But the first paragraph specifically states 170k 'equivalent album units'. Is that not equivalent sales?
https://www.billboard.com/articles/...ongs-of-experience-heading-no-1-billboard-200
Songs of Experience - Let The Chart Speculation Begin
- Thread starter womanfish
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But the first paragraph specifically states 170k 'equivalent album units'. Is that not equivalent sales?
https://www.billboard.com/articles/...ongs-of-experience-heading-no-1-billboard-200
Super Yo
New Yorker
Hits at 100%
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You’re right it does say equivalent albums. I was looking at earlier posts which showed two separate numbers, one marked SPS, that I thought added up. My mistake. I guess 170k is everything.
Well, they cheated to get there.
Iggy Fizz
War Child
but this is true of every established band/artist. with your logic. Taylor's sales should also discount her huge established fanbase?
should the charts then only include new or very young acts?
No your right but I just am unsure with these sales numbers that it will be able to top NLOTH sales numbers....which relied on more than just the u2 fan base. SOI sales were harder to track but it could be two albums of successive decline.
U2FloridaFan
New Yorker
I wouldn't call it a "free" CD. It's all factored into the price we paid for tickets.
Not everybody bundles tickets, nor do they have the ability to sell as many tickets as U2 can.
I don't knock them for doing it, but it's hardly organic.
Iggy Fizz
War Child
NLOTH benefitted from several things:
1. It followed 2 albums that were huge commercial successes
2. There were very few leaks which helped as the music to most ears was terrible
3. Demand was strong given the delays
Now the first NLOTH single, which was borderline not even music, did not help... but to expect SOE to get to NLOTH sales levels is probably asking too much.
Also, U2 have spent the better part of the past 10+ years annoying the shit out of people. So there's that.
I guess I am in the minority, but I think that TBT and SOE have done as well as can be expected. TBT is now up to #15 on HAC (all stations), or "Adult Top 40/Pop", and it's still rising. It also hit #1 on Adult Alternative, extending U2's own record to 13 #1 songs on that format, topping the likes of Coldplay, Beck, The Killers, etc.
TBT is no where near the best song on SOE, and GOOYOW is already up to 27 on Adult Alternative. IMHO, TBT is U2's biggest hit since Vertigo, and several of the songs from SOE have much more potential to outperform TBT on the radio.
HAC is the 3rd largest demographic now...and "AC" as well as "Rock" have seemingly been absorbed into other genres. Spent another day in the car today and Sirius XM's "The Spectrum" was playing the whole album and playing snippets of album and song reviews about every 20 minutes. DJ said "We are in our second day of dissecting and listening to the brand new U2 album."
I switched back from my own personal playing of the album, and then The Spectrum's take, and forth for about 4 hours. I personally love SOE and everything I heard from Sirius was very positive. As for lack of promotion outside the U.S., now that I've heard the album several times on a good stereo system, it just feels like U2 targeted the U.S. with SOE, not unlike what they did with JT, and at first I thought the jabs at Trump and U.S. politics was going to be over the top. Now I don't think that...nor do I hate American Soul like I thought I did on first listen.
Even though the relative sales numbers for all music have all but evaporated. it's still the metric to measure musical success, and SOE is #1 in the world. It is still #1 on I-tunes WW, too, so I'm not so sure it is going to plummet as far as some think it will in week #2. At least not on the Global Chart. Just the news of U2 having the #1 album in the world should help spread the word to casual fans that U2 has a new album. It should debut at #1 in at least 30 countries.
If "Love is bigger" catches on as a single, and I think that's possible, that could be a game changer. I'm obviously biased, as I really, really like SOE. It reminds me of AB in that I went out and bought the CD and kept listening to the whole album. Not skipping songs or replaying others...just the entire album. It flows nicely for me, and the last U2 album that made me feel that way was AB. Not saying SOE is better...it's just a damn good record imho.
So, yes, imho, U2 has over achieved by getting to #1 in the world with a new album. The bad press with the Apple thing, tax evasion, paradise papers, ET AL, not to mention them all being senior citizens & card carrying members of AARP, were issues that I figured had ended U2's relevance, especially in the U.S. market. I could not have been more wrong. And glad for them. SOE is a great album that gets better with each listen.
TBT is no where near the best song on SOE, and GOOYOW is already up to 27 on Adult Alternative. IMHO, TBT is U2's biggest hit since Vertigo, and several of the songs from SOE have much more potential to outperform TBT on the radio.
HAC is the 3rd largest demographic now...and "AC" as well as "Rock" have seemingly been absorbed into other genres. Spent another day in the car today and Sirius XM's "The Spectrum" was playing the whole album and playing snippets of album and song reviews about every 20 minutes. DJ said "We are in our second day of dissecting and listening to the brand new U2 album."
I switched back from my own personal playing of the album, and then The Spectrum's take, and forth for about 4 hours. I personally love SOE and everything I heard from Sirius was very positive. As for lack of promotion outside the U.S., now that I've heard the album several times on a good stereo system, it just feels like U2 targeted the U.S. with SOE, not unlike what they did with JT, and at first I thought the jabs at Trump and U.S. politics was going to be over the top. Now I don't think that...nor do I hate American Soul like I thought I did on first listen.
Even though the relative sales numbers for all music have all but evaporated. it's still the metric to measure musical success, and SOE is #1 in the world. It is still #1 on I-tunes WW, too, so I'm not so sure it is going to plummet as far as some think it will in week #2. At least not on the Global Chart. Just the news of U2 having the #1 album in the world should help spread the word to casual fans that U2 has a new album. It should debut at #1 in at least 30 countries.
If "Love is bigger" catches on as a single, and I think that's possible, that could be a game changer. I'm obviously biased, as I really, really like SOE. It reminds me of AB in that I went out and bought the CD and kept listening to the whole album. Not skipping songs or replaying others...just the entire album. It flows nicely for me, and the last U2 album that made me feel that way was AB. Not saying SOE is better...it's just a damn good record imho.
So, yes, imho, U2 has over achieved by getting to #1 in the world with a new album. The bad press with the Apple thing, tax evasion, paradise papers, ET AL, not to mention them all being senior citizens & card carrying members of AARP, were issues that I figured had ended U2's relevance, especially in the U.S. market. I could not have been more wrong. And glad for them. SOE is a great album that gets better with each listen.
I think it was always a given this album will sell less than NLOTH due to the huge decline in album sales overall. I think that relative sales compared to albums coming out in the same time frame will mean more in terms of judging whether their sales are declining. For example I’ve seen charts indicating that, in terms of global sales rank, NLOTH did about as well as ATYCLB and HTDAAB even though, in absolute numbers, those albums sold way more.
hasin73
Refugee
Achtung Baby has re-entered the US i-tunes album chart at no. 174.
patternshirt170
Acrobat
It's where it is next week that also matters as far as gauging if the album is attracting newbies, which beyond the anecdotal I doubt.
I'd imagine the drop will be substantial in the UK especially and also in the US.
I'd imagine the drop will be substantial in the UK especially and also in the US.
Good question. Because, generally I am a negative person by nature. Many people would say "oh that's bad"...but I see it is a good thing. Yes, it may mean I'm hasty to get to the negative...but I'm also among the first people to see that most of the world shines shit and calls it gold. I'm the guy that says 'no, it's still shit'. It's bleak out there and not much redeeming to be found.
Mainly it's because of my job...I'm a fraud investigator...I deal with liars and smoke blowers all day long. Sorry to thread-jack, but it was in response to a direct question.
And is it not a true statement - this could be the first non-RIAA platinum album?? I was just asking the question before because I think that's a significant milestone in U2's career arc - it might mean that U2's popularity is waning with all but U2 fans. It wasn't intended to cause upset.
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CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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It will be and it has nothing to do with quality. Going platinum these days would be like going 5x platinum back in 2005.
Platinum status was once something 50 albums could hit in a year and now you would be lucky if 2 hit it(not with that SPS bullshit either, just sales).
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CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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So It was the 13th biggest sales week of the year in the US. It's a solid result for sure but a holiday week(if those are even a thing anymore) coupled with a ticket bundle I would have thought a much higher result would have occurred.
CosmoKramer
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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Something else interesting to note...
Imagine Dragons, no matter what you thinks of them, have had 2 very big chart hits with Believer and Thunder(love it or hate it, Thunder is massive in the US) and their album has sold a total of 351k copies in the US this year(17th most).
If this were 2000, that album would easily be multi platinum.
Just providing context, even for myself as I clearly misread the market.
Imagine Dragons, no matter what you thinks of them, have had 2 very big chart hits with Believer and Thunder(love it or hate it, Thunder is massive in the US) and their album has sold a total of 351k copies in the US this year(17th most).
If this were 2000, that album would easily be multi platinum.
Just providing context, even for myself as I clearly misread the market.
The_acrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
The fact that Thunder was a huge hit tells me all I need to know. That I'm one of the OLDS. (Real age 35).
To quote Abe Simpson;
"I used to be with it. Then they changed what IT was! Now what I'm with ain't it, and what is it seems weird and scary to me!"
To quote Abe Simpson;
"I used to be with it. Then they changed what IT was! Now what I'm with ain't it, and what is it seems weird and scary to me!"
The_acrobat
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Also #5 in Australia, 9 in NZ. What is happening?!?!
Surely the fact that they have been to those counties like once in a years plays a part in that
