Week 6 Results Here

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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
disco2blue your post was uncalled for.

responding to Jick is just a headache waiting to happen

If he bothers you so much, dont respond to him. Many have him on their ignore lists, perhaps you may want to do the same.

Jick, stop being such a moron all the time

Calling any members names is a personal attack and against our rules.
 
from media traffic:

"ALBUMS: after christmas the global sales were down - during the past week of 2004 the top-40 albums sold nearly 6 million copies together, a 53% decline from the previous week +++ Eminem's 'Encore' returns atop the global chart, despite a 45% drop to 409.000 copies +++ U2's 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' slips at no.2 on a big 62% to 317.000 copies +++ Jay-Z & Linkin Park's 'Collision Course' jumps 6-3 (down 39% to 297.000 copies), Green Day's 'American Idiot' climbs 7-4 (down 35% to 291.000 copies), and Destiny's Child's 'Destiny Fulfilled' falls 3-5 (down 57% to 245.000 copies) +++ four debuts on the current top-40 list: 'Perfect Best' by Exile at no.8, 'Get Lifted' by John Legend at no.19, the soundtrack from 'The Phantom Of The Opera' at no.34, '300 Lésions' by Kyo at no.37
"

U2 slide to #2 with 317k...better than i thought: despite major drops in UK and US the album held fairly well in other countries.
In christmas week UK+US sales where about 500k (about 60% of total sales)...this week we know that combined uk+Us sales where about 130k copies that is actually 41% of total sales.
So while in Uk and US we had a 75% drop in the rest of the world sales "only" dropped of about 40%..not bad: the album might have some stayin' power :)

world total sales so far: 5.606.000 copies according to mediatraffic
 
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Helping the album is Vertigo, which stays at #2 AGAIN this week and is certified gold on this same global chart. No U2 single has done this well since these singles charts began in 1999. Not even close.
 
#2 is better than i thought too, but #3 and #4 is very close to U2!

Is anybody here, who think that the album can return to #1? I hope so, but i have doubts.
 
Dima said:


U2 slide to #2 with 317k...better than i thought: despite major drops in UK and US the album held fairly well in other countries.
In christmas week UK+US sales where about 500k (about 60% of total sales)...this week we know that combined uk+Us sales where about 130k copies that is actually 41% of total sales.
So while in Uk and US we had a 75% drop in the rest of the world sales "only" dropped of about 40%..not bad: the album might have some stayin' power :)

world total sales so far: 5.606.000 copies according to mediatraffic

Dima,

Where are you getting the actual weekly sales data on the website? I've seen the actual world album chart and the records chart, but I don't see where they actually list the sales numbers for each album for the week. In the records area, they list the comulative sales, but not the sales for any particular week unless of course that was the albums first week on the chart.
 
Media Traffic reports sales of 317k for HTDAAB - a 62% drop. Eminem returns to number 1 with sales of 409K. HTDAAB is still number 2. Overall album sales fell 53% after the Christmas rush. As a guide (however unreliable) it puts worldwide sales at 5.6m after just 6 weeks

Vertigo is still listed at number 2.
 
zoo tv mcg said:
Media Traffic reports sales of 317k for HTDAAB - a 62% drop. Eminem returns to number 1 with sales of 409K. HTDAAB is still number 2. Overall album sales fell 53% after the Christmas rush. As a guide (however unreliable) it puts worldwide sales at 5.6m after just 6 weeks

Vertigo is still listed at number 2.

Thanks, but um... did you not see the three or four posts discussing exactly what you wrote just above yours? ;)
 
sue4u2 said:
I know the talk here is about cd/store sales, but what about downloaded sales for the various iPods? How many HTDAAB cd's weren't sold off the shelves but in fact downloaded from iTunes? Shouldn't that count for sales as well? I haven't really seen any stats about these sales.
May have missed that thread however... :wink:

To the best of our collective knowledge, SoundScan and Billboard *do* count downloads as part of overall sales. However, we do not have any access to actual iTunes sales. We are fortunate that we get as much SoundScan data as we do! :yes: SoundScan costs quite a bit of $$ for a subscription and is usually something bought only be music labels, not individuals. However, if we ever do come across actual iTunes sales data - we'll post it. ;) But again, as far as we know, the iTunes downloads are added into the total sales (but ONLY if it is an entire album download - if the individual songs are downloaded, they count as sales for each song, not the album as a whole).
 
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disco2blue said:
Jick -
You are a negative, frustrating person.
- Nick

Hi Nick! :wave:

Sicy is right - please no personal attacks. :)

Also, while you are right in that Jick comes across as very negative, it's just part of his "schtick". ALL his posts are that way. And sometimes in his odd humorous writing style, he does point out a few tidbits of wisdom.

For example, there is concern as to why HTDAAB dropped a whopping 75% this past week in the U.S. and U.K. and 67% worldwide. I also mentioned concern when I saw the huge Week 2 drop (from Week 1).

While the album sales are still astronomical, these "concerns" are something for us to watch. The good news is that this album isn't "Pop". FNot to say that "Pop" is a bad album, but that HTDAAB lacks some of the tongue-in-cheek aspects of "Pop", the poorly received techno side of "Pop" and it has, IMO, better crafted songs. Additionally, HTDAAB has already outsold "Pop" in just 5 weeks. In other words, even if there are a few drops now, HTDAAB should linger on the charts for a while.

The only problem is that now that HTDAAB is out of the Top 10, getting SoundScan data is more difficult. We'll have to rely on people who have access to SoundScan numbers as opposed to general reports. I'm hoping the album has a bit of a rebound. Plus, barring Green Day's resurgence, the rest of the Top 10 last week was pure rap and R&B nonsense. It's like looking at the charts from 1978, when everything was disco, or from 1993 when everything was grunge. It's only a matter of time before this rap/R&B phase implodes on itself.
 
The actual sales figures could be see on the main page. There is a "rolling line", which provide the visitors with this figures.
 
STING2 said:


Dima,

Where are you getting the actual weekly sales data on the website? I've seen the actual world album chart and the records chart, but I don't see where they actually list the sales numbers for each album for the week. In the records area, they list the comulative sales, but not the sales for any particular week unless of course that was the albums first week on the chart.

just wait for the scrolling text in the home page :) ...it's a bit slow
 
Dr Who - we still have hits as a guide. However, it constantly underquotes u2's album sales (is this due to downloads or Internet album sales)

I am with you on the comparisons with POP - it has already outsold it in 6 weeks and the very worst the album will do in my mind is to double its sales in the next 12 months with 4 singles a world tour to come.
 
zoo tv mcg said:
Dr Who - we still have hits as a guide. However, it constantly underquotes u2's album sales (is this due to downloads or Internet album sales)

I am with you on the comparisons with POP - it has already outsold it in 6 weeks and the very worst the album will do in my mind is to double its sales in the next 12 months with 4 singles a world tour to come.

Yeah, HITS helps a lot and I know at some point that data may be the ONLY data we may have in a given week.

We were blessed with ATYCLB in that back then I had a source that provided weekly SoundScan data. It was fantastic! I loved being able to post weekly numbers as well as Catalog numbers.

But alas, right now Soldatti is the only person with a contact - and that person just gives some specific info. That's better than nothing at all, but if that contact evaporates (as mine did), HITS becomes our only source of sales data - and they are only good for as long as HTDAAB is in the Top 50! The album may sell 20,000 copies a week, but be floating just outside the Top 50. As such, we'll just have to estimate based on past charts then.

However, we can worry about that when the time comes. For now, let's enjoy Soldatti's contact and real SoundScan data. :yes:
 
In Slovenia it's still at no.2 i think (behind the most idiotic local band - nah,not even a band really).
no wonder they'll never come here and play a gig in our old dirty stadium :(
kl
 
fitz said:
#2 is better than i thought too, but #3 and #4 is very close to U2!

Is anybody here, who think that the album can return to #1? I hope so, but i have doubts.

And better than I hoped for - I would have been VERY happy with top 3 (as posted earlier).

5.6 million plus sales (mediatraffic only takes into account sales in 36 markets - whereas the album was released in around 100) in 6 weeks is brilliant !In the UK U2 outsold Eminem, and I would have predicted that !

Mike - now in Central Hong Kong (where Bomb is No 1 in HMV)
 
tarquinsuperb said:


Could you have predicted all of those things on the 6th of January 2001? No one knows what 2005 holds for U2 or anyone else.
I know it's not time magazine but it looks like they've got another Rolling Stone cover.
With regards to the airplay of the second and third single I think that you are rewriting the history of ATYCLB as I recall both really struggled in the US.

Back in January 2001, you could already predict some lingering interest in the album because of the song and record of the year Grammy nominations Beautiful Day had. Now, Vertigo is nominated in low-profile categories that probably won't get TV airtime (IF they even win) so in this part, ATYCLB shows better staying power.

U2 are always in the Rolling Stone cover anyway when it is new album time - even during POP. The circulation of Rolling Stone is not even close to TIME Magazine. And as you said, the whole world is not North America. TIME Magazine reaches the whole world, Rolling Stone doesn't. Based on TIME Magazine's track record of featuring musical artists, it is virtually improbably for U2 to bag a third cover story. So I think this is a pretty safe assumption.

It is also a safe assumption that there will be no Superbowl performance because they don't really repeat acts, especially if just a few years have passed.

And going even further down the road, the drop is over 70% in North America - but also a 67% sales drop worldwide while other artists are maintaining their sales or even climbing (Green Day for example). So I would say this is quite alarming, and while not indicative of a trend - it could actually be the beginning of a trend.

All the current sales of the album have shown so far is that: (1) Vertigo was a great first single that caught the listener's ear; (2) U2 did a good job marketing the album (iPod TV ads, TV or radio talk show appearances, promo gigs, etc.); (3) fan anticipation for the album was high coming off a hugely successful and accolade-receiving ATYCLB; (4) U2 chose a great time to release the album by not coindiciding with Eminem so they could bag #1 while releasing it near Christmas; and, (5) the initial critic reviews were generally good.

All of those above factors contribute to high initial sales up to the end of the Christmas season. But intial sales are a product of marketing and not content - especially the first week sales. So it will be the post-Christmas era where the "legs" of HTDAAB will truly be tested. By this time, word of mouth of the quality of the rest of the songs of the album will be on the street. The mp3s will be out everywhere (sure it was out before the album was released but only hardcore U2 fans actually could find it and cared for downloading it). By this time, all the others songs would have been heard and a purchase decision will be based on what they have actually heard from their friends' or relatives' cds.

The first post-Christmas week doesn't bode well for U2 with the dramatic drop in sales. The fact that they did not receive key Grammy nominations, unlike Beautiful Day could also be a bad indicator.

So whether or not the album truly has legs remains to be seen. But in the end, I hope it does. Hopefully, U2 will be able to think up novel and creative ways to maintain the albums legs despite these minor setbacks.

Cheers,

J
 
jick said:



The first post-Christmas week doesn't bode well for U2 with the dramatic drop in sales. The fact that they did not receive key Grammy nominations, unlike Beautiful Day could also be a bad indicator.

well, the drop was big indeed and bigger than other artists' (53%)...but that happend in US and UK and if you leave out those two markets in the rest of the world the drop has been of 40%...lower than other artists': the album is apparently holding on well in the rest of the world given the normal post-christmas drop in sales.
And i'm quite confident that rest of the world sales will be pretty stable in the next weeks: you pointed out that the extra-push given by ads and TV appearances is now over...well outside UK and US there wasn't any promotion at all (so no extra-push) and the album is holding strong so we could assume that this is a good indicator of the actual stain' power of HTDAAB (and indeed the ONLY trustable indicator we can rely on)

Anyway next week we'll know if this album has the stayin' power...for now the only thing that we can say is that this album is still #2 in the world chart (and again if you didn't consider US + UK sales U2 would be still #1)
 
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jick said:


Back in January 2001, you could already predict some lingering interest in the album because of the song and record of the year Grammy nominations Beautiful Day had. Now, Vertigo is nominated in low-profile categories that probably won't get TV airtime (IF they even win) so in this part, ATYCLB shows better staying power.

U2 are always in the Rolling Stone cover anyway when it is new album time - even during POP. The circulation of Rolling Stone is not even close to TIME Magazine. And as you said, the whole world is not North America. TIME Magazine reaches the whole world, Rolling Stone doesn't. Based on TIME Magazine's track record of featuring musical artists, it is virtually improbably for U2 to bag a third cover story. So I think this is a pretty safe assumption.

It is also a safe assumption that there will be no Superbowl performance because they don't really repeat acts, especially if just a few years have passed.

And going even further down the road, the drop is over 70% in North America - but also a 67% sales drop worldwide while other artists are maintaining their sales or even climbing (Green Day for example). So I would say this is quite alarming, and while not indicative of a trend - it could actually be the beginning of a trend.

All the current sales of the album have shown so far is that: (1) Vertigo was a great first single that caught the listener's ear; (2) U2 did a good job marketing the album (iPod TV ads, TV or radio talk show appearances, promo gigs, etc.); (3) fan anticipation for the album was high coming off a hugely successful and accolade-receiving ATYCLB; (4) U2 chose a great time to release the album by not coindiciding with Eminem so they could bag #1 while releasing it near Christmas; and, (5) the initial critic reviews were generally good.

All of those above factors contribute to high initial sales up to the end of the Christmas season. But intial sales are a product of marketing and not content - especially the first week sales. So it will be the post-Christmas era where the "legs" of HTDAAB will truly be tested. By this time, word of mouth of the quality of the rest of the songs of the album will be on the street. The mp3s will be out everywhere (sure it was out before the album was released but only hardcore U2 fans actually could find it and cared for downloading it). By this time, all the others songs would have been heard and a purchase decision will be based on what they have actually heard from their friends' or relatives' cds.

The first post-Christmas week doesn't bode well for U2 with the dramatic drop in sales. The fact that they did not receive key Grammy nominations, unlike Beautiful Day could also be a bad indicator.

So whether or not the album truly has legs remains to be seen. But in the end, I hope it does. Hopefully, U2 will be able to think up novel and creative ways to maintain the albums legs despite these minor setbacks.

Cheers,

J

A couple of things to remember:

ATYCLB had a huge push for its release and it was released in the Christmas season, yet after 6 weeks, its sales were less than half of what "Bombs" sales currently are.

ATYCLB had a 58% drop in its post Christmas week which is not to far behind the drop "BOMB" had which was 73%, for the United States.
 
I think the sales to date have been very strong and there is no reason to doubt it will sell more than ATYCLB - for one, it is a much stronger album with at least 5 great singles (Vertigo, Sometimes, ABOY, OOTS, COBL). Secondly, sales to date have been the strongest i can personally remember 6/7 weeks after release in the UK. Thirdly, the UK public seems to be 'album-buying' mode again especially of bands which are churning out 3/4 great singles e.g. Scissor Sisters, Green Day. U2 will deliver 3/4 great singles from this album without a doubt. From a UK perspective, to have gone 3 * platinum with 1 single plus an excellent 2nd single about to be released(which is incidentally getting played on the radio now and getting great reviews any time i have heard it) and a tour plus 2/3 other singles means it should hit 5, possibly 6 platinum (1.5-1.8 million) by the end of the year.
 
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