"U2 Hits No. 1, but Misses the Million Mark"

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Miggy D

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U2 Hits No. 1, but Misses the Million Mark

All the money Apple Computers could pour into U2 wasn't enough. The Irish rock band, which will probably be named as an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next week, hit No. 1 this week with their new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. But it's a bittersweet victory.

Initially, U2 was thought to have sold between 900,000 and 1 million copies of its new CD in the opening week. To make that more likely, Interscope Records (part of the Universal Music Group) slashed the retail price almost in half last Friday to pump up sales at places like Best Buy, according to website HitsDailyDouble.com.

But even with an incredible marketing plan tied to Apple's iPod, it looks like the album fell short of the million mark. When all the numbers are wrapped up today, the CD will probably have sold closer to 750,000 and maybe even a little less.

That's no small feat these days, but consider what Atomic Bomb might have sold if it hadn't been illegally available on so many filesharing services. This reporter was able to pull it off the Web about 10 days before its official release, and that was with a lot of squinting and a bottle full of Aleve.

Younger fans, more adept at such matters, no doubt had Atomic Bomb sizzling in their headphones long before that. I hope they appreciate the beauty of a song like "Original of the Species" — it's one of U2's best ever.

*Excerpted from Fox News ."

-Miggy D
 
Hah, that article seems to be trying to put a negative spin on fantastic news.
 
Until I see the final tally from Hits (which are still predicting over 800,000) and, more importantly, SoundScan, I tend to gloss over these early reports.

However, I think it was very safe to say that 1M was always a lofty feat to reach. U2's best debut in the SoundScan era sold an impressive 428,000 copies (U.S. only). That's a great total, but not incredible by any means. For U2 to have 2x that mark on their next release would be nearly impossible given this stage of U2's career. If we were talking about UF to JT, maybe. But this is a band that's been around for 25 years. They have a hit song, but it's not a Top 10 hit (on the Hot 100 charts). So getting sales of 700,000+ is quite an achievement. Plus, U2 having another #1 album in the U.S. is quite a feat. Don't see that from most 80's artists (even Madonna!).

What I'm more concerned with now is whether U2 can hold on to #1 for more than a week. "Zooropa" was the only album in the SoundScan era to hold #1 on the Billboard charts for more than a week. HTDAAB has some competition, but not tremendous (a remix album from Jay-Z/Linkin Park and a new release from American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson). If HTDAAB can keep the sales drop to 50% or less, it has a shot at retaining the #1 position.

This week is traditionally the "slow" week. Thanksgiving specials are over and Christmas is still a bit far away. So expect a big drop. However, after that, sales will pick up tremendously. The week before Christmas is the biggest CD sales week of the year. ATYCLB had its second best week then, even though it only charted in the 20's. That's how big the sales were!
 
700,000+ sales in one week is an incredible number. I don't think any rock and roll band will top that number unless U2 does it again.
 
What's really interesting is that the PRESS predicted sales of 900,000+, not U2. U2 and Interscope/Island never said they'd sell 1M copies in the first week.

So the press overestimated, and now they have the audacity to put a negative spin on their own words making U2 look bad saying that they "only" sold 700,000 copies. Please! If the press didn't over-predict, they wouldn't have to backtrack. It's just unfortunate that the press is making U2 look bad here instead of themselves. God forbid they blame themselves. :rolleyes:
 
ladywithspinninghead said:
Do Canada's numbers come out the same day as the U.S.? I think so but I can't find anything to the equivalent of Hits Double Daily here...


Canada numbers come out Wednesday around Noon.

There is no indication before that.

ATYCLB did ~71K in its first week in Canada.

I am expecting 80K for HTDAAB.
 
What's the big deal if they don't sell a million copies the first week out? They hit No. 1 in a very busy time for new CD releases. Even ATYCLB couldn't accomplish that. The album will doubtless go plantinum in a couple of weeks. It will also probably be on the charts for a year or more.
 
That's crazy - everyone should be over the moon about those figures! It's fantastic news for the band and fans alike, it proves that U2 are still very much in demand. For gawds' sake - that is a heck of a bundle more than ATYCLB and that is to be celebrated, not have scorn poured on it! So i say we should say congrats to the guys YOU STILL ROCK AFTER ALL THIS TIME!!!! :bow: :bow:

:applaud: :applaud: :applaud:
 
The writer of that article needs to be called to task. What a blatant misrepresentation of the "expectations"...

Further, the record sold that total with Thxgiving in the mix, which means there was one less sales day in the US. Plus, the price slash was part and parcell of Black Friday when nearly every products on US retail shelves get marked down.

When the receipts are properly tallied, I'm saying it's closer to a million. Especially if you pro-rate for the lost day...
 
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Terrible writer, whoever wrote that. How can someone make something negative out of 750,000 sold?
 
the article/blurb isn't that negative. It does call OOTS one of U2's best ever.

Just says the sales were lower than press expected.

Where the article is illogical is saying that "even with publicity" sales weren't as high as predicted given the amount of publicity. it's circular logic.

What the guy probably means is either
1) that the publicity didn't help as much as originally expected or
2) week sales came in lower than would be expected based on first day sales alone.

If his point is the first one... he's probably right. there has been a bit of a backlash to overexposure from u2. (VH1's Best Week Ever, as well as several of my friends). i'm a big fan. i can't get enough of them. But if it was some band i wasn't very partial too, i can understand.

If it's the second one... that's probably more because thanksgiving week sales are hard to predict (shops closed, followed by big sale days) than because of negative feedback from the album after the first day.
 
An increase of over 300,000 copies in sales is by no means a failure......I guess people can always find a way to spin things in the other direction. :madspit:
 
When was the last time a U2 album sold 750,000+ copies in its first week in the United States. This is the best first week in the USA for U2 with the possible exception of Rattle And Hum.
 
When they total up sales of the new album do they add up sales for all of the different versions or do they just publish the totals for the regular version?
 
U2 absolutly destroyed any other rock bands numbers from this year. It was closer to 850 thousand so these people had their numbers totally wrong anyway :wink:

Much more then anybody could have expected from an international band in their 40's whether they have the ipod campaign or not...just another non U2 fan probably trying to dismiss U2 as being crap.
 
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