Week 18

[D'oh!]

I think ATYCLB will remain a bigger success than HTDAAB in USA, but in the UK Bomb will overtake ATYCLB.

 

[beLIEve]

2nd Christmas

I think ATYCLB will remain a bigger success than HTDAAB in USA, but in the UK Bomb will overtake ATYCLB.

Well, I hope that's not the case. Sales are averaging 120K/mo right now, and that might stabilize at around 100K/mo or rise due to a hit single and the tour. Either way, U2 will pick up at least 700K in U.S. sales in the next 7 months. That gets us to the end of October.

Then, a flurry of things should really start pushing sales. First, the tour will be going on almost through December. Christmas sales account for over 90% of annual record sales here, so U2 could easily pick up 700K in sales in Nov & Dec alone.

If this happened, we'd be at 3.9M in sales before the Grammies. The nominations and then awards will keep the album going into March of 2006, tacking on another 500K IMO. That's what will help it sustain it's current lead over ATYCLB and pass it in total sales sometime in early 2006.

Just IMO, but very feasible.

 

[Zoovation]

I'm sure that HTDAAB's sales will be higher than those of ATYCLB. Sales are very high after only 18 weeks and the tour hasn't even begun.
In USA, I think that we have to wait but I'm very confident.

 

[fitz]

Yep, my estimate for what Media Traffic numbers are is close to what you have. I estimate that BOMB's total sales as tabulated by media traffic are about 7,250,000.

I wish they would update the "all time" chart.

I've got a message from mediatraffic. They will update the alltime-charts next weekend. Hope that this is true.

 

[ybird3k]

what is the alltime chart?

 

[BigMacPhisto]

It's the all time chart for the best selling albums on the World Chart.......

http://www.mediatraffic.de/


www.radioandrecords.com

^ In today's updates, "Sometimes" had huge gains across the board..........second most added track in the Pop format..........it should turn into another Top 100 hit this Thursday, or the week after that.........

 

[ybird3k]

theres nothing on the media traffic site about an 'all time chart' though, just the normal 'Album' and 'Tracks' charts. i still dont understand what you mean.

Great news for 'sometimes'

 

[NoControl]

According to Billboard, as of January 2005, AYCLB has sold 10.8 Million copies (to customers) worldwide.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

ybird3k, there's an All Time section for both Tracks and Albums..........it's on the left of the page, both all time charst are under their respective sections....

 

[STING2]

In December of 2001, Billboard Magazine reported that ATYCLB had reached the 10 million mark. At the start of December 2001, ATYCLB had sold 3,085,000 copies in the United States and would not cross the 4 million mark in Europe until February of 2002. From Soundscan figures, we know that ATYCLB has sold over 1.1 million copies in the United States since December of 2001. Additional sales in the United States alone since December 2001 would put ATYCLB at over 11.1 million copies sold worldwide. Crossing the 4 million mark in Europe in February 2002 plus additional sales in Europe since that time, plus all other global sales since December 2001 would put the album at roughly 12 million worldwide.

 

[NoControl]

In December of 2001, Billboard Magazine reported that ATYCLB had reached the 10 million mark. At the start of December 2001, ATYCLB had sold 3,085,000 copies in the United States and would not cross the 4 million mark in Europe until February of 2002. From Soundscan figures, we know that ATYCLB has sold over 1.1 million copies in the United States since December of 2001. Additional sales in the United States alone since December 2001 would put ATYCLB at over 11.1 million copies sold worldwide. Crossing the 4 million mark in Europe in February 2002 plus additional sales in Europe since that time, plus all other global sales since December 2001 would put the album at roughly 12 million worldwide.

Maybe to retailers but not to consumers.

 

[STING2]

Maybe to retailers but not to consumers.

It is to retailers. It is possible to get precise(100%) sales to retailers or shipments, but sales to consumers at best in places like the United States and United Kingdom with Soundscan will only record at most, 90% to 95% of sales to consumers. Not all retail stores, even in the United States and United Kingdom, are equipped with soundscan. The percentage of sales tracked by soundscan technology gets even smaller as you look at the developing markets and thirdworld markets. Sales to consumers for ATYCLB are probably around 11.5 million to 11.7 million at this point but its impossible to know the exact figure.

 

[NoControl]

It is to retailers. It is possible to get precise(100%) sales to retailers or shipments, but sales to consumers at best in places like the United States and United Kingdom with Soundscan will only record at most, 90% to 95% of sales to consumers. Not all retail stores, even in the United States and United Kingdom, are equipped with soundscan. The percentage of sales tracked by soundscan technology gets even smaller as you look at the developing markets and thirdworld markets. Sales to consumers for ATYCLB are probably around 11.5 million to 11.7 million at this point but its impossible to know the exact figure.

I'll take Billboard's figure over your conjectured, fudging the facts data. The rest of the 5-10% is extrapolated - you know that.

 

[Dima]

Maybe to retailers but not to consumers.

sales figueres are ALWAYS referred to retailers..."sales to consumer" actually means nothing for the "book of records" and other than this only a few countries have a soundscan-like system.

 

[beLIEve]

What are you talking about?

I'll take Billboard's figure over your conjectured, fudging the facts data. The rest of the 5-10% is extrapolated - you know that.

It is Billboard that has to use conjectured, fact-fudged data because of an imperfect data collection system. Most industries suffer from the same problem, especially if the product is sold around the globe. Albums, especially U2 albums, are about as "global" as it gets.

We deal with the same issue at my company, which is why we go on what we KNOW IS TRUE - how much product have we shipped? Why? Because we sell them to retailers. We don't take them back. They will sell them their way. If they have too many, then they can discount the product.

BTW, if we knew there were 500,000 "products" in the field but had sales of 10M+ in the last 5 years, then it wouldn't be an issue, it would be normal. We NEVER know, though, because not all retailers have a good way of tracking sales. Some smaller outlets don't track it all, at least not in a way it can be reported back to the Producer. Same thing goes for the record industry.

 

[NoControl]

sales figueres are ALWAYS referred to retailers..."sales to consumer" actually means nothing for the "book of records" and other than this only a few countries have a soundscan-like system.

That's just not true. And you know it.

 

[NoControl]

Re: What are you talking about?

It is Billboard that has to use conjectured, fact-fudged data because of an imperfect data collection system. Most industries suffer from the same problem, especially if the product is sold around the globe. Albums, especially U2 albums, are about as "global" as it gets.

We deal with the same issue at my company, which is why we go on what we KNOW IS TRUE - how much product have we shipped? Why? Because we sell them to retailers. We don't take them back. They will sell them their way. If they have too many, then they can discount the product.

BTW, if we knew there were 500,000 "products" in the field but had sales of 10M+ in the last 5 years, then it wouldn't be an issue, it would be normal. We NEVER know, though, because not all retailers have a good way of tracking sales. Some smaller outlets don't track it all, at least not in a way it can be reported back to the Producer. Same thing goes for the record industry.

You can cloud the issue all you want. And most of what you've said above I already know. But it's a fact that AYCLB sold 10.8 Million copies worldwide, as of January 2005.

Trying to tell me something about the music industry is like showing me what 1+1 equals. You need to read my post history...

 

[BigMacPhisto]

- Two Hearts Beats As One (#101, 5 wks bubbling)

Ha! I love you!

 

[fedeu2]

Re: Re: What are you talking about?

You say it yourself before, 10,8 million copies sold to CONSUMERS.
So, the 12 million figure shipped that sting2 is referring to is very plausible in my eyes. And we all know that what really matters are sales to retailers, i.e., shipped copies. That´s what RIAA is all about.
Same story with Bomb, acutal sales to consumers are nearly 8 million copies worldwide to date. Yet, as far as the record company is concerned, the album has sold 9 million copies, again, considering shipped copies.

You can cloud the issue all you want. And most of what you've said above I already know. But it's a fact that AYCLB sold 10.8 Million copies worldwide, as of January 2005.

Trying to tell me something about the music industry is like showing me what 1+1 equals. You need to read my post history...

 

[NoControl]

Re: Re: Re: What are you talking about?

You say it yourself before, 10,8 million copies sold to CONSUMERS.
So, the 12 million figure shipped that sting2 is referring to is very plausible in my eyes. And we all know that what really matters are sales to retailers, i.e., shipped copies. That´s what RIAA is all about.
Same story with Bomb, acutal sales to consumers are nearly 8 million copies worldwide to date. Yet, as far as the record company is concerned, the album has sold 9 million copies, again, considering shipped copies.

The RIAA only certifies album in the US. And HTDAAB hasn't sold anywhere near 8 Million copies to consumers yet - it's at less than 7.5 Million right now. It will have by the end of the Spring though.

 

[zoo tv mcg]

Re: Re: Re: Re: What are you talking about?

The RIAA only certifies album in the US. And HTDAAB hasn't sold anywhere near 8 Million copies to consumers yet - it's at less than 7.5 Million right now. It will have by the end of the Spring though.

So you are using trusted Media Traffic numbers, not official RIAA, IFPI, BPCS, ARIA etc

Media Traffic maybe covers only 90% of the worlds record market -they list the countries they report from at the bottom of their website

 

[fedeu2]

Re: Re: Re: Re: What are you talking about?

I know about RIAA believe me.
And if anything you´re proving my point.
8,5 million copies was the initial shipment for the bomb, as far as the record company is concerned, that´s the number of copies the album has sold.
If we´re talking about sales to consumers, the bomb has already surpassed the 7,5 million figure given that mediatraffic numbers are well above 7 million and they cover 95% of worldwise sales to consumers.

The RIAA only certifies album in the US. And HTDAAB hasn't sold anywhere near 8 Million copies to consumers yet - it's at less than 7.5 Million right now. It will have by the end of the Spring though.

 

[Dima]

That's just not true. And you know it.

ù

no, it's the truth...when youread that for example MJ has sold 40 million copies of Thriller it's referred to shipped copies: shipped copies is the only confirmed data that we can get as this number results from the sum of certifications around the world (RIAA, IFPI, CRIA, ARIA etc)
Obviously as time passes by the numer of copies sold to consumer tend to be similar to shipped copies as no one would ever order new copies of an album if he's not sure he can sell them and no one wants to have a load of copies that remains unsold...the last figure we know (from BB) of shipped copies is 8.5 million and that's the number of copies sold for the "book of records"