscurity pretty quickly. Everybody who's interested will have already bought/redeemed it. It takes ~1500 streams to be an equivilent album unit so I suppose a bunch of us fans can stream it over and over and maybe boost those sales numbers a bit.

Actually the 175k wasn’t “equivalent” album sales, it was just straight album sales. Billboard projects about the same quantity in “equivalent” albums from streaming and digital tracks, for ~350k altogether.