blueyedpoet
Refugee
This tour has featured six songs from Boy. Is there any chance of finding out if Boy sells have increased during the tour?
Will the 60 minutes special help sales at all?
Will the 60 minutes special help sales at all?
Two questions for the business and mathematical gods that run Peeling
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
blueyedpoet said:
Dr. WhO used to get soundscan information on the top 200 catalog albums every week, but his source has long disappeared. It is this chart that BOY would be eligible to enter. An album normally had to sell at least 2,000 copies to make the top 200. Best Of 1980-1990 and the Joshua Tree spent a lot of time on the chart back when ATYCLB was out. Achtung Baby only a appeared four or five times.
You have to realize, ever since CD Burning, File Sharing and other types of internet downloading of music for free became widely available and popular after the year 2000, sales of catalog albums all across the board have really dropped.
The only U2 albums today that your going to see on the top 200 catalog chart are Joshua Tree, Best of 1980-1990 and possibly Best of 1990-2000 and ATYCLB. Achtung Baby is less likely to appear now that Best of 1990-2000 is out.
So in general, your not going to see any significant increase on the catalog chart, because most old U2 albums sell below 2,000 copies per week regardless of the level of promotion going on at the time.
The only possible place where you might be able to gauge if there is brand new interest in BOY is on Amazon.com. Its a poor gauge really, but the only one I can think of.
I think most people who decide they want the BOY album are going to try to find someone who can burn it for them or see if they can get it for free through the internet somehow. Its impossible to track how many people are doing that though.
Here are Amazon.com's current positions for U2 albums
HTDAAB #39
Best OF 1980-1990 #77
Joshua Tree #120
Best Of 1990-2000 #141
Achtung Baby #269
ATYCLB #343
WAR #789
Unforgettable Fire #817
October #958
Under A Blood Red Sky #1,451
BOY #1,580
Rattle And Hum #2,188
Zooropa #2,704
Wide Awake In America #7,861
POP #8,333
Under A Blood Red Sky usually ranks below all the studio albums except maybe POP on Amazon.com. I don't know why that is. Back in the late 1980s, and early 1990s, Under A Blood Red Sky was one of U2's strongest catalog sellers.
But, on this Amazon.com chart currently, it ranks very high and is above BOY. So perhaps many people are choosing to pick up UABRS instead of BOY.
Its funny to see POP behind even Wide Awake In America.
Americans have really forgotten this album. Remember though, this is just what is selling at Amazon.com and is not representive of all sales all across the United States.
It appears the 60 minutes special last night is already having an effect as many of the albums at the top have moved up considerably from where they usually are. A total of 9 albums in the top 1,000 is good.
blueyedpoet
Refugee
what the hell is up with October selling less than pop on amazon though?
Thanks for your information...i wonder how successful the Beatles would be at selling albums in today's market where so much file sharing does take place?
Thanks for your information...i wonder how successful the Beatles would be at selling albums in today's market where so much file sharing does take place?
POP-ROMANCER
War Child
blueyedpoet said:
October is selling more than pop on amazon.
blueyedpoet
Refugee
that's actually what i meant to ask...why is october selling more than pop on amazon?
phanan
Blue Crack Addict
blueyedpoet said:
The better question would be why is October selling more than Boy on Amazon. That boggles the mind.
ybird3k
War Child
a further question would be, why is October selling at all?
Here is an update of how U2's catalog is doing at Amazon.com.
HTDAAB #57
Best Of 1980-1990 #117
Best Of 1990-2000 #206
Joshua Tree #213
Achtung Baby #386
ATYCLB #530
WAR #635
BOY #729
Unforgettable Fire #896
October #989
Rattle And Hum #1,318
Under A Blood Red Sky 1,364
Zooropa #2,210
POP #2,787
Wide Awake In America #4,567
Several of U2's lower ranked albums have made a big jump over the past few days, especially the POP album, at Amazon.com. 10 albums are now in the top 1,000. 12 in the top 1,400. 14 in the top 3,000.
HTDAAB #57
Best Of 1980-1990 #117
Best Of 1990-2000 #206
Joshua Tree #213
Achtung Baby #386
ATYCLB #530
WAR #635
BOY #729
Unforgettable Fire #896
October #989
Rattle And Hum #1,318
Under A Blood Red Sky 1,364
Zooropa #2,210
POP #2,787
Wide Awake In America #4,567
Several of U2's lower ranked albums have made a big jump over the past few days, especially the POP album, at Amazon.com. 10 albums are now in the top 1,000. 12 in the top 1,400. 14 in the top 3,000.
phommel
Refugee
STING2 said:
That means 1% of the TOP1000 allbums is from U2. Pretty good! Which bands have more?
Strange that some of my favourite albums are on the bottom of the list..POP, Under a blood red sky, rattle&hum...
Along this theme of catalog sales, I am just wondering about a couple of things that some of the album sales experts on these boards perhaps could answer.
First, is there any type of website that shows what the total number of copies of an album have sold since the album's release, at any given moment? I am talking only about here in the U.S., and an example of what I am looking for is this: Achtung Baby has sold 8 million copies in the U.S., but I am wondering just how close it is to reaching the 9 million mark, and was curious if there is a website that provides this info, like down to the exact number (or really, really close). I found the Soundscan website, but it didn't have anything like it at all.
Second, when an album is released, do they (the RIAA and/or Soundscan) continue to monitor sales of it no matter how long ago it was released? I mean, like sales of BOY even though it came out 26 years ago? If so, I find it amazing that neither BOY nor October have crossed 2 million in sales, what with all the U2 fans out there! I know things have slowed down with catalog sales, but still!
And third, I am assuming that Soundscan counts all the sales of albums purchased off the web, such as from Amazon and the like. Is this a correct assumption, or are those sales just not tallied up? If not, it could be that artists' sales totals are quite inaccurate, what with everybody buying copies over the net.
Any help would be most appreciated, and maybe I can get a decent night's sleep!
First, is there any type of website that shows what the total number of copies of an album have sold since the album's release, at any given moment? I am talking only about here in the U.S., and an example of what I am looking for is this: Achtung Baby has sold 8 million copies in the U.S., but I am wondering just how close it is to reaching the 9 million mark, and was curious if there is a website that provides this info, like down to the exact number (or really, really close). I found the Soundscan website, but it didn't have anything like it at all.
Second, when an album is released, do they (the RIAA and/or Soundscan) continue to monitor sales of it no matter how long ago it was released? I mean, like sales of BOY even though it came out 26 years ago? If so, I find it amazing that neither BOY nor October have crossed 2 million in sales, what with all the U2 fans out there! I know things have slowed down with catalog sales, but still!
And third, I am assuming that Soundscan counts all the sales of albums purchased off the web, such as from Amazon and the like. Is this a correct assumption, or are those sales just not tallied up? If not, it could be that artists' sales totals are quite inaccurate, what with everybody buying copies over the net.
Any help would be most appreciated, and maybe I can get a decent night's sleep!
jmccuanu2 said:
Unfortunately, the answer to your first question is no. There is no website out there that will tell you how close Achtung Baby is to going 9 times platinum.
The answer to your second question is yes. Soundscan tracks all sales at retail regardless of how old the album is. RIAA certifies albums that reach certain sales levels when the record company asked that it be done.
Soundscan tracks sales over the internet and in fact has an internet album chart. These sales are added in to the totals for album sales on the Billboard 200.
Hey, thanks for the info STING2. Very informative! I do have one followup regarding the answer to my second question. You stated that the record company asks that the RIAA certifies the album at certain sales levels. So I assume it isn't an automatic thing? In other words, AB might have already crossed the 9 million mark, but if Island Records hasn't asked the RIAA for an audit, we wouldn't know that until the audit of U2's catalog has been done. Am I on the right track with that thinking?
By the by, when I say "an automatic thing," I am meaning that Soundscan doesn't notify the RIAA if an album reaches a certain plateau, it is still the record label's responsibility to ask RIAA to do the audit. I guess it boils down to a question of who tells who what to do and when. Thanks in advance for any more info on the subject.
By the by, when I say "an automatic thing," I am meaning that Soundscan doesn't notify the RIAA if an album reaches a certain plateau, it is still the record label's responsibility to ask RIAA to do the audit. I guess it boils down to a question of who tells who what to do and when. Thanks in advance for any more info on the subject.
jmccuanu2 said:
Yes, that is correct.
Soundscan simply counts purchases at retail, it does not get involved with the record company or the RIAA. The Record label knows how many albums they have produced and shipped and the RIAA is there to do an audit to confirm that fact, when the Record label chooses to certify the album at a new sales level.
Soundscan figures today cover 95% of the market and can help in determining if certain albums are even close to being recertified or how long it might take for a new certification to come about. The Record label of course knows the full story, but by looking at Soundscan figures the average person get make a rough gauge themselves.
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