Week 40

[Maoilbheannacht]

TOP 20 SELLING ALBUMS WORLDWIDE AS OF WEEK 50, 2009
1. Lady Gaga The Fame 4.635.000
2. Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. 3.659.000
3. U2 No Line On The Horizon 3.558.500
4. Taylor Swift Fearless 3.500.500
5. Michael Jackson Thriller 3.419.000
6. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 3.314.000
7. Michael Jackson Number Ones 3.235.000
8. Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 2.957.500
9. Eminem Relapse 2.894.000
10. Soundtrack Hannah Montana: The Movie 2.774.000
11. Michael Jackson The Essential 2.645.500
12. Green Day 21st Century Breakdown 2.593.500
13. Pink Funhouse 2.354.000
14. Susan Boyle I Dreamed A Dream 2.332.500
15. Soundtrack Twilight 2.314.000
16. Michael Jackson This Is It 2.239.000
17. Michael Jackson King Of Pop 2.012.500
18. Michael Bublé Crazy Love 1.933.000
19. Michael Jackson Bad (since 2009) 1.845.000
20. Nickelback Dark Horse 1.840.000

Actual sales in week 50 of the top 10
1. Lady Gaga The Fame 242,000
2. Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D. 196,000
3. U2 No Line On The Horizon 14,000
4. Michael Jackson Thriller 37,000
5. Taylor Swift Fearless 150,000
6. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 46,500
7. Michael Jackson Number Ones 38,000
8. Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 76,000
9. Eminem Relapse 16,500
10. Soundtrack Hannah Montana: The Movie 28,000




With only 3 weeks left, it appears that No Line On The Horizon will finish the year as the 5th biggest selling album WORLDWIDE of 2009! This is where Achtung Baby finished in 1992!


It should be mentioned that Lady GaGa's The Fame is getting its sales inflated by releasing a new 10 song EP with the album. The EP is also being sold seperately.

Also, Taylor Swift's Fearless is having its sales inflated by the release of a new version of the album with extra tracks.

 

[rollingbob]

With only 3 weeks left, it appears that No Line On The Horizon will finish the year as the 5th biggest selling album WORLDWIDE of 2009! This is where Achtung Baby finished in 1992!

But AB would also have been one of the 10/15/20 biggest sellers of '91. It probably sold ~4m in just those last 6 wks of the year...& it was still selling ok in '93!

 

[rollingbob]

Only country i can see it charting now is France, down 5 to #89. Total shop sales here now ~285k, + ~10% for downloads = ~315k.

Current US total is 1,045,766 - 18th on SS wk 49 YTD best seller list. So it's added 12,822 in the last 5 wks, whilst outside the T.200, at an average of 2,564 per week.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

But AB would also have been one of the 10/15/20 biggest sellers of '91. It probably sold ~4m in just those last 6 wks of the year...& it was still selling ok in '93!

The 1992 figure considers all of Achtung Baby's sales to the end of 1992. Sales for Achtung Baby were not as rapid as for HTDAAB, but obviously some amount was sold before the end of 1991. Achtung Baby's total sales were over 10 million worldwide in November 1992. Take away the 1991 sales though, and Achtung Baby would not be in the top 5 for 1992.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

Call me Stupid, which I know I am, but I think 3,6M is a great number.

 

[phommel]

I also think it's a great number! And it also proves U2 is still relevant.

However, I also understand (but don't agree with it) that they are disappointed with the result. They wanted to sell more than Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift and MJ. And especially, more than KOL....
However, this is what happens when you don't produce the big hit(s). So let's hope their reaction will not be to create an album with hits(although I'm afraid this will happen, since they were so disappointed), but that they will go on to make brilliant music.

 

[doctorwho]

I also think it's a great number! And it also proves U2 is still relevant.

However, I also understand (but don't agree with it) that they are disappointed with the result. They wanted to sell more than Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift and MJ. And especially, more than KOL....
However, this is what happens when you don't produce the big hit(s). So let's hope their reaction will not be to create an album with hits(although I'm afraid this will happen, since they were so disappointed), but that they will go on to make brilliant music.

U2 can do both. In fact, they have many times.

JT and AB both had hit songs that did not really flow with the rest of the music out there. Even "Vertigo", which was a big hit, was still "out there".

The goal, of course, is for U2 to create that type of accessible music like they did in the past without going for too many songs like "Sometimes...", "Stuck...", "Crazy...", etc. A song like "Stay" is great here and there, but it only works if it contrasts the rest of the album (and "Stay" wonderfully stood out as different on "Zooropa"). I think most of us fear another "too soft" album.

NLOTH may have still worked. It's debatable whether a different first single would have changed anything. Would "Magnificent" been better? It's easy to say "yes", but then, look how the song performed when it was released as a single. Essentially, U2 still need a very strong first single. While AB got by without that big immediate hit (I love "The Fly", but it's not really a single), they followed it up with two very radio-friendly songs. U2 need that again. A "Beautiful Day" or "Vertigo" can carry an album very far (as we saw). As NLOTH lacked that signature song, sales suffered.

Still, given the marketplace, at best I only see 0.5 to 1M more in worldwide sales. Even artists with big hit songs didn't have big hit albums (see Kelly Clarkson and Eminem).

 

[phommel]

U2 can do both. In fact, they have many times.

JT and AB both had hit songs that did not really flow with the rest of the music out there. Even "Vertigo", which was a big hit, was still "out there".

The goal, of course, is for U2 to create that type of accessible music like they did in the past without going for too many songs like "Sometimes...", "Stuck...", "Crazy...", etc. A song like "Stay" is great here and there, but it only works if it contrasts the rest of the album (and "Stay" wonderfully stood out as different on "Zooropa"). I think most of us fear another "too soft" album.

NLOTH may have still worked. It's debatable whether a different first single would have changed anything. Would "Magnificent" been better? It's easy to say "yes", but then, look how the song performed when it was released as a single. Essentially, U2 still need a very strong first single. While AB got by without that big immediate hit (I love "The Fly", but it's not really a single), they followed it up with two very radio-friendly songs. U2 need that again. A "Beautiful Day" or "Vertigo" can carry an album very far (as we saw). As NLOTH lacked that signature song, sales suffered.

I agree completely with this explanation

Still, given the marketplace, at best I only see 0.5 to 1M more in worldwide sales. Even artists with big hit songs didn't have big hit albums (see Kelly Clarkson and Eminem).

But with only a big hit you are not there. And Eminem did not have the big hit worldwide.

It's a fact that in this marketplace it's almost impossible to sell millions of albums. However, Coldplay succeeded by selling ~9 million copies of their latest album. As much (or more?) as their previous album from 2004/2005.
KOL are also doing great. Their album was released months before U2s album and they are still selling 3x the amount of NLOTH every week...The big difference is big hits.

 

[powerhour24]

NLOTH has ben doing well given the sales atmosphere, horrid promotion and lack of a hit, but with a killer first single and better promotion of subsequent singles it would have been the biggest release of 2009.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

NLOTH has ben doing well given the sales atmosphere, horrid promotion and lack of a hit, but with a killer first single and better promotion of subsequent singles it would have been the biggest release of 2009.

Well, it is the biggest selling release of 2009 in Europe. Its the only album released into 2009 to sell 1 million or more copies in Europe!

 

[fedeu2]

NLOTH has ben doing well given the sales atmosphere, horrid promotion and lack of a hit, but with a killer first single and better promotion of subsequent singles it would have been the biggest release of 2009.

I wholeheartedly agree!

 

[roy]

Well, it is the biggest selling release of 2009 in Europe. Its the only album released into 2009 to sell 1 million or more copies in Europe!

Excellent.