US Chart Talk: 5/17/08 Charts

[Guest ercos]

Ok, so 282K is doable.

Not Great.

Still very perplexed why COAD dropped with more sales?

I dont recall promotions for COAD? did she have any ? and HU was NOT big @ all !

My excitement for 4M being a HUGE radio hit is totally dulled by the lackluster opening of this CD.

Im truly shocked and saddened that HC did NOT reap the benefit of a MONSTER HIT>

...its going to be a while b/4 anonther hit like 4m comes around!

______________________

what went wrong -

1. promo (much lack of)

2. too late / too early of a release within Mooriahs timeline. honestly, i didnt want a head to head collission / competition. Mariah is still huge in US radio (wthwer we like / admit it or not).

3. poorly engineered songs. okay production but with poor engineering.

[HolidayGuy]

Not surprising, really, that 4M dropped in sales- it was so dominant all those weeks, and then dipped to No. 4 last week (the second version wasn't enough to give it that same dominant total). Still, 150K is pretty darn strong.

[mtzlplk]

I wonder how many copies she sold with the MAXI...

[thebigham]

bks at Pulse:

BILLBOARD HOT DIGITAL SONGS - TOP 50

1 1 LEWIS*LEONA BLEEDING LOVE 217128 -8 235880 1783105

3 2 LIL WAYNE LOLLIPOP 163612 -7 175793 1229367

2 3 MADONNA FEAT. JUSTIN TIMBERLAK 4 MINUTES 150170 -19 185159 1181900

11 4 BEDINGFIELD*NATASHA POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE 134830 110 64125 636477

4 5 SPARKS*JORDIN NO AIR 104868 -12 118946 1599908

5 6 RAY J FEAT YUNG BERG SEXY CAN I 103683 -9 113328 1137148

9 7 MCCARTNEY*JESSE LEAVIN' 102432 8 94653 200408

7 8 USHER LOVE IN THIS CLUB 91930 -8 100437 1329145

6 9 BROWN*CHRIS FOREVER 89866 -21 113072 203032

10 10 MAYER*JOHN SAY 75856 -14 88194 734203

8 11 CAREY*MARIAH TOUCH MY BODY 72837 -26 98711 868528

13 12 DANITY KANE DAMAGED 61478 7 57241 499584

25 13 LIL WAYNE MILLI 56981 74 32693 89674

17 14 CAILLAT*COLBIE REALIZE 55570 41 39302 632920

12 15 CYRUS*MILEY SEE YOU AGAIN 48615 -15 57526 1473891

16 16 METRO STATION SHAKE IT 46970 17 40246 216460

15 17 BAREILLES*SARA LOVE SONG 43622 -1 43925 2309878

14 18 FLO RIDA LOW 43294 -7 46676 3746784

29 19 DEGRAW*GAVIN IN LOVE WITH A GIRL 39865 36 29382 229022

20 20 RIHANNA DON'T STOP THE MUSIC 39097 3 38106 1816931

-- 21 MADONNA GIVE IT 2 ME 37654 999 0 37654

18 22 ONEREPUBLIC STOP AND STARE 37194 -4 38754 1068177

24 23 PLIES BUST IT BABY (PART 2) 36274 5 34421 216954

21 24 NELLY FEAT FERGIE PARTY PEOPLE 36146 -4 37718 206410

19 25 FLO RIDA ELEVATOR 35297 -8 38209 641298

37 26 3 DOORS DOWN IT'S NOT MY TIME 33384 31 25499 177093

31 27 O'DONIS*COLBY WHAT YOU GOT 32962 18 27868 214858

-- 28 BUSTA RHYMES FEAT. LINKIN PARK WE MADE IT 30857 999 0 30857

26 29 SWIFT*TAYLOR OUR SONG 30363 -7 32634 1435466

23 30 BROWN*CHRIS WITH YOU 29430 -19 36319 1586181

34 31 LIFEHOUSE WHATEVER IT TAKES 29141 8 26935 530691

63 32 DUFFY MERCY 27294 54 17688 77819

30 33 LIL' MAMA SHAWTY GET LOOSE 27029 -4 28243 437641

42 34 FLOBOTS HANDLEBARS 26546 10 24174 107048

28 35 WEBBIE INDEPENDENT 25474 -19 31380 828165

35 36 SPEARS*BRITNEY BREAK THE ICE 25327 -2 25848 279259

44 37 MRAZ*JASON I'M YOURS 24899 12 22171 181846

33 38 BUCKCHERRY SORRY 24706 -9 27068 1153723

32 39 SWIFT*TAYLOR PICTURE TO BURN 24616 -10 27256 475065

43 40 FLYLEAF ALL AROUND ME 24592 9 22529 430018

22 41 CAREY*MARIAH BYE BYE 24372 -33 36378 121031

-- 42 TING TINGS*THE SHUT UP AND LET ME GO 24306 999 1095 25401

27 43 FIASCO*LUPE SUPERSTAR 23720 -25 31660 971024

-- 44 AUGUSTANA SWEET AND LOW 23307 376 4894 66494

40 45 NAIM*YAEL NEW SOUL 23306 -4 24305 892916

36 46 PANIC AT THE DISCO NINE IN THE AFTERNOON 23188 -10 25628 403197

38 47 THREE DAYS GRACE NEVER TOO LATE 22844 -9 24990 902805

-- 48 DIAMOND*NEIL SWEET CAROLINE (GOOD TIMES NEV 22805 309 5582 612223

39 49 ROSS*RICK BOSS 22776 -7 24594 279534

-- 50 CAILLAT*COLBIE DREAMS COLLIDE 22559 999 223 22873

A FEW BONUSES:

75 57 M.I.A. PAPER PLANES 19378 16 16695 236763

89 58 ESTELLE AMERICAN BOY 19200 37 14029 107209

94 79 BEDINGFIELD*NATASHA FEATURING LOVE LIKE THIS 16212 23 13179 1145260

-- 100 OSBOURNE*OZZY WITH THERAPY IRON MAN 11583 107 5594 349937

-- 101 MADONNA BEAT GOES ON 11348 999 0 11348

-- 102 BEDINGFIELD*NATASHA UNWRITTEN 11197 82 6163 2113338

-- 106 DIAMOND*NEIL AMERICA 10583 545 1640 137178

-- 108 DIAMOND*NEIL I AM...I SAID 9990 999 831 101935

-- 128 GUETTA*DAVID LOVE IS GONE 9112 64 5549 64785

174 162 LEWIS*LEONA TAKE A BOW 8268 9 7599 29093

-- 180 MADONNA CANDY SHOP 7578 999 0 7578

[BullaBarbie]

4 min is not that big airplay hit.

She needs airplay to have more albums sold. Which is unlikely to happen.

[HolidayGuy]

By Madonna standards, it's as big in airplay as she's gonna get these days. Fact of the matter is she's a near-50-year-old white female, and she's going to struggle for USA airplay without younger names in the mix (i.e. Timberlake). Unless U.S. radio decides to give her a proper shot with follow-up releases.

[thebigham]

MOST TOP 10 ALBUMS ON THE BILLBOARD 200

Rolling Stones 36

Frank Sinatra 32

The Beatles 30

Barbra Streisand 29

Elvis Presley 27

Bob Dylan 17

Paul McCartney 17

Madonna 17 *HC*

Johnny Mathis 16

Elton John 16

Neil Diamond 14

Kingston Trio 14

Mitch Miler 14

George Strait 14

Bruce Springsteen 14

Garth Brooks 14

The Beach Boys 13

Van Halen 13

Rod Stewart 13

Mariah Carey 13

Eric Clapton 12

Ray Coniff 12

Andy Williams 12

Chicago 12

Jay Z 12

[thebigham]

MOST #1 ALBUMS ON THE BILLBOARD 200

Beatles 19

Elvis Presley 10

Jay-Z 10

Rolling Stones 9

Barbra Streisand 8

Garth Brooks 8

Bruce Springsteen 8

Elton John 7

Paul McCartney/Wings 7

Madonna 7 *HC*

U2 6

Janet Jackson 6

Mariah Carey 6

[Titty]

MOST #1 ALBUMS ON THE BILLBOARD 200

Beatles 19

Elvis Presley 10

Jay-Z 10

Rolling Stones 9

Barbra Streisand 8

Garth Brooks 8

Bruce Springsteen 8

Elton John 7

Paul McCartney/Wings 7

Madonna 7 *HC*

U2 6

Janet Jackson 6

Mariah Carey 6

Jay-Z

bloody hell... I can't even name one of his hits

[Gus]

Not sure if it's been posted already,info courtesy of bks:

Single sales

-- 1 MADONNA 4 MINUTES 5,052 999 434 6,316

[Guest iMisto]

Isn't it not fair to include the older acts??? I mean... weren't they releasing albums left and right back in the day??? Albums with a lot less than 10-12 songs?

I'm not sure... somebody let me know.

[thebigham]

Sigh...

It's fair!

Madonna cannot be #1 at everything.

Face it, no other artist today is going to have 17 Top 10 albums.

[Guest Bad Robot]

Isn't it not fair to include the older acts??? I mean... weren't they releasing albums left and right back in the day??? Albums with a lot less than 10-12 songs?

I'm not sure... somebody let me know.

Of course it's fair. You can't cite chart records and then say "well we're just going to ignore these other people because the market was a little different back then."

Jay-Z got his 10 #1 albums in half the time it took Madonna to get 7, and he's by no means an "older artist."

[thebigham]

280k according to Billboard Chart Alert:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_dis...ffd2054f7eb252e

[dimfanis]

280k according to Billboard Chart Alert:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_dis...ffd2054f7eb252e

Guys, read the whole article. It puts everything in its context. What Hard Candy's 280K means this weak and what COADF's 350K meant the week it debuted. I'm very happy for Madonna and her continued success.

[Camacho]

Yes some people here really need to READ this article by BILLBOARD

Madonna's the Queen of Charts

May 07, 2008

Madonna's "Hard Candy" album makes a sweet entrance at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 280,000, giving the diva her seventh chart-topper and the third biggest sales week of the year. A whopping 26% of the album's first week sales were downloads sold through digital retailers ... Other high debuts this week come from Lyfe Jennings, the Roots, Def Leppard, Portishead, Mudcrutch and Tim McGraw ... In Progress Reports, we've got news on Coldplay, James Otto and Weezer.

FLASH POINTS

• Madonna's "Hard Candy" takes its expected bow atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, giving the queen of pop her seventh No. 1 -- the second-most among all female artists. Only Barbra Streisand, with eight, has more. "Candy" earns the third biggest sales week of the year as well, with 280,000 sold in its first week. That's a bigger number than the 225,000-250,000 range that Billboard projected last week based on the set's first-day sales figures. (Digital downloads accounted for a whopping 26% -- 73,000 -- of the album's overall first-week, easily making it No. 1 the Top Digital Albums chart.)

• Madonna's last studio effort, 2005's "Confessions on a Dance Floor" started with 350,000 when it bowed at No. 1. However, that discofied album was released on Nov. 15, just as the Christmas shopping season was kicking into high gear, which partially explains its bigger opening. Each of the top seven albums that week on the Billboard 200 sold more than 100,000. Even the No. 2 album, the debuting "Some Hearts" by Carrie Underwood, started with more than 300,000.

• So far in 2008, there has yet to be a week that busy. The last time the chart housed seven or more albums that each sold at least 100,000 was -- no surprise -- the sales week ending Dec. 23, 2007, when the top 23 all did more than 100,000. Ho, ho, ho!

• For those chart watchers (and diva enthusiasts) who are trying to draw comparisons between "Hard Candy's" 280,000 bow and Mariah Carey's 463,000 start with her new "E=MC2," hold your horses. During "E=MC2's" release week, Carey pulled out all the stops and performed on "American Idol," "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "Good Morning America." During "Hard Candy's" release week, Madonna did not perform on TV. In fact, she has yet to perform on American TV to promote this album. Last week, the only chat show she visited was BET's "106 and Park" (May 2).

• Madonna did, however, stage a well-publicized club show at the Roseland Ballroom in New York on April 30, which was streamed online via MSN. But a club show -- no matter how hot -- can't compare with the impact "American Idol" and Oprah Winfrey has. And, keep in mind that Carey was returning with her first album since her comeback set, "The Emancipation of Mimi," which also happens to be the biggest selling album of 2005.

• Besides, with an album loaded with singles that seem ripe for American radio, "Hard Candy" may have a healthy shelf life. The set was led by the unqualified hit single "4 Minutes" (featuring Justin Timberlake). It's her biggest radio hit since 2001's "Don't Tell Me" and it spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart. Madonna's had a tough time getting her new music heard on U.S. radio in the past six or so years, so securing American airplay with "4 Minutes" was key in the promotion of "Hard Candy." The diva is in Europe now, focusing on the promotion of the album there. Last night (May 6) she staged her second club show supporting the album, this time at the Olympia Hall in Paris.

• Madonna, of course, isn't the only artist to debut on the Billboard 200 this week. A bevy of other acts strut onto the chart, including Lyfe Jennings, the Roots, Def Leppard, Portishead, Mudcrutch and Tim McGraw. And those are just the artists that debut in the top 10 this week. It's the first time the top 10 has greeted seven new entries since the chart dated April 14, 2007.

[thebigham]

Solitaire at Pulse:

* Digital Album Debut Week

01 Jack Johnson / Sleep Through the Static - 139,000

02 Kanye West / Graduation - 133,000

03 Maroon 5 / It Won't Be Soon Before Long - 102,000

04 Linkin Park / Minutes to Midnight - 84,000

05 Madonna / Hard Candy - 73,000

06 Justin Timberlake / Futuresex/Lovesounds - 67,000

[Guest iMisto]

It makes sense.

I'm still a little sad it didn't crack 300k. Maybe cause I'm listening to slow music?

[JR!]

Yay for Madge and the 280K sold on first week!

[thebigham]

Billboard.com:

Madonna Reigns Atop Busy Billboard 200

May 07, 2008,

by Katie Hasty, N.Y.

It's a busy week at the top of the The Billboard 200, with Madonna's "Hard Candy" leading the action at No. 1. It is the artist's seventh chart-topper, the second-most among all female artists -- only Barbra Streisand, with eight, has more. The Warner Bros. set moved 280,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. After racing 68-3 last month, the diva's single "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake gave Madonna her 37th top 10 hit -- the most of any artist in the rock era. Until now, she and Elvis Presley were tied with 36 apiece.

As a consequence, Mariah Carey's "E=MC2" (Island Def Jam) is dethroned to No. 2 after two weeks on top; the album moved 95,000 units, a 48% sales drop-off. Leona Lewis' "Spirit" (Syco/J) slips 2-3 with 84,000 (-12%).

Lyfe Jennings' Columbia album "Lyfe Change" starts with 80,000 at No. 4. His last set trumps this start though, as "The Phoenix" began at No. 2 with 136,000 in 2006.

Def Leppard scores its 11th consecutive top 20 album with the bow of "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" (Island/UMe) at No. 5 with 55,000 units. The band started its top 20 streak on The Billboard 200 back with 1983's "Pyromania" when it peaked at No. 2. Since "Pyromania," every Def Leppard album has reached the top 20.

The Roots' ninth album, Def Jam set "Rising Down," enters at No. 6 off of a 54,000 start. The hip-hop act's last release, 2006's "Game Theory," started at No. 9 with 61,000.

Portishead returns with its first studio album in more than 10 years as "Third" bows with 53,000 at No. 7, a new charting high-water mark for the U.K. act. Its last studio effort, 1997's "Portishead," debuted and peaked at No. 21.

Tom Petty side project Mudcrutch -- which was actually the precursor to Petty's career as a solo artist -- has a No. 8 start with its self-titled Reprise set with 38,000. Petty's last release, 2006's "Highway Companion," started at No. 4 with 112,000.

The multi-label "Now 27" continues its decline 6-9 with 31,000 and a 4% decrease.

The Wal-Mart exclusive set "Greatest Hits Vol. 1 and 2" from Tim McGraw bows at No. 10 with 29,000. The 2-CD set combines the singer's 2000 "Greatest Hits" with his 2006 "Greatest Hits Vol. 2: Reflected."

Aside from those seven releases, 24 other albums debut inside The Billboard 200, including Steve Winwood's "Nine Lives" (Columbia, No. 12, 26,000), Carly Simon's "This Kind of Love" (Hear Music, No. 15, 23,000), Augustana's "Can't Love, Can't Hurt" (Epic, No. 21, 21,000), Lil Mama's "VYP: Voice of the Young People (Jive, No. 25, 19,000), Mindless Self Indulgence's "If" (The End Records, No. 27, 18,000) and Mana's "Arde El Cielo" (Warner Music Latina, No. 30, 17,000).

Album sales this week are up 10% from last week's sum with 7.55 million units and down 10.4% from the same week last year.

[thebigham]

Uuugh at HC's week 2:

HITS:

DIAMOND IS A CHART’S BEST FRIEND

Legend’s Rick Rubin-Produced Columbia Album Will Debut at #1

May 7, 2008

It’s been 42 years since Neil Diamond released his debut album in 1966, The Feel of Neil Diamond.

The veteran singer-songwriter proves he’s still got the waist movement, Cherry, with his latest Columbia Records release, Home After Dark, produced by label creative chief Rick Rubin, set to debut at #1 next week for Steve Barnett and company with a one-week total of 125-130k. That number, which could go higher with Mother’s Day weekend sales, should be more than enough to beat out Madonna’s WB release, Hard Candy, which appears on tap for between 85-95k after one week on top.

It’ll be the first chart-topping bow for Diamond in his four-decade-long career, based on one-day reports from all those music retailers recovered enough from Cinco de Mayo festivities to return our e-mails. Diamond's last album for the label, 2005’s 12 Songs, the first one produced by Rubin, saw its sales stunted by Andy Lack’s rootkit fiasco, though it recovered enough to eventually go gold.

RCA American Idol alum Clay Aiken is On My Own Here, with loyal Claymates pushing his first-week sales total to 80-85k, just ahead of fellow J Records heartthrob Gavin DeGraw’s self-titled sophomore album with 75-80k. Other chart newcomers include Show Dog Mercury country star Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits, on target for 60-70k, followed by 143/Reprise pop crooner Josh Groban’s live CD/DVD package at 50-55k and a greatest hits compilation from Capitol Nashville’s latest Real Men of Genius subject Dierks Bentley at 30-35k.

[Kyoko]

Week 2 predictions make sense. I guess we all should be happy and celebrating since the tour is where the money is at & album sales, radio airplay doesn't matter?

[Zezwer]

Week 2 predictions make sense. I guess we all should be happy and celebrating since the tour is where the money is at & album sales, radio airplay doesn't matter?

well what people don't understand here is that if she looses her relevance as an album/radio artist then also the tours won't be such hits anymore...

[boy skeffington]

That's a little low, but still good.

As long it rests comfortably for a month or 2 with steady 30,000-50,000 sales, it will sell a million eventually.

Even huge albums like Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride only had the Holiday season for big weeks, as soon as 2008 began, it was the steady 25,000+ weeks that bring in the decent final total.

[notsomuch]

SS projections were off, i'd say that it's too early to call. Let's hope for a 100,000 plus week.

[Kyoko]

well what people don't understand here is that if she looses her relevance as an album/radio artist then also the tours won't be such hits anymore...

At this point I don't think that's true. Her fanbase will likely keep her tours successful. Getting the masses to care about it on TV or cable is another matter. Madonna can still have it all, in terms of hits and big tours. Maybe she's just preoccupied with the adoption situation in which case her absence is unavoidable. I'm sure some type of promotion is around the corner. There's just no way WBR spent money on those big name producers to not try and at least recoup those costs. Timbaland and others ain't cheap! People here seem to forget that record companies want profits, not losses.

[Skin]

Having the 3rd highest debut of the year really does put the album into perspective and the sales. When you view it from that stand point it is a good opening. I just hope she gets her ass back into the states soon to do some more promo! I want more Madonna!

[lori]

well what people don't understand here is that if she looses her relevance as an album/radio artist then also the tours won't be such hits anymore...

When that happens, it's time to open that madgical bag of oldies but goodies. People have to get used to the idea that Madonna at 50 will be less relevant as an album/radio artist. It's inevitable. It's phenomenal that she's still charting well at this age. But she will always remain a concert giant. She will be no different than the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney. There are tons of 80's Madonna fans out there who are just waiting for her to unload all her classic hits. Remember when American Life flopped. She did Reinention and brought back the classics. Madonna knows what to do, no worries there. She will always be a major force in the concert arena not just because she's a phenomenal performer but because she has a catalog of hits that can only be rivaled by The Beatles.

[Zezwer]

So what is the other highest debut this year?

Mariah - Madonna and ??

[thebigham]

^Jack Johnson 375k