Week 6

[Moggio]

Nickleback is struggling to sellout amphitheaters at low ticket prices and is unable to.

Rank/Artist/Event/Venue/City/State/Event/Dates/Gross Sales/Attend/Capacity/Shows/Sellouts/Prices/Promoters

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Rupp Arena
Lexington, Ky.
Feb. 27, 2009
$957,951
17,227 /
17,227
1 /
1
$65.50, $40.50
Live Nation

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, Mich.
Feb. 28, 2009
$948,719
17,030 /
17,030
1 /
1
$62.50, $44
Live Nation

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario
March 2, 2009
$890,403
14,261 /
14,261
1 /
1
$67, $38.79
Live Nation

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Copps Coliseum
Hamilton, Ontario
March 3, 2009
$680,003
11,554 /
11,554
1 /
1
$66.74, $38.64
Live Nation

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
DCU Center
Worcester, Mass.
March 5, 2009
$740,210
12,116 /
12,116
1 /
1
$76.25, $46.25
Live Nation/in-house

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Izod Center
East Rutherford, N.J.
March 6, 2009
$894,713
16,035 /
16,035
1 /
1
$75, $40
Live Nation

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Conn.
March 8, 2009
$466,800
7,701 /
7,701
1 /
1
$90, $70
Live Nation/in-house

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pa.
March 9, 2009
$858,993
13,201 /
13,201
1 /
1
$75, $55, $46.50
Live Nation/in-house

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Nationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio
March 11, 2009
$774,398
14,075 /
14,075
1 /
1
$64, $45.50
Live Nation/in-house

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Allstate Arena
Rosemont, Ill.
March 12, 2009
$879,944
14,141 /
14,276
1 /
0
$75, $46.50
Live Nation

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Bradley Center
Milwaukee, Wis.
March 14, 2009
$809,323
15,129 /
15,129
1 /
1
$63, $44.50
Live Nation/in-house

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
i wireless Center
Moline, Ill.
March 15, 2009
$618,238
10,877 /
10,877
1 /
1
$65, $45
Live Nation/in-house

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Qwest Center
Omaha, Neb.
March 17, 2009
$843,612
15,369 /
15,369
1 /
1
$63, $38
Live Nation/in-house

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Wells Fargo Arena
Des Moines, Iowa
March 18, 2009
$617,306
12,046 /
12,046
1 /
1
$66, $41
Live Nation

 

[mosquito]

US billboard top 200 albums.

14 U2 No line on the horizon 34,764 -3 35,989 815,242

 

[Mirrorball06]

It drops faster in the UK than in the US!!

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Bit of perspective needed here i feel, yes the album has fallen quite fast, BUT the last 2 albums have fell quite fast also, granted maybe not as much, but they HAVE fallen,

will the album keep falling? i think it will in all honesty, but once the tour comes around, and hopefully Magnificent gets some airplay it will steady itself in the top 75.

 

[hey you]

this week so far we have italy down 4 from 3, holland stays 3, spain stay 1, brazil down 5 from 3, finland up 8 from 10, switzerland down 6 from 5, austria down 9 from 5,norway down 10 from 7 , rep.czech stays n.1, hongary down 4 from 2.

 

[tommolo]

well afterall it seems to be just a local problem: this album's got something gone wrong with uk and in a lesser extent with the US, but hopefully the world is wide isn't it?

 

[ajax]

well afterall it seems to be just a local problem: this album's got something gone wrong with uk and in a lesser extent with the US, but hopefully the world is wide isn't it?

Billboard.biz seems to second your opinion

U2's "No Line on the Horizon" (Mercury/Universal) moves into a sixth week at the summit of Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart, while it's now eight weeks at No. 1 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles for Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" (Interscope/Universal).

"Horizon" has comprehensively outstripped the pan-European chart showing of its studio predecessor "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb," which led Top 100 Albums for three weeks in December 2004. The current set is in decline in most markets across the region, falling 1-2 in Hungary, but holds at No. 3 in Holland.

 

[Tallarico]

chart run in Euro top 100 album chart:
15 - 1 - 1 -1 - 1-1 -1

all the weeks at #1 for the u2's album in Euro top 100 album chart:
1. 17 wks #1 - The Joshua Tree
2. 8 wks #1 - Zooropa
3. 6 wks #1 - Best Of 80-90
3. 6 wks #1 - NLOTH
4= 5 wks #1 - Rattle & Hum
5. 4 wks #1 - Pop
6= 3 wks #1 - ATYCLB
6= 3 wks #1 - HTDAAB
7. 2 wks #1 - Best Of 90-00

 

[Don Marino]

Down to #3 after five weeks at #1 in Iceland.

Magnificent up to #2 again after falling down to #6 last week.

 

[GibsonExplorer]

US billboard top 200 albums.

14 U2 No line on the horizon 34,764 -3 35,989 815,242

nvm, i guess there wasn't an Easter *boost* after all =D

 

[roy]

nvm, i guess there wasn't an Easter *boost* after all =D

Get a life.

 

[Popmartijn]

nvm, i guess there wasn't an Easter *boost* after all =D

Indeed. It seems like the drop has levelled off and sales are stabilizing around 35K per week. So no "Easter boost" stuff, just nice chart/sales behaviour.
Not bad.

 

[dopper]

Indeed. It seems like the drop has levelled off and sales are stabilizing around 35K per week. So no "Easter boost" stuff, just nice chart/sales behaviour.
Not bad.

There was a boost, just not enough to fully counteract the natural decline. Next week will probably see a 20-30% drop.

 

[Native_Son]

what ive noticed is that in 1987 Bon Jovi's slippery when wet probably outsold the joshua tree in the US and in 1991 G&R appetite for destruction i would have thought outsold Achtung baby. in the 90's bands like creed, nirvana & pearl jam have sold 10M of one album. yet U2 still considered the biggest band.

 

[Irishteen]

what ive noticed is that in 1987 Bon Jovi's slippery when wet probably outsold the joshua tree in the US and in 1991 G&R appetite for destruction i would have thought outsold Achtung baby. in the 90's bands like creed, nirvana & pearl jam have sold 10M of one album. yet U2 still considered the biggest band.

U2 are the biggest band because they are pretty popular everywhere, unlike most other bands who are mega-popular in one country only. Plus U2 have been around for 3 decades and have probably gone through 5 different groups of fans, so there's probably 40 million people who like some U2, and like a fifth of them who like what u2 do now

 

[dopper]

what ive noticed is that in 1987 Bon Jovi's slippery when wet probably outsold the joshua tree in the US and in 1991 G&R appetite for destruction i would have thought outsold Achtung baby. in the 90's bands like creed, nirvana & pearl jam have sold 10M of one album. yet U2 still considered the biggest band.

It helps to be popular with the "media elite" in NY and LA. Bands like Creed sold a lot of their records in the U.S. heartland, i.e. "the sticks."

 

[powerhour24]

U2 tend to combine huge sales with huge respect, that's not so true with the other bands. Also, their tours combined with their album sales clearly show that they're bigger than anyone out there.

 

[fedeu2]

It helps to be popular with the "media elite" in NY and LA. Bands like Creed sold a lot of their records in the U.S. heartland, i.e. "the sticks."

Yep. As someone has already pointed out U2 never had the top selling album of the year even with JT. For the record, it´s JT that was outsold by G n' R´s Appetite for destruction back in 1987. Not sure about the combined sales of the Use your illusion albums back in 1991. Did they (combined) outsell AB as well?

 

[u2search]

The Easter boost to sales is mainly concentrated on albums teenagers would buy, obviously this means U2 won't receive the huge boost that other acts do but they did get an undeniable boost from it. If anything it shows they're just relevant with teenagers

Hihi I thought the teenage group is where they are the least popular. So if this boost comes from teenagers there will be one very happy band out there...

 

[The_acrobat]

They need to do a little damage control work in the UK and US. PUSH the fuck out of Magnificent. It's a good song, and people will hear it and think "oh... I guess U2 are still good... they just made a shitty song called "Get on your boots". Pay radio stations to play it. Go on SNL, Leno, Conan... do more to promote this album. It hasn't even sold 1 million copies yet in the US which is a bit sad considering it's so much better than HTDAAB

 

[u2search]

No love for Achtung Baby?

chart run in Euro top 100 album chart:
15 - 1 - 1 -1 - 1-1 -1

all the weeks at #1 for the u2's album in Euro top 100 album chart:
1. 17 wks #1 - The Joshua Tree
2. 8 wks #1 - Zooropa
3. 6 wks #1 - Best Of 80-90
3. 6 wks #1 - NLOTH
4= 5 wks #1 - Rattle & Hum
5. 4 wks #1 - Pop
6= 3 wks #1 - ATYCLB
6= 3 wks #1 - HTDAAB
7. 2 wks #1 - Best Of 90-00

 

[doctorwho]

Yep. As someone has already pointed out U2 never had the top selling album of the year even with JT. For the record, it´s JT that was outsold by G n' R´s Appetite for destruction back in 1987. Not sure about the combined sales of the Use your illusion albums back in 1991. Did they (combined) outsell AB as well?

I want to clarify as I was listening to all of this music as it came out.

Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" came out in 1986, but it didn't explode until 1987. "Appetite..." and "Kick" - two big albums by G'n'R and INXS, respectively - were both released in 1987, but didn't explode unitl 1988. Michael Jackson's "Bad" was a huge hit in 1987 too - and remember, this was his follow-up to "Thriller", the biggest album ever!

Billboard used a "point system" back then to rate how successful an album was in any year. For every week at #1, an album received 100 points. 99 points for #2 and so on. As there was no SoundScan, weekly chart positions were determined by stores reporting in sales, which was often heavily biased (and sometimes corrupt as stores could be bribed to report an album selling better than it was to help improve sales in future weeks). Based on this system, "Slippery..." was the #1 album in 1987, followed by "Bad". U2's JT was #3.

U2 released AB in late 1991, just like Jackson released "Dangerous" in late 1991. "Dangerous" quickly booted U2 from #1 in the U.S. and prevented U2's AB from hitting #1 in the U.K. Nirvana also released their big breakthrough in late 1991. Pearl Jam's "10" came out in early 1992. These albums dominated the year. Jackson was already losing some charm, but was still popular (and his videos still helped him a ton). But U2 kept selling well throughout 1992 and AB remained in the Top 10 for months.

But this is all for the U.S. Even if U2 never had the #1 album in the U.S. in any given year, what has made them the WORLD's biggest band is their international appeal and tours. As Jackson's fame grew overseas, his love diminished in the U.S. Other artists had massive U.S. success, but little elsewhere. U2 was the one artist that appealed across the world. They could have a #1 album in 35 countries (still do). Not many artists can claim this. And they can have sold out tours. PopMart was flagged as doing poorly - this was only true for part of the third leg of the tour in the U.S. when U2 hit smaller cities. For the first leg, U2 sold out (just as they are doing now). They sold out everywhere in Europe (setting records for audience sizes). And their fourth leg sold out too. So if PopMart is U2 at their "weakest", it makes one wonder because they still sold out everwhere and the album still sold 6-8 M copies worldwide (depending on which source you read).

This success is why U2 are the "world's biggest artist". The U.S. aspect is just part of it. And as long as U2 continue to do well in the U.S. - and based on album sales to date and tour success so far - the rest of the world will support U2 easily. As such, I don't see U2 giving up this crown just yet.

 

[doctorwho]

well afterall it seems to be just a local problem: this album's got something gone wrong with uk and in a lesser extent with the US, but hopefully the world is wide isn't it?

Based on today's world, I'd say NLOTH is doing fine in the U.S. This is especially true as there is no big hit right now!

Now, if U2 had the #1 song and still saw a 3% decline for Easter week, then I'd be worried. But Flo Rida had the #1 song and look how poor sales have been for that album!

As for the U.K., I always found them to be far more fickle. Odd songs could top the chart (i.e., songs by Crazy Frog) that wouldn't and couldn't do so in the U.S. But as fast as U2 may drop there, they can rise. I fully expect the album to return to the Top 10 once the tour starts (especially when it hits the U.K.).

 

[Chief43]

Doctorwho, Glad to see your presence within all this madness.

With the last 3 albums, I've noticed a trend that U2 falls down faster in the bigger markets (US and UK) but lingers in the medium sized and smaller markets for a longer time. This is where U2 excels compared to other bands with significant album sales as if the album seems to hold a presence globally, allowing representation of the new set before the tour takes off and brings the new work back up the US and UK charts.

 

[Irishteen]

Album is at 5 this week on mediatraffic, 122,000 sales

It's behind two new albums, the Hannah Montana soundtrack (Movie was released to theatres) and Lady GaGa.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Yep. As someone has already pointed out U2 never had the top selling album of the year even with JT. For the record, it´s JT that was outsold by G n' R´s Appetite for destruction back in 1987. Not sure about the combined sales of the Use your illusion albums back in 1991. Did they (combined) outsell AB as well?

Actually, GNR's Appetite did not start to sell well until 1988. In 1987, the only album that actually shipped more copies in the USA during the year was Whitney Houston's album. Worldwide, in 1987 Joshua Tree was the biggest album.

Use Your Illusion sold 7 million copies in the USA, 14 million if you want to count them seperately which I don't. Achtung Baby sold 8 million copies in the USA up to 1997.

In 1992, Achtung Baby finished as the 5th biggest selling album of the year in the USA. It was only beaten by Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Garth Brooks. Worldwide it was close to being #1 for the year, but edged out slightly by Michael Jackson.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I want to clarify as I was listening to all of this music as it came out.

Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" came out in 1986, but it didn't explode until 1987.

Correction, Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet sold most of its albums in 1986 actually. It was certified for 5 million in sales on January 20, 1987. The album peaked out in August of 1987 at 8 million. I would not be certified again for 9 or 10 million until the 1990s, well into catalog status.

Billboard used a "point system" back then to rate how successful an album was in any year. For every week at #1, an album received 100 points. 99 points for #2 and so on. As there was no SoundScan, weekly chart positions were determined by stores reporting in sales, which was often heavily biased (and sometimes corrupt as stores could be bribed to report an album selling better than it was to help improve sales in future weeks). Based on this system, "Slippery..." was the #1 album in 1987, followed by "Bad". U2's JT was #3.

Remember though, the Billboard year started in mid November 1986. Joshua Tree did not enter the Billboard chart until April 4, 1987. So it only had 7 months on the chart before the Billboard year ended in November 1987. Basically the Billboard year was a better fit for Slippery When Wet based on when it had its chart weeks. Only U2's first 30 chart weeks got represented and the album was still in the top 10 when the Billboard year ended in November.

U2 released AB in late 1991, just like Jackson released "Dangerous" in late 1991. "Dangerous" quickly booted U2 from #1 in the U.S. and prevented U2's AB from hitting #1 in the U.K. Nirvana also released their big breakthrough in late 1991. Pearl Jam's "10" came out in early 1992. These albums dominated the year. Jackson was already losing some charm, but was still popular (and his videos still helped him a ton). But U2 kept selling well throughout 1992 and AB remained in the Top 10 for months.

Achtung Baby actually outsold Pearl Jam's TEN in 1992. Achtung Baby finished at #5 on the Billboard 200 year end album chart.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

if it takes 2 months to match the 1st week sales of the worst U2 album ever made, then yeah, it's a sales flop no matter what the economic conditions are.

HTDAAB sold over 9 million copies worldwide and was won the grammy for ALBUM of the year. Your in a very small minority in claiming that its the "worst U2 album ever made".

The fact is, 15 weeks into 2009, NLOTH is the 2nd biggest selling album in the USA and the biggest selling album worldwide of 2009. Will be at the half year point in 11 weeks.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Rank/Artist/Event/Venue/City/State/Event/Dates/Gross Sales/Attend/Capacity/Shows/Sellouts/Prices/Promoters


Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
DCU Center
Worcester, Mass.
March 5, 2009
$740,210
12,116 /
12,116
1 /
1
$76.25, $46.25
Live Nation/in-house
[/SIZE]

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Izod Center
East Rutherford, N.J.
March 6, 2009
$894,713
16,035 /
16,035
1 /
1
$75, $40
Live Nation

Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Wachovia Center
Philadelphia, Pa.
March 9, 2009
$858,993
13,201 /
13,201
1 /
1
$75, $55, $46.50
Live Nation/in-house


Nickelback, Seether, Saving Abel
Allstate Arena
Rosemont, Ill.
March 12, 2009
$879,944
14,141 /
14,276
1 /
0
$75, $46.50
Live Nation

They "soldout" some LOWERED capacity shows in a few markets at relatively LOW ticket prices. But they did not sellout the Rosemount Horizon though, even in the lower capacity configuration. This is a Chicago area show, the 3rd largest market in North America. Average ticket price only $62 dollars. Number of people that showed up, 14,141. U2 had better attendance in Chicago than that on the Unforgettable Fire tour back when they only had two albums that had gone platinum. Nickleback on the other had has been around for a decade, has multiple multiplatinum albums but still can only get 14,141 people to come to a show at an average of $62 dollars a ticket in one of the largest cities on the planet!!!??!?

If you go on ticketmaster at the moment, you can get multiple tickets at any price for their Amphitheater show in Chula Vista California. Want to be down in the pit next to the stage for $82 dollars, still plenty of tickets available.

Nickelback may have several multi-platinum albums in the USA over the past 10 years, but when it comes to touring they do look like their struggling compared to their album sales in the USA. Even Coldplay is a bigger concert draw in the USA then Nickelback, and Coldplay despite their popularity struggles to fill arena's.

 

[phommel]

PopMart .... They sold out everywhere in Europe (setting records for audience sizes).

I agree (almost) completely. But on the above fact: I remember some German shows far from selling out ...