Week 6 Results Here

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ChargedVT

Refugee
Joined
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Messages
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Location
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Well as we know HTDAAB has dropped in several big markets this week. Let's just hope its a temporary thing caused by after christmas sales, and that it settles at a reasonable position. The upcoming single releases and awards shows will no doubt help too.
Ok then...

Australia - from 2 down to 7
UK - from 4 down to 14
New Zealand - from 3 down to 7
Finland - from 10 down to 18
Switzerland - from 2 down to 5
Norway - from 3 down to 4
Ireland - STILL AT NUMBER ONE!

Estimated worldwide sales this week will be 250,000. Huge drop but if they can keep sales at say 150,000+ per week for a few months that will be good enough.
Some interesting notes. I have all the chart positions for ATYCLB and based on my estimates by the time week 14 came around it was selling 120-130,000 per week.

Now in regards to the US, the Soundscan figures will be released tomorrow but let's just assume the figure is 87,000. After 6 weeks HTDAAB has sold 2,148,000 as opposed to 1,061,000 for ATYCLB. Or if you want to look at it a different way, ATYCLB had sold 1,582,000 up to and including the week after christmas, so either way you look at it the Bomb has done very well.
 
It's downhill from here for HTDAAB.

First, there are no high profile Grammy nominations. Vertigo didn't get any song of the year or record of the year nominations, so no more exposure come Grammy time.

Second, U2's second single (whether ABOY in USA or SYCMIOYO in UK) will not boost album sales as much as expected. Vertigo hardly made a dent in the Billboard top 40 and didn't linger as long as Beautiful Day (which actually peaked at #20 or #21 if I remember right). And historically, second singles don't usually beat first singles. Let's also face it, Vertigo is the catchiest song in that album. So if Vertigo could only peak in the mid-30s, then ABOY or SYCMIOYO will not crack the top 40. Even the trend in the Modern Rock Charts reveals that ABOY is no Vertigo. So that will signify less airplay and less exposure for U2. So it is very doubtful ABOY or SYCMIOYO will boost album sales by much.

Third, the extremely high initial sales of HTDAAB means a lot of U2 fans have bought it by now. It must have been the exposure from the iPod ads. Perhaps it took casual U2 fans some time before they realized there was a new album when ATYCLB came out. So the sales just stayed at a consistent level. Now it just dropped because everyone supposed to subsequently buy them already own them. So unless the second single will really give non-U2 fans a reason to look into U2, sales won't pick up.

Fourth, chances are dim for U2 booking another Superbowl gig or getting a TIME Magazine cover. We all know how big the Superbowl is for exposure, and how many millions of copies of TIME magazine circulate. U2 won't get either of that this time. So HTDAAB won't get any "second wind."

What kept ATYCLB around for long was its staying power. It was in everyone's mind all year round. From 2000, it rode the wave of Beautiful Day's being radio friendly. For early 2001, it rode of the wave of Beautiful Day's virtual sweep of its nominations. Middle 2001 saw U2 in the NBA finals halftime show - and it was a finals that featured two of the biggest musical markets - Los Angeles and Philly. There was also the Tomb Raider song, even though it didn't do well in the charts it belonged to a well-watched movie and got MTV time. For the rest of 2001, those affected by the tragedy (which is basically the whole world) found solace and comfort in ATYCLB and they all shared their discovery about how this album is sort of therapeutic and fitting for the ocassion. Early 2002, ATYCLB got a ton of Grammy nominations and then won some. Then there was the TIME Magazine cover and the Superbowl appearance. So ATYCLB stood ground for a year and a half to rack up 4 million.

Now, HTDAAB has a massive 1 million headstart but will that keep up? I doubt it. Even starting the Grammies, U2 already lost out as their nominations for Vertigo are in less prominent categories and they aren't shoo-ins to win (like they were the last time). There is no movie soundtrack to lend their song to. God, I hope there is no tragedy. So U2's next big promotional push will only be when the album gets Grammy nominations for 2006 (if any).

So I'd say based on the slowing pace of the album sales, we will be fortunate if U2 would match HTDAAB's sales with ATYCLB. And 4 million US, and 11 million worldwide isn't a bad thing - but it is doubtful if HTDAAB can do it. I hope it can.

Cheers,

J
 
all i'm looking for is that they don't have a album that dose not reach platium status. Cause the rule seems to be that if you put out new stuff that goes at least platium your still commercaly revalent. Enough where your not touring totaly based on your past songs. like a band like poision or motley crue thats touring based on thier past and not current songs. (when they reuinted in 98, i dunno if they even have new songs this time). Even pop sold at least a million copys, and had a gold single in disoteqe. at least it wasn't like van halen . Van halen, who had muti platium status since the first album, made van halen 3, and that barely went gold,lol and they fell off the edge,lol. so i'll be dispointed if HTDAAB fell off now, but i'm realy not be bothered too much casue it obvosuly reached platium status,lol and u2 still matters. triple platium status is good enoguh. (of course i want more,lol but its ok if it dosn't. ) i peronaly think SYCMIOYO has good single potental.
 
So basically, we're talking about a more normal album here. The initial promotion is over, and from here out the record will have to sell itself based on airplay, word of mouth and hearing the songs live. I personally think "All because of you" is the worst song they could have released as a single, as it sounds to me like a knockoff of Vertigo. It's really my least favorite on the album. So the people who liked Vertigo already bought the album. The people who hated Vertigo are also going to hate ABOY, and not even give the album a chance. Whereas if I was a U2 fan from the 80s and I was turned off from Vertigo, I might be turned back on if I heard "Sometimes" or "Miracle Drug", and then buy the album.

Things went FREAKISHLY well for ATYCLB. The 2001 Grammy sweep, the super successful tour, the Tomb Raider soundtrack, 9/11/01 (though tragic, it must be factored in as a reason the album sold well, which resulted in Walk On and Stuck in a moment both becoming huge hits), Superbowl, Grammy Awards 2002. Everything just worked out PERFECTLY for the album. It would be hard to duplicate that. I mean, ATYCLB became a Grammy Award winning album with 4 grammy award winning singles! That's huge. HTDAAB probably won't duplicate that success.
 
The reality that people are stating in here is something completely different to what is actually happening. Bombs total US sales are more then double what ATYCLB was doing at this point, and the world wide sales are well ahead of what U2 could have even projected for this album.

Did you expect U2 to sell 20 million with this album? Even if the album didnt sell 1 more copy which it will it will be more successful then over half of the U2 catelogue. Bomb will almost certainly beat ATYCLB in sales simply because it is a better record. I dont judge success on US sales anyway because if you look at the US sales for U2 even with ATYCLB they are lower then the rest of the world.

Selling close to 100 thousand copies in the week after Christmas isnt too shabby and the tour hasnt even started yet, that is where the real promotion happens not with the release of singles.
 
We are way overreacting to this week's charts!

beLIEve said:
Maybe the fact that the "kids" were out of school in the U.S., and likely the U.K., the charts reflect what "kids" are buying today. Plus, no one, not even us "chart watchers", expected U2 to sell so many albums so fast right out of the box...world wide sales are likely near 6M+, with U.S. sales about 2.2M. That's amazing for six weeks or so.

The Vertigo success/album promotion is now over. IF NOTHING else was planned, then I'd say this album would sell about 2M worldwide in 2005. However, we have a

1) massive world tour on the horizon
2) two singles and videos to be released soon
3) a potential for 4-6 more singles & videos
4) awards nominations, live appearances, and awards accepted

This should last over the next 10 months, with item #4 going on into 2006. This album has not been a flop, and it won't be a flop.

beLIEve me

Also, consider this note from Billboard! By the way, HTDAAB came in at 14 on Billboard's chart with 95,000 sold. As you can see from the article, ALL Album sales took a huge dive last week, save for a few, so we need to give it some more time IMO

From Billboard.com

'Encore' Enjoys Another Week At No. 1

Eminem extends his curtain call to a second straight week as "Encore" remains atop The Billboard 200 that reflects the final sales week of 2004. Despite a 54% drop to sales of 198,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the Shady/Aftermath/Interscope set increased its time at No. 1 to four non-consecutive weeks.

With the holiday buying frenzy past, overall U.S. album sales plummeted 51% from the previous week to 15.9 million units. (Because 2003's tracking period only contained 52 weeks, this 53rd week of 2004's Nielsen SoundScan tracking period cannot be compared with the previous year.)

At 681 million units, the final sales tally of 2004 shows a 3.8% increase over 2003.

Reflecting the much quieter retail picture of the post-Christmas week, The Billboard 200 sees a number of considerable shifts, as well as a trend of chart gains in spite of an average of 50% sales slumps across the top 10 titles.

Green Day's "American Idiot" leads the pack, rocketing 9-2 despite a 40% slide to sales of 170,000 copies, while a 34% decline to 144,000 nonetheless sets the stage for a 15-3 leap for Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz' "Crunk Juice" (TVT).

"MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups Presents Jay-Z and Linkin Park: Collision Course" (Machine Shop/Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) bolts 8-4 on sales of 135,000, a 52% drop, while Ludacris' "Red Light District" (Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam South) moves 10-5 on 126,000 units, a 51% fall.

Even though sales of Usher's "Confessions" (LaFace/Zomba) fell 63%, sales of 117,000 are enough to hold the set steady at No. 6 for a second week. Tupac Shakur's "Loyal to the Game" (Amaru/Interscope) rebounds 13-8 despite a 41% slide to 115,000.

Just two top 10 titles buck the trend, with falling chart positions to match dwindling sales. The 17th installment of "NOW That's What I Call Music!" (Sony BMG/Universal/EMI/Zomba/Capitol) drops 2-9 on a 68% dip to 113,000 copies and Destiny's Child's "Destiny Fulfilled" (Sony Urban Music/Columbia) tumbles 4-10 on a 70% slide to 105,000.

The sole top 10 debut comes from R&B newcomer John Legend, a former session piano player, whose solo debut "Get Lifted" (Sony Urban Music/Columbia) bows at No. 7 on the strength of 116,000 copies sold in its debut week.

On the entirety of The Billboard 200, just three albums saw a sales increase over the previous week, led by Fox/Epic/Sony's "Garden State" soundtrack. The set -- which features cuts from Coldplay, the Shins and Iron & Wine, among others -- is the chart's greatest gainer and jumps 133-51 on a 31% gain to 37,000. Zach Braff's debut as a writer/director, "Garden State" was also released last week on DVD.

The other titles seeing sales gains in the post-Christmas week were "The Phantom of the Opera" soundtrack (Really Useful/Sony Classical/Sony), which jumps 104-44 on a 9% increase to 40,000 copies, and Snow Patrol's "Final Straw" (A&M), which springs 192-91 on a 14% rise to 20,000 copies.
 
atyclb
crushes
'how
to
dismantle
and
run
from
an
atomic
lemon'

:angry:

the only good song is crumbs.

db9
 
diamond said:
atyclb
crushes
'how
to
dismantle
and
run
from
an
atomic
lemon'

:angry:

the only good song is crumbs.

db9

ok, i don't agree on this but you're perfectly entitled to your opinion... but why did you post this here? this is supposed to be a chart-related thread
 
diamond said:
atyclb
crushes
'how
to
dismantle
and
run
from
an
atomic
lemon'

:angry:

the only good song is crumbs.

db9

While I know you are a U2 fan and not a troll, you are being a troll at this forum. Go complain at Where the Album Has a Name.
 
jick said:
It's downhill from here for HTDAAB.

First, there are no high profile Grammy nominations. Vertigo didn't get any song of the year or record of the year nominations, so no more exposure come Grammy time.

Second, U2's second single (whether ABOY in USA or SYCMIOYO in UK) will not boost album sales as much as expected. Vertigo hardly made a dent in the Billboard top 40 and didn't linger as long as Beautiful Day (which actually peaked at #20 or #21 if I remember right). And historically, second singles don't usually beat first singles. Let's also face it, Vertigo is the catchiest song in that album. So if Vertigo could only peak in the mid-30s, then ABOY or SYCMIOYO will not crack the top 40. Even the trend in the Modern Rock Charts reveals that ABOY is no Vertigo. So that will signify less airplay and less exposure for U2. So it is very doubtful ABOY or SYCMIOYO will boost album sales by much.

Third, the extremely high initial sales of HTDAAB means a lot of U2 fans have bought it by now. It must have been the exposure from the iPod ads. Perhaps it took casual U2 fans some time before they realized there was a new album when ATYCLB came out. So the sales just stayed at a consistent level. Now it just dropped because everyone supposed to subsequently buy them already own them. So unless the second single will really give non-U2 fans a reason to look into U2, sales won't pick up.

Fourth, chances are dim for U2 booking another Superbowl gig or getting a TIME Magazine cover. We all know how big the Superbowl is for exposure, and how many millions of copies of TIME magazine circulate. U2 won't get either of that this time. So HTDAAB won't get any "second wind."

What kept ATYCLB around for long was its staying power. It was in everyone's mind all year round. From 2000, it rode the wave of Beautiful Day's being radio friendly. For early 2001, it rode of the wave of Beautiful Day's virtual sweep of its nominations. Middle 2001 saw U2 in the NBA finals halftime show - and it was a finals that featured two of the biggest musical markets - Los Angeles and Philly. There was also the Tomb Raider song, even though it didn't do well in the charts it belonged to a well-watched movie and got MTV time. For the rest of 2001, those affected by the tragedy (which is basically the whole world) found solace and comfort in ATYCLB and they all shared their discovery about how this album is sort of therapeutic and fitting for the ocassion. Early 2002, ATYCLB got a ton of Grammy nominations and then won some. Then there was the TIME Magazine cover and the Superbowl appearance. So ATYCLB stood ground for a year and a half to rack up 4 million.

Now, HTDAAB has a massive 1 million headstart but will that keep up? I doubt it. Even starting the Grammies, U2 already lost out as their nominations for Vertigo are in less prominent categories and they aren't shoo-ins to win (like they were the last time). There is no movie soundtrack to lend their song to. God, I hope there is no tragedy. So U2's next big promotional push will only be when the album gets Grammy nominations for 2006 (if any).

So I'd say based on the slowing pace of the album sales, we will be fortunate if U2 would match HTDAAB's sales with ATYCLB. And 4 million US, and 11 million worldwide isn't a bad thing - but it is doubtful if HTDAAB can do it. I hope it can.

Cheers,

J

4 million US, 11 million worldwide certainly is not a bad thing when such figures puts an album in the top 15 biggest selling albums of the entire decade.

After 6 weeks in the USA this where the albums stood:

BOMB: 2,152,000

ATYCLB: 1,061,000


While everyone is concerned about the drop this week, it is roughly the same drop as ATYCLB in that respective week four years ago. The sales of both albums in the post Christmas week are roughly the same.

It to early to tell anything, but remember that the band has the ROCK HALL of Fame celebration coming up in March and that always increases album sales for the artist that participate.

In addition, the band will have the Grammy awards in 2005 and 2006. Plus, its not going to be very difficult to have 2nd, 3rd, and 4th singles that are more successful than the post B-day singles from ATYCLB.


I admit that I'm surprised by the slow down as I was hoping for a sales level that would outpace ATYCLB by a good margin even in the lean months. But I still think this album has a great shot at matching ATYCLB sales. Its already more than half way there after only 6 weeks.
 
There is a 1 million headstart, but with the week 6 sales it looks like HTDAAB won't linger as long as ATYCLB. Also, there are no Record or Song of the Year Grammy nominations, no strong second and third singles (not in terms of content but in terms of airplay), no Superbowl, 9/11, TIME Magazine cover, NBA Halftime ...so it will be tough to linger all year round. A tour announcement doesn't really push album sales by much. And even the tour has just been postponed. So HTDAAB may match ATYCLB's US Sales, but it won't maintain it's big margin (1 million lead) or keep up with the current sales ratio (2:1). I'd say even 4 million / 11 million for HTDAAB would be a massive achievement.

Cheers,

J
 
More Results for week 6....

Austria, still at number 3
Canada, drops from 3 to 4
France drops from 5 to 11
Italy stays at number 5
Spain drops from 5 to 6

I dont think there has been a Netherlands chart this week.
 
Oh stop being wusses y'all. Yes the album slid a little this week. Yes even my heart sank when I saw the hits daily double results. BUT, this album is way superior to 'All That You Can't...' (my opinion) and I'm willing to bet on quality over any SuperBowl performance.

I predict that 'How to Dismantle..' will sell more than 'All That You Can't...' week after week once the tour starts, or from couple of weeks before it starts. Till then it will match 'All That You Can't...' sales. Well even if it trails by 20,000 units every week, thats like a drop in the ocean in its 1 million lead. And you can bet the U2 publicity people won't just sit on their asses and do nothing. There WILL be promotions. But I do believe that this album will sell more because of word of mouth publicity. If you look at the best selling albums of all time, they did not sell because of some stupid TIME Mag cover, NBA halftime performance or some other publicity stunt. Of course there are exceptions like Santana whose Grammy nominations helped him sell millions (I believe). But most great albums sell on their quality. In fact I would go on and say that since 'All That You Can't...' was a weak album (my opinion), it NEEDED the Superbowl show, the Grammy nominations and the Tomb Raider publicity to sell the 4 million it eventually did. Without these, it would have probably sold around 2-2.5.

HDTAAB Rocks!

Everybody go have some Vodka, you will see it as clearly as I do! :wink:
 
diamond said:
atyclb
crushes
'how
to
dismantle
and
run
from
an
atomic
lemon'

:angry:

the only good song is crumbs.

db9

Diamond! I can't believe this is you writing this nonsense!

I like both ATYCLB and HTDAAB. As of this moment, I favor HTDAAB a bit more as I always felt that ATYCLB was a bit too soft - and HTDAAB has that extra edge (no pun intended) I was seeking on ATYCLB. But HTDAAB has stronger lyrics (IMO) and much better vocals from Bono. Still, the overall mood on both albums is VERY similar. It's like saying R&H sucks, but JT is great, or that "War" sucks, but "Boy" is great. It just doesn't make sense to me.

But hey, each to his own. Perhaps when you hear these songs in concert Dave (without stepping on me this time, thanks :wink: ) your opinion will change.
 
jick said:
11 million for HTDAAB would be a massive achievement.

Cheers,

J

well to me 11 million copies sold worldwide is a massive achievement...no matter what album or what act you're considering.
ATYCLB was a success in terms of sales and If HTDAAB sells 10 million+ copies it would be a success too...i wouldn't find anything lower than expectations in such an achievement.
If you expected U2 to sell 20 million copies and now you're complaining because it clearly won't sell that much...well...come back on earth: JT days are over.
 
It is difficult to make serious forecasts for the album at the moment. If HTDAAB get Grammy nominations next year and get some important Grammies then it can be a big worlwide success. On the other way, it can happens the same thing as with "Pop". Massive sales at the start and then nothing follows. Nevertheless is HTDAAB a great album!
 
Dima said:


well to me 11 million copies sold worldwide is a massive achievement...no matter what album or what act you're considering.
ATYCLB was a success in terms of sales and If HTDAAB sells 10 million+ copies it would be a success too...i wouldn't find anything lower than expectations in such an achievement.
If you expected U2 to sell 20 million copies and now you're complaining because it clearly won't sell that much...well...come back on earth: JT days are over.

Even if HTDAAB "magically" went on to sell 20M copies, it'll take quite a bit of time for this to happen. Recall that JT "only" sold 14M in its first year. That's an incredible sum, but it's not 20M. Likewise, AB sold 9-10M its first year.

My point is that even with strong sales, HTDAAB won't sell 20M its first year. U2 have never had sales this strong.

Given that the album finshed just shy of my 2.2M estimate for the holidays, I'd say all is well. Sure, it was about 50K shy of what I hoped for this week, but then, I'd say this was true for just about all artists. I'm rather disappointed with the numbers overall for the week after Christmas. I was expecting a lot better. Regardless, that extra 50K doesn't really change a lot at this moment.

It's what the album does from this week on that matters. Let's see if the ABoY promotion helped. And perhaps the slight delay in the tour start will actually increase hype and awareness, helping both the album and tour. U2 seem to have a lot of luck with things that are often viewed as negative (song and album leaks, stolen music, delays, etc.).
 
Italian chart update:

HTDAAB #5 in its 6th week
Vertigo #8 in its 8th week

chart run so far:

HTDAAB 1-1-4-5-5-5

Vertigo 1-1-1-1-6-6-7-8
 
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:
 
jick said:
Also, there are no Record or Song of the Year Grammy nominations, no strong second and third singles (not in terms of content but in terms of airplay), no Superbowl, 9/11, TIME Magazine cover, NBA Halftime ...so it will be tough to linger all year round.

J

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.
U2' management are too clever to have a couple of tricks up their sleeves and as the album game out Bono said he wanted to get two Christmas sales periods out of it, he wouldn't expect to get this simply be releasing the album and then sitting back.
The other big bonus it looks like at least some of the dates on the tour will be outdoor so I think the album will benefit from much greater numbers seeing the shows.
The other thing I would like to stress as I have had to do so many times on this forum is that the world does not begin and end in North America.
 
jick said:
Also, there are no Record or Song of the Year Grammy nominations, no strong second and third singles (not in terms of content but in terms of airplay), no Superbowl, 9/11, TIME Magazine cover, NBA Halftime ...so it will be tough to linger all year round. A tour announcement doesn't really push album sales by much.
Cheers,

J

No 9/11 But there is ASIA now. I think 'sometimes' is released at the 'perfect' time.
 
Jick -
You are a negative, frustrating person. And that is cool, but your logic is incomprehensible. I don't even know why you bother posting here, pretending to be a fan of U2 - everything you say is always a complete diatribe on U2's most recent work - you seem to despise U2's obvious success by rejecting the reality of how accomplished they really are and continue to be.
It's week six - a week after Christmas, and they've sold over 2 million already in the United States, and they still pumped out close to another one hundred thousand during a week where everyone's wallets have been emptied, and shopping is a dreaded word for now...
Jick, after all the anti-HTDAAB nonsense you put forth, you then have the nerve to end your drivel by stating 'I hope it can' in regards to the album matching previous successes - what planet are you on, you never hope anything positive happens! Do you even realize that? - and even if How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb did sell more than ATYCLB, you would spew forth some illogical explanation about why the album simply fluked off the successful numbers.
Anyway, responding to Jick is just a headache waiting to happen - it is one god damn week - not the bloody telltale sign of the the Album's longevity. And what the hell are you talking about, 'Vertigo' having moderate success? The single was omnipresent on every radio station all over the world! You can't measure the success of the song solely by the HOT 100, do you see the so-called musicians on that thing? To even crack the top 50 is impressive when a band is actually talented, and able to tackle the retardation of Eminem and Destiny's Child.
Anyway, HTDAAB has done phenomenal so far, and one week where it dived !!! oh no, all the way down to a lowly 90, 000 mark! (sarcasm) should not be used to judge the future of the rest of the album, the other singles, and the upcoming world tour... after the album completely falls out of the Billboard 200, then you should be able to make accurate morbid predictions of the 'failure' of U2, which you will be right there and gladly do for us.
At any rate, regardless of what you say, U2 is a success innately, and time has revealed their preponderant importance to modern day music.
Jick, stop being such a moron all the time.

- Nick
 
I don't have much time to comment on the Dutch charts. Not much has happened anyway. It even seems as if no singles chart has appeared and I don't know if the album chart's 'update' is really a new week or just some midweek numbers. In any case, HTDAAB stayed at #4.

C ya!

Marty
 
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