US Chart Talk: 1/10/09

[Dindi]

Top 5 Albums Of 2008

1) Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III - 2,874,420

2) Coldplay - Viva La Vida - 2,143,928

3) Taylor Swift - Fearless - 2,112,179

4) Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus - 2,017,905

5) AC/DC - Black Ice - 1,915,172

Those are sad figures. I shudder to think what the numbers will be like in another two years.

[Camacho]

...your continuous posting of obese people in the picture thread

I think you have him confused with Skin69.

[Camacho]

Those are sad figures. I shudder to think what the numbers will be like in another two years.

Indeed! Rewind 10 years ago

Best Selling Albums 1998

Titanic / Soundtrack ~ 9,338,061

Let's Talk About Love / Celine Dion ~ 5,859,421

Backstreet Boys / Backstreet Boys ~ 5,709,369

Come On Over / Shania Twain ~ 4,872,841

*N SYNC / 'N Sync ~ 4,385,148

City of Angels / Soundtrack ~ 4,120,508

Double Live / Garth Brooks ~ 3,892,288

Big Willie Style / Will Smith ~ 3,687,568

Savage Garden / Savage Garden ~ 3,247,406

Armageddon / Soundtrack ~ 3,222,603

[promise to try]

it is really time to go back to the "3-4 singles before an album" marketing scheme

I don´t know: but for beyoncé and coldplay the two singles at the same time plan worked

[Guest Danny86]

Indeed! Rewind 10 years ago

Best Selling Albums 1998

Titanic / Soundtrack ~ 9,338,061

Let's Talk About Love / Celine Dion ~ 5,859,421

Backstreet Boys / Backstreet Boys ~ 5,709,369

Come On Over / Shania Twain ~ 4,872,841

*N SYNC / 'N Sync ~ 4,385,148

City of Angels / Soundtrack ~ 4,120,508

Double Live / Garth Brooks ~ 3,892,288

Big Willie Style / Will Smith ~ 3,687,568

Savage Garden / Savage Garden ~ 3,247,406

Armageddon / Soundtrack ~ 3,222,603

If I remember well, the Top 15 of 1998 were all around 3 million (with Ray Of Light being there) so basically selling 1 million now is what like selling 3-5 million 10 years ago...

Hard Candy is the #49 album of 2008 with pre-2008 releases counted. In comparison, Discipline is around #100 with only 270,000 copies separating the 2...

[thebigham]

Courtesy of bks at Pulse:

BILLBOARD HOT 100

1 1 BEYONCE SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON I

3 2 LADY GAGA/COLBY O'DONIS JUST DANCE (REMIXES) - EP

2 3 T.I. LIVE YOUR LIFE

4 4 KANYE WEST HEARTLESS

7 5 SWIFT*TAYLOR LOVE STORY

6 6 PERRY*KATY HOT N COLD

5 7 SPEARS*BRITNEY WOMANIZER (REMIX EP)

8 8 WEST*KANYE LOVE LOCKDOWN

9 9 T.I. WHATEVER YOU LIKE

10 10 BEYONCE IF I WERE A BOY

11 11 BRITNEY SPEARS CIRCUS

12 12 JASON MRAZ I'M YOURS

15 13 AKON RIGHT NOW (NA NA NA)

16 14 PINK SO WHAT

13 15 RUDOLF*KEVIN LET IT ROCK

17 16 NICKELBACK GOTTA BE SOMEBODY

14 17 NE-YO MISS INDEPENDENT

19 18 THE ALL-AMERICAN RE GIVES YOU HELL

23 19 RIHANNA DISTURBIA

18 20 RIHANNA REHAB

32 21 PUSSYCAT DOLLS I HATE THIS PART (REMIX VERSIO

20 22 ZAC BROWN BAND CHICKEN FRIED

21 23 LIL WAYNE FEATURING MRS. OFFICER

26 24 SAVING ABEL ADDICTED

27 25 T-PAIN CAN'T BELIEVE IT

29 26 THE FRAY YOU FOUND ME

45 27 DAVID ARCHULETA CRUSH

36 28 COLDPLAY VIVA LA VIDA

35 29 THE VERONICAS UNTOUCHED

25 30 LUDACRIS ONE MORE DRINK (EXPL

22 31 JIM JONES & RON BRO POP CHAMPAGNE

28 32 T-PAIN CHOPPED N SKREWED FE

44 33 VARIOUS ARTISTS TWILIGHT (EXCLUSIVE PICTURE DI

33 34 AKON I'M SO PAID FEAT. LI

34 35 PINK SOBER

46 36 SECONDHAND SERENADE FALL FOR YOU

39 37 FALL OUT BOY I DON'T CARE

24 38 JOHN LEGEND FEATURI GREEN LIGHT

30 39 LEONA LEWIS BETTER IN TIME

40 40 DAVID COOK LIGHT ON

48 41 TAYLOR SWIFT WHITE HORSE

62 42 METRO STATION SEVENTEEN FOREVER

31 43 PLIES PUT IT ON YA

37 44 O.A.R. SHATTERED (TURN THE CAR AROUND

42 45 NE-YO CLOSER

66 46 AGUILERA*CHRISTINA KEEPS GETTIN' BETTER (REMIXES)

51 47 JAY-Z SWAGGA LIKE US

41 48 KILLERS HUMAN/CRIPPLING BLOW

-- 49 JONAS BROTHERS LOVEBUG

43 50 GAVIN ROSSDALE LOVE REMAINS THE SAME

-- 51 MIRANDA COSGROVE ABOUT YOU NOW

-- 53 THE ROCK HEROES ALL SUMMER LONG

68 54 AKON FEATURING COLB BEAUTIFUL

95 56 3OH!3 DON'T TRUST ME

78 59 MATT NATHANSON COME ON GET HIGHER

61 61 NE-YO MAD

77 63 THE OFFSPRING YOU'RE GONNA GO FAR, KID

60 65 BRANDY RIGHT HERE (DEPARTED)

83 67 T.I. FEATURING JUST DEAD AND GONE

47 68 USHER TRADING PLACES

-- 71 SOULJA BOY TELL 'EM KISS ME THRU THE PHONE

-- 72 THE LONELY ISLAND J**Z IN MY PANTS

-- 79 SHONTELLE T-SHIRT

92 81 LADY GAGA POKER FACE

96 82 BEYONCE DIVA

-- 83 DEMI LOVATO LA LA LAND

-- 84 MILEY CYRUS FLY ON THE WALL

-- 86 FRAMING HANLEY LOLLIPOP

63 88 KEYSHIA COLE FEATUR PLAYA CARDZ RIGHT

-- 91 NICKELBACK IF TODAY WAS YOUR LAST DAY

-- 92 KANYE WEST FEATURIN SEE YOU IN MY NIGHTMARES

-- 94 ADELE CHASING PAVEMENTS

-- 99 SELENA GOMEZ TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW

90 100 KERI HILSON FEATURI TURNIN ME ON

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Highlights

-- 5 KATY PERRY THINKING OF YOU

-- 8 PLAIN WHITE T'S 1, 2, 3, 4

-- 9 CHRIS BROWN FEATURI SUPERHUMAN

22 15 ERIC HUTCHINSON ROCK & ROLL

-- 16 3OH!3 STARSTRUKK

-- 22 MGMT KIDS

-- 25 MGMT ELECTRIC FEEL

[promise to try]

No, Sober goes down one place! well,I guess it´s not that bad,because the album has gone up, so the song is working

[goldtooth]

I think you have him confused with Skin69.

OMG did I?!

[goldtooth]

well, I don't like the insinuation that I'm a duplicate sn from someone trying to stir shit. I have posted one picture once in the picture thread several months ago when I met Margaret Cho. I'm not thin but obese???? you seriously need to meet more people. And so what if I like a few campy movies or artists, it's called being gay. You must be like my ex who is gay but only listens to country, hip hop and stuff like Bon Jovi and Nickelback if anyone who might enjoy something remotely campy has to be a fraud in your eyes. Not my fault you're so dense that you take a blatant joke (what do you think the smiley face was for) and have to be a douche over it. So yes, get over yourself, I've done nothing to you but you continue to be a prick to me.

I'm just not following, Sir.

Happy '09!

[mtzlplk]

i wonder why there is always a massive spike in the last week of of the year... i mean, isn't everyone busy spending the holidays with their families... you don't see this kind of spike in theaters even in December... does it have something to do with their "gift" option?

[fak]

those figures look bad!

BUT whats the overall % drop since 1998 - does anyone have any idea how many albums were sold in total in 1998 until 2008? Any info on the yearly total/overall album % declines?

[Guest boytoyville]

i wonder why there is always a massive spike in the last week of of the year... i mean, isn't everyone busy spending the holidays with their families... you don't see this kind of spike in theaters even in December... does it have something to do with their "gift" option?

They maybe using their I-tunes gift cards?

[Guest Bad Robot]

They maybe using their I-tunes gift cards?

That's right. Everyone gets iTunes gift cards for Christmas, and they start using them right away.

While physical stores are closed across the country on Christmas day, it is actually probably one of the biggest days for digital music sales of the year.

On another note, I think the music marketing methods are definitely shifting. Labels realize you can promote multiple songs at a time, and that you don't have to wait a long time to release follow-ups (this is a pretty critical error Madonna has been making ever since "Music" -- she takes WAY too long to release successive singles, and kills all the momentum she has from that first single being a hit).

I think you'll see more artists promoted like the Jonas Brothers/Taylor Swift -- releasing multiple songs in advance of an album without necessarily pushing them to radio. We'll also have more Rihannas -- singles-focused artists who don't really rely on album sales at all.

I think there is also the potential for artists to stop releasing 10-15 song albums every 2-3 years and starting release 4-6 song "EPs" maybe every 6-12 months. I'm surprised that doesn't happen more already.

[Guest Danny86]

I think there is also the potential for artists to stop releasing 10-15 song albums every 2-3 years and starting release 4-6 song "EPs" maybe every 6-12 months. I'm surprised that doesn't happen more already.

I think it doesn't happen because record labels are still forcing the old album formula, not to mention that in recording contracts artists sign for studio albums, not EP's.

I'm not sure of releasing 4-6 songs every 6-12 months would be a good idea though. There would be way too many songs all the time, many of them would get lost in the shuffle and while it would work for someone like Rihanna who constantly has to release something to keep people interested, it certainly wouldn't work for Madonna, who needs the "anticipation" and "taking a break" between releases. On the other hand, Madonna's usual "eras" are becoming meaningless anyway as we've seen with Hard Candy, so there has to be a new solution...

And yes, the way Madonna's singles were promoted this decade was outdated, but I blame that on Warner, they seemed to follow the formula they started in the 80s and never bothered to change it.

[fak]

its worse in the UK when follow-up singles by madonna generally drop off. looking at COADF we had singles released early NOV, late Feb, jUly, Nov.......Hung up and Sorry were both in the top 20 at the same time and by then sorry was also a big airplayhit so the follow up did nt compete.......sorry was off the top 40 in 8 weeks - i think yet there was a almost 20 week wait for the next single which stayed 3 weeks on the top 40 ....and there was another almost 16 week wait for the final single.......sorry and hung up were released at the right time, however get together should have been released in may/early june and jump by late august

as for the HC era Miles way should have been out by october

[promise to try]

NO! Miles away should have been out for the tour, late august-september

[doctorjosh]

Agreed! I don't understand what possessed WBR to not release Miles Away during the tour.

[mtzlplk]

Agreed! I don't understand what possessed WBR to not release Miles Away during the tour.

they are not possessed, it's their nature to be stupid

[doctorjosh]

Maybe the Get Stupid vidoe/remix was aimed at WBR then?

[Guest Danny86]

I wasn't sure if this deserves a new thread or not:

Music Sales Fell in 2008, but Climbed on the Web

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/arts/music/01indu.html

Sales of recorded music fell sharply in 2008, as consumers continued to migrate away from the CD format, large retailers reduced floor space for music and the recession dampened consumer spending during the critical year-end holiday shopping period.

Total album sales in the United States, including CDs and full-album downloads, were 428 million, a 14 percent drop from 2007, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan. Since the industry’s peak in 2000, album sales have declined 45 percent, although digital music purchases continue to grow at a rapid rate.

The year’s biggest seller was Lil Wayne’s album “Tha Carter III” (Cash Money/Universal Motown), which sold 2.87 million copies, followed by Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends” (Capitol), with 2.14 million. “Fearless” (Big Machine), the second album by the 19-year-old country star Taylor Swift, was third, with 2.11 million. (Ms. Swift also scored the sixth-highest seller this year, for her self-titled debut, released in 2006, which sold 1.6 million copies in 2008.)

The music industry has grown accustomed to dismal sales numbers, and this year even the good news comes with disappointment. “Tha Carter III” is the first release in SoundScan’s 17-year history to top the year-end list with sales of less than 3 million.

Sales of digital music continued to rise steeply last year. Just over a billion songs were downloaded, a 27 percent increase from 2007, and some record companies say they are finally beginning to wring significant profits from music on Web sites like YouTube and MySpace.

But analysts say that despite the growth and promise of digital music — in 2003 just 19 million songs were purchased as downloads — the money made online is still far from enough to make up for losses in physical sales.

“As the digital side grows, you get a different business model, with more revenue streams,” said Michael McGuire, an analyst with Gartner, a market research firm. “But do we get back to where the revenue that the labels see is going to be fully replacing the CD in the next four to five years? No.” Gartner recently issued a report urging record companies to put their primary focus on downloads.

Record companies counter that album sales alone do not give a full picture of the complex new economics of the industry. Rio Caraeff, the executive vice president of Universal Music Group’s digital division, eLabs, said other income, like the fees collected when users stream a video online, had become an essential part of the pie. Twenty percent of Rihanna’s revenue, he said, has come from the sale of ring tones.

“We don’t focus anymore on total album sales or the sale of any one particular product as the metric of revenue or success,” Mr. Caraeff said. “We look at the total consolidated revenue from dozens of revenue lines behind a given artist or project, which include digital sales, the physical business, mobile sales and licensing income.”

Even as most of the industry pushes for greater online sales, two of the biggest albums of the year were by artists who have been vocal opponents of downloading. Kid Rock’s “Rock N Roll Jesus” (Atlantic) reached No. 4 with just over 2 million sales, and AC/DC’s “Black Ice” (Columbia), sold through an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart, was No. 5 with 1.92 million.

Neither act sells its music through Apple’s iTunes, the dominant online seller. AC/DC has said that selling individual tracks breaks up the continuity of a full album. But à la carte downloads are also far less lucrative than full CDs.

At least one sector of the music industry has continued to enjoy robust success: the concert business. Ticket sales in North America in 2008 rose at least 7 percent, to $4.2 billion, according to Pollstar, the touring-industry trade magazine. But in keeping with the trend of recent years, slightly fewer tickets were sold for more money: attendance for the top 100 tours dropped 3 percent, but the average ticket price climbed 8 percent, to $66.90.

The record industry has been eager to share in touring’s bull market, and many of the major labels’ new contracts are for so-called 360 deals, which give the company a much wider share in an artist’s income, from touring to merchandising to product endorsements. But those types of contract are still far from the norm.

Despite the growth of online music sales, CDs remain by far the most popular format, although that hold is slipping; 361 million CDs were sold in 2008, down almost 20 percent from the previous year. About 84 percent of all album purchases were CDs, down from 90 percent the year before.

And since CDs remain the record industry’s biggest profit engine, many analysts worry that the industry will be particularly vulnerable to inventory reductions at retail stores. Big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy account for up to 65 percent of all retail purchases, and many of those stores are sharply reducing the floor space allotted to music, said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst at Pali Research in New York.

“CDs no longer drive somebody into a store on Tuesday,” Mr. Greenfield said, referring to the day new CDs usually go on sale. “So the big risk for 2009 is that you will see even more rapid contraction of floor space, as CDs really go out of sight, out of mind for the consumer.”