HTDAAB: Did Americans buy it because they liked it?

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jick

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During the first two weeks of release, buyers haven't really heard the album yet (save for the few Internet geeks like us) and word of mouth has not spread about its quality or lack thereof. At this point, albums are usually bought on the basis of: (1) the first single, (2) marketing promotion, and (3) critic reviews. Now let's pick apart HTDAAB on these three assumptions:

(1) U2 got the first single covered with a hard-rocking uptempo song with Vertigo which was everywhere from the iPod ads, to radio play, and an eye-candy music video.

(2) U2 were not short of marketing promotion - from the publicity mileage gained from the France lost cd odyssey, to the Clinton library visit, to the TOTP and SNL performances, to the iPod ads that seemed to be shown every time on TV, and as background music to the top TV shows (like CSI).

(3) U2 literally had full control of the critic reviews. Most critics could only review HTDAAB on listening sessions setup by U2 - which mean only one listen for the whole album. No time to rewind and reply to check on some key moments of some songs or to let the songs grow or fade. Just a one-time listen, a video explaining the album, and a media kit to use as reference in writing the reviews. So the listeners reviews based on first listen and didn't have any advanced copy to personally pick apart through multiple listens in the comforts of their own home. So all the reviews were generally good.

U2 had the first two weeks covered with over 1 million in sales -the primary reason not being the actual content and quality of the album yet but more on the top three factors listed above.

Now for the next three weeks, word of mouth about album quality will start to creep in but this will just be minimal since two weeks isn't enough time to let the album grow yet. Hell, some of the buyers probably just have had Vertigo in repeat mode by this time. So the sales for the next three weeks were also helped by: (a) media mileage, and (b) holiday season.

(a) Thanks to the first two weeks, the entire America were so intrigued about this album that beat Eminem in sales and sold a million copies in two weeks. U2's strong debut was all over the news as being the highest selling first week ever by and band. People needed to know what the fuss was all about.

(b) Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas season kicked in so everyone had money. An album bought by 1 million people just had to be a safe Christmas gift.

After the intial anticipation and holiday buying spree, the album now to stand in its own two feet. After averaging over 400,000 units sold per week with chart positions of 1-2-2-5-3 in its first five weeks, the post-holiday hangover had U2 drop 11 places and sell only 90,000 units in its 6th week! The next week saw another drop with sales of only 60,000.

U2 tried to right the ship by releasing their second single "All Because Of You" to MTV while indicators show that it had been getting increased radio airply (not that anyone listens to the radio these days). Despite the second single, there was no push - just another pull down. U2 got a 20% drop to 48,000 in sales all despite a second single!

My conclusion is that HTDAAB is an album in the vein of Zooropa and POP - meaning it doesn't quite appeal to American tastes as much. Let's call a spade a spade and be blunt about it - the high intitial sales weren't a product of album acceptance but a product of heavy marketing and holiday sales. If the quality were really desireable, word on mouth should have been spreading now with every friend telling their other friend to buy HTDAAB.

Let's contrast HTDAAB to American Idiot by Green Day whose album has been out for 17 weeks now (around two months earlier than HTDAAB) and is only now starting to get stronger (2-1-1 chart positions the last three weeks!). I'd say Green Day is getting stronger as people are realizing that it is a great album, while HTDAAB is in the abrupt decline as people are realizing that it doesn't fit their tastes.

Post-Christmas sales to me would be the indication of HTDAAB's "leg" and longevity. It would indicate whether the album would really be accepted on its own merit outside of marketing. Now after three weeks, there already seems to be a trend and Americans are rejecting HTDAAB.

So what do you guys think about this analysis? What elements in HTDAAB make it not as accepted in America as Green Day? Do you agree that HTDAAB is more on the vein of POP and Zooropa as opposed to the American-friendly Joshua Tree and ATYCLB? How would you characterize American musical tastes?

Cheers,

J
 
I think releasing ABOY as a 2nd single in the states was not a great move...it's rocking in a similar vein to vertigo, but in my opinion (and i feel like this is a pretty widespread opinion), it isn't on the same level. they should have gone for a different type of song that will draw in more/different people (aka SYCMIOYO, miracle drug, COBL) if they want to increase sales. instead they are just re-convincing (if even that) the people who already bought it for vertigo that they should buy it. Great post by the way...it'll be interesting to see what happens.
 
Who cares about U.S., it's only 20% (wait, it's even less, I'm not caunting Canada) of U2 worldwide album sales...

Yes, I think HTDAAB is less american-friendly than their last album... and that's good.
Sales of ATYCLB were so hight only because of U.S. were the album sold 3mln copies more than Pop... while in (for you americans) Rest Of The World ATYCLB sold only around 1mln copies more than Pop.

How would you characterize American musical tastes?
music has to be: simple, easy, plastik, "the same as the rest"... and has lots of nude women in videos...
 
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While some may find your post too negative, it is well thought and may turn out to be true. We need "Sometimes..." to become a big hit for U2, otherwise sales will probably not match ATYCLB. I think "Sometimes..." has its work cut out for it as "With or Without You" and "One" have been their only two big ballad hits. Most of their biggest hits are anthems (New Years Day, Pride, Still Haven't Found, Streets, Beautiful Day) or rockers (Sunday Bloody Sunday, Desire, Mysterious Ways, Vertigo).
 
bathiu said:
Who cares about U.S., it's only 20% (wait, it's even less, I'm not caunting Canada) of U2 worldwide album sales...

Yes, I think HTDAAB is less american-friendly than their last album... and that's good.
Sales of ATYCLB were so hight only because of U.S. were the album sold 3mln copies more than Pop... while in (for you americans) Rest Of The World ATYCLB sold only around 1mln copies more than Pop.


music has to be: simple, easy, plastik, "the same as the rest"... and has lots of nude women in videos...


:lmao:

please, drop your easy, convenient prejudices. one thing i've learned in all my travels is that bad taste is pretty universal. U2 will never again be the dominant force like they were in '87-'93 in the US because the country's demographics have fundamentally changed. rap and hip-hop -- and it's million-and-one derivations -- reign supreme, and much of the good stuff, which does do well on the charts, is hardly "simple, easy, plastik." you'd do well to reign in your prejudices and take a measured look at the US market before leaping to such conclusions.

that said, i like this album even more than ATYCLB. i also don't think jick's conclusions -- most of them, actually -- are at all correct (one album listen translates into a positive review? please ... if anything, U2 albums get better with age).

give it time.

that said, i do think ABOY is a mistake as a 2nd single. they've done the rock thing, i would have gone for OOTS, COBL, or SYCMIOYO.
 
bram said:
I think releasing ABOY as a 2nd single in the states was not a great move...it's rocking in a similar vein to vertigo.

...or sounds almost exactly the same!
 
I don't think America will ever 100% LOVE U2 again as they did during the JT era. Sure, everyone will know who they are, and people will buy their album, but i think ZooTV and Popmart kind of widened the gap between U2 and America
 
Just to let you know, I would never buy albums just because the video for the first single is 'eye candy'. I would buy an album because the first single sounds 'good, new and exciting' to me. Of course, you forgot to include that in your analysis. People buying U2 albums because they like what they hear is not an option for you I guess.

I would argue U2 has a limted market in the US now. And a large percentage of that limited market bought the album in the first few weeks. Hence the drop in the next few weeks. Also, though the Greenday album has risen to No. 1 (on the strength of Boulevard of Broken Dreams), absolute sales numbers are low (100,000).

Anyway, you should always factor in the market when you analyze sales figures. The overall market for 2005 is much smaller than for 2004. And U2 is part of the market. Some artists will rise and some will fall at different stages after album release depending on a zillion reasons. As of right now, I like the fact that the album is holding on well to its position in the Charts. The next few weeks/months will be interesting. I really like the potential singles from HTDAAB as compared to the ones from ATYCLB. We know what singles can do for sales (Greenday), and so we'll see how it goes.
 
Pero said:
That is all about american musical taste



it's pretty much impossible to define a sigular, monolithic thing like "taste" for a country of 300 million people from every imaginable ethnic background living in the most diverse society the earth has ever seen.

and don't call me fat. ;)

and i don't even know who JOJO is.
 
Some holes in your hypothesis (hypotenuse), J.:
It wasn't merely "internet geeks" such as yourself who heard songs other than Vertigo before release day. The album was given to US radio over a full week before its release and was played in heavy rotation (basically 9 of the tracks got heavy airplay, AMAAW, One Step Closer got little) on rock, top 40 and adult contemporary stations all over the US.

The large initial sales lend to an obvious drop off in the latter weeks as most who intend to buy the album now have it, whereas Green Day's early sales were much lower leaving room for better sales figures later.
You need to work a little harder.
Cheers,
H.
 
Jick you really WANT this album to fail dont you? just give it a brake mate, this album is not failing, its been in the top ten longer than ATYCLB, it IS their fasted selling album ever FACT, one massive reason for such a big decline in sales is simply due to a weaker market now, but to be fair if you like just stay in your own little land,
 
Pero said:
C'mon, fat Americans even listen to JOJO

At least Americans dont hold on to cheesy pop acts like Michael Jackson and David Hasselhoff like you guys in Europe, especially in Eastern Europe, back when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. Remember when that pedophile Bastard Michael Jackson made his video for "HIStory", it was set in some imperial fascist state in Europe somewhere. And who can forget the footage of Europeans fainting at the site of MJ and other cheesy acts years after they were popular. Dont tell us about our musical tastes bro.
 
Jick, man, good, well thought out post. I've seen a lot of your posts and you've gotten a troll reputation that you just can't shake. I wonder if someone else wrote this post, if they would get similar reactions. Maybe you should experiment with an alter ego one of these days.

Anyway, I think we need to see the response the stronger singles get on radio before we can shovel dirt on this album. I still don't understand why they chose ABOY as the second single. I know they wanted to prove to the kiddies that they can rock, but they really didn't need to do that two singles in a row. They need to put out MD, COBL, or OOTS as their 3rd single. Successful albums seem to have their monster single by their third single and then the album takes off. But you are right so far much of their sales have been artificial and have not come as organically and steadily as their previously successful albums.
 
bathiu said:
Who cares about U.S., it's only 20% (wait, it's even less, I'm not caunting Canada) of U2 worldwide album sales...

I think it is always important to analyze the American market, and whether you care or not they should not be ignored.

Cheers,

J
 
malhithearnaz said:
Anyway, you should always factor in the market when you analyze sales figures. The overall market for 2005 is much smaller than for 2004. And U2 is part of the market. Some artists will rise and some will fall at different stages after album release depending on a zillion reasons. As of right now, I like the fact that the album is holding on well to its position in the Charts. The next few weeks/months will be interesting. I really like the potential singles from HTDAAB as compared to the ones from ATYCLB. We know what singles can do for sales (Greenday), and so we'll see how it goes.

The album is not doing well when compared to albums released similarly or at the same time - Jay-Z/Linkin Park, Eminem, and Green Day - all of who are still fixtures in the top ten.

As for factoring in the market, people say it wasn't the same as before. But market or no market, the tremendous post-holiday sales drop and steady decline of HTDAAB sales figures supports my theory that it may not suit American tastes very well.

Cheers,

J
 
Hewson said:
Some holes in your hypothesis (hypotenuse), J.:
It wasn't merely "internet geeks" such as yourself who heard songs other than Vertigo before release day. The album was given to US radio over a full week before its release and was played in heavy rotation (basically 9 of the tracks got heavy airplay, AMAAW, One Step Closer got little) on rock, top 40 and adult contemporary stations all over the US.

The large initial sales lend to an obvious drop off in the latter weeks as most who intend to buy the album now have it, whereas Green Day's early sales were much lower leaving room for better sales figures later.
You need to work a little harder.
Cheers,
H.

Airplay in rock and adult contemporary stations cannot bring in the bacon (over 800,000 first week sales). Top 40 radio stations don't play non-singles - even Vertigo barely broke the Billboard Top 40. And if you look at the Hoobastank vs. U2 thread, people pretty much agree that radio is kinda dead nowadays. Your argument that the high sales numbers are because of the Internet downloads and stations playing them holds no water whatsoever.

Cheers,

J
 
KUEFC09U2 said:
Jick you really WANT this album to fail dont you? just give it a brake mate, this album is not failing, its been in the top ten longer than ATYCLB, it IS their fasted selling album ever FACT, one massive reason for such a big decline in sales is simply due to a weaker market now, but to be fair if you like just stay in your own little land,

I love HTDAAB so much. I think it is right up there with ATYCLB in terms of greatness. And HTDAAB will surely not tank in the rest of the word. It's just that America seems to be giving the album a colder reception.

It is hard to buy this weaker market argument. When you drop post-Christmas from #3 to #14 --- or 14 spots, and sales drop by over 20% for two consecutive weeks (90,000-59,000-48,000) it is not due to the weaker market. Green Day, Eminem, and Linkin Park still seem to be holding up pretty well. Did any of those artists ever drop 11 places? Well, not yet so far.

Cheers,

J
 
When the tour hits the sales will spike again. ABOY will not spike album sales, but SYCMIOYO will. U2 blew their wad in the US during their first week with all the marketing. You can't compare Green Day to U2. Green Day did not sell 840,000 in their first week, probably not even their first 3 months, nor did they have the marketing blitz or "star" attraction that a time and time again proven commodity like U2 have. So there is always room for improvement for the Green Day album. It is a good album, and it takes time to settle in with a "has-been" punk group like Green Day (no offense meant).

U2 is another "has-been" or "oldie" and this album will definitely have its peaks and valleys during its run. I think you are trying to a exploit a perceived negative for this thread.
 
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htdaab is off to a quicker start than any u2 album EVER, that can be at least officially tracked (soundscan). Not based on someone sitting in their basement with the OPINION that the album isn't doing so well compared to previous. It is my OPINION as well that there has got to be many, many more illegal copies of this album out there on C.D.'s and harddrives then any previous u2 album just because of the fact that internet usage (especially high speed) has increased every year. All I can say is that it looks like the numbers have slowed down quite a bit is because maybe so many people already have the album wether legal or illegal.
 
jick said:


The album is not doing well when compared to albums released similarly or at the same time - Jay-Z/Linkin Park, Eminem, and Green Day - all of who are still fixtures in the top ten.

As for factoring in the market, people say it wasn't the same as before. But market or no market, the tremendous post-holiday sales drop and steady decline of HTDAAB sales figures supports my theory that it may not suit American tastes very well.

Cheers,

J

I presume you know what happened to the Linkin Park/Jay Z album in its second week. Not only did it fall in sales, but also in chart positions, which is a bigger indicator of how someone is doing in comparison to everybody else.

Also, I presume you know how much the Green Day album sold in initially. POINT: There are many factors that determine album sales.

Also, all 3 artists that you mentioned have a much higher potential to sell with the demographic we refer to as 'kids'. Its not the same for U2. U2 has a limited market now. This could explain how U2 albums have performed on the charts since 1993. Seems like a trend. Obviously, I'm just speculating. But if you consider the trend from the last 3 albums, this album seems to be doing well in holding its chart position, which is a reasonable measure of success, which in turn is making some of us here happy.

I just thought that you were trying to say that U2 somehow 'tricked' people into buying their album by giving reviewers only one listen, and by overplaying the iPod ad, and now that people have heard the album, they have found out that they have been tricked, and so they have (through their collective psyche) decided not to buy the album anymore. I will defend any reasoning to the contrary.

If you so wish, you can also choose to respond to paragraph 1 of my last post.
 
Oh I disagree that U2 have a "limited" market. U2's demographic is huge in some respects, small in others. However any band that has been producing albums for 25 years, successfully at that is bound to grow a new audience over time. Look at the Rolling Stones, they are a million years old yet their tours and albums still sell at a decent clip.

And really Green Day is starting to become an "old fogey" band too. I mean their first major album is 10 years old, and the boys are now in their 30's. So I don't buy that demographic argument either. I think good music is good music. Fad bands like Linkin Park will do well in their era, bands with lasting power (I think Green Day has proven they have that) will continue to sell well with the right mix of songs.

U2 are an original, much like the Beatles, Stones, Aerosmith and Zeppelin. They make brilliant music and strive to be the best. Just because they had a ton of marketing behind them doesn't necessarily mean they'll sell 2.5 million CDs in 2 months. A good album will sell that itself.
 
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