{"id":2528,"date":"2010-01-07T17:23:41","date_gmt":"2010-01-08T01:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=2528"},"modified":"2010-01-07T17:23:41","modified_gmt":"2010-01-08T01:23:41","slug":"sales-week-ending-1310","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2010\/01\/07\/sales-week-ending-1310\/","title":{"rendered":"Sales-Week Ending-1\/3\/10"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Susan Boyle "I Dreamed A Dream"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 136,566
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 3,103,828<\/p>\n

TV didn’t sell this album, the narrative did.<\/p>\n

My point is, just because you’re on television, that doesn’t mean anybody will want to buy your music.\u00c2\u00a0 Otherwise, Snooki would be number one!<\/p>\n

But here we have a story.\u00c2\u00a0 Unattractive wannabe makes it solely on her talent.\u00c2\u00a0 In a world topsy-turvy with haters, frustrated by those blessed with good looks or good money, is it a surprise that the public wants to root for an underdog?<\/p>\n

Does this portend an end to the bitches and ho’s hip-hop ethos?\u00c2\u00a0 I.e. I’m rich and I fly on a private jet and party with an exclusive class, buy my record and by the way, fuck you?\u00c2\u00a0 Turns out, being humble just might be the answer to success these days.\u00c2\u00a0 Hey, isn’t it interesting that the Dave Matthews Band was the number one touring band of the decade?<\/p>\n

2. Lady GaGa "Fame"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 82,148
Weeks on: 62
Cume: 2,387,666<\/p>\n

Is the same thing that’s made her famous going to be her downfall?<\/p>\n

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is not without talent.\u00c2\u00a0 But her notoriety is based to a large extent on her sartorial adventures.\u00c2\u00a0 And does anybody want last year’s fashion collection?<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Stefani makes dance music.\u00c2\u00a0 The club hits tend to drive booties to bump, but don’t insure long term careers.<\/p>\n

The Spice Girls showed us people will want to see a hit act once.\u00c2\u00a0 But thereafter?<\/p>\n

For GaGa to have legs, she needs to risk.\u00c2\u00a0 Because this paradigm has nowhere to go.\u00c2\u00a0 Next year at the VMAs, you change outfits twenty times?\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, maybe she has to sacrifice short term success for longevity.\u00c2\u00a0 The same way after purveying soft rock hit after soft rock hit John Mayer formed a blues rock trio and shredded.\u00c2\u00a0 The result may not have played well on Top Forty radio, but it did wonders for his credibility.\u00c2\u00a0 And live business.<\/p>\n

5. Taylor Swift "Fearless"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 59,701
Weeks on: 60
Cume: 5,329,167<\/p>\n

The new "Tapestry".\u00c2\u00a0 Taylor is that rare bird who’s broken through the twenty first century clutter without killing somebody, going into rehab or making an ass of him\/herself on reality TV.\u00c2\u00a0 And, having broken through, the album sells as a cultural item, without needing to be sustained by radio and other high-priced media coverage.<\/p>\n

But, unlike "Tapestry" or "Jagged Little Pill", this is Taylor Swift’s second hit album.\u00c2\u00a0 Her first, the eponymous "Taylor Swift", has been on the chart for 167 weeks and has sold 4,622,024 copies and is still number 38, moving 15,858 units this week.<\/p>\n

Taylor’s here to stay.\u00c2\u00a0 As long as she continues with the same formula.\u00c2\u00a0 Telling her story to hooky songs.<\/p>\n

What a concept.\u00c2\u00a0 SuBo and Taylor have this in common.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re bonded to their lives, the real them.\u00c2\u00a0 SuBo won’t have legs, because there’s nothing behind the facade, but Taylor Swift is just coming into her own, as an adult, she’s got plenty more to say.\u00c2\u00a0 And her audience wants to hear it.<\/p>\n

Expect another bump after the Grammys.\u00c2\u00a0 Assuming the much older members of NARAS give Taylor her due, as the artist of the year, the beacon of hope for this industry.\u00c2\u00a0 Because believe me, with Taylor Swift, it’s all about the music.<\/p>\n

6. Justin Bieber "My World"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 51,837
Weeks on: 7
Cume: 727,914<\/p>\n

Just like milk, this comes with an expiration date.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just a matter of when.<\/p>\n

So, if you can time your efforts to his career arc, you can make a ton of bread before you get out.\u00c2\u00a0 But he won’t be playing a month straight at the Beacon years from now.<\/p>\n

25. Zac Brown Band "Foundation"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 20,953
Weeks on: 59
Cume: 1,456,148<\/p>\n

That’s what Zac’s built. A\u00c2\u00a0 foundation.<\/p>\n

Isn’t it funny that the acts with the longest legs, with the most credibility and longevity, are country artists?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about both the music and the individual.<\/p>\n

Zac’s cooking efforts help enhance his career.<\/p>\n

His roadwork has built a base.\u00c2\u00a0 Something TV can never supplant.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 You can fall in love with a picture, but what are the odds you’re going to love that person once you finally meet them in person?<\/p>\n

Build it on the road, and you’ve got something solid.<\/p>\n


34. Adam Lambert "For Your Entertainment"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 17,236
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 433,834<\/p>\n

The story overwhelmed the music.\u00c2\u00a0 Adam Lambert was seen as a celebrity more than a musician.\u00c2\u00a0 His exploits chronicled on gossip as opposed to music blogs.\u00c2\u00a0 AI losers are better off following the Daughtry paradigm.\u00c2\u00a0 Start with the music.<\/p>\n

42. Darius Rucker "Learn To Live"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 14,785
Weeks on: 68
Cume: 1,240,902<\/p>\n

That’s a hell of a lot of records.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s still selling more than a year in.\u00c2\u00a0 This is what’s right with the industry.\u00c2\u00a0 After all, Darius isn’t making it on his good looks and charisma, and he didn’t even use the name "Hootie".\u00c2\u00a0 It started with the music, and was built by a ton of glad-handing and roadwork.\u00c2\u00a0 But, if you don’t fit the country format, I’d add in a ton of social media networking.<\/p>\n

50. Shakira "She Wolf"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 14,101
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 237,994<\/p>\n

A stiff.\u00c2\u00a0 Because she followed trends instead of being herself.<\/p>\n

Have you ever seen Shakira live?\u00c2\u00a0 There’s charisma, energy, she’s a star.\u00c2\u00a0 But now, like a politician making choices via polls as opposed to his gut, Shakira’s changed herself for the English-speaking market and ended up so bland as to be irrelevant.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s me-too instead of unique.<\/p>\n

Never sacrifice your uniqueness.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what keeps us coming.\u00c2\u00a0 And the modern music business is all about keeping people coming.<\/p>\n

52. 30 Seconds To Mars "This Is War"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 13,071
Weeks on: 4
Cume: 133,297<\/p>\n

Wow, Jared Leto should have stuck to his guns, he should have left EMI and gone to a real record label.<\/p>\n

It took this band too long to make a new record.\u00c2\u00a0 The audience forgets you.\u00c2\u00a0 And, the label didn’t help.\u00c2\u00a0 A disaster.<\/p>\n

89. Paul McCartney "Good Evening New York City"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 8,502
Weeks on: 7
Cume: 234,106<\/p>\n

This album came out why?<\/p>\n

Do we really need to hear live versions of classic songs one more time?<\/p>\n

Paul needs a single.\u00c2\u00a0 Like "Junior’s Farm".\u00c2\u00a0 Or "Coming Up".\u00c2\u00a0 A bundle of energy.<\/p>\n

There’s no one more talented.\u00c2\u00a0 Paul likes money, but he thrives on success.\u00c2\u00a0 One track that we can all rally around, please.<\/p>\n

124. Rosanne Cash "The List"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 5,810
Weeks on: 13
Cume: 153,828<\/p>\n

I found the hype offensive.<\/p>\n

How does a complete has-been with no traction sell an album?<\/p>\n

Well, we need an angle.\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s trade on your famous deceased father and trump up something irrelevant, like this list, and get a great press story!<\/p>\n

And the album?<\/p>\n

Some of the production was offensive.\u00c2\u00a0 And I actually like Rosanne’s music, especially the first two albums.<\/p>\n

But, it worked.\u00c2\u00a0 Publicity sold this record.<\/p>\n

But if you’re listening to it, you probably bought the SuBo album too.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, you’re too hip.\u00c2\u00a0 Too hip to search out the originals?<\/p>\n

172. Puddle Of Mudd "Volume 4: Songs In The Key Of Love & Hate"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 4,016
Weeks on: 4
Cume: 35,075<\/p>\n

If you’re offensive, you must make good music to survive.\u00c2\u00a0 (See John Mellencamp…)<\/p>\n

Everybody hated this guy.\u00c2\u00a0 And now with MTV and AOR radio dead, is it any surprise no one wants to support his retread music?<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. Susan Boyle "I Dreamed A Dream" Sales this week: 136,566Weeks on: 6Cume: 3,103,828 TV didn’t sell this album, the narrative did. My point is, just because you’re on television, that doesn’t mean anybody will want to buy your music.\u00c2\u00a0 Otherwise, Snooki would be number one! But here we have a story.\u00c2\u00a0 Unattractive wannabe makes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-EM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2529,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2528\/revisions\/2529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}