{"id":2897,"date":"2010-05-14T07:07:17","date_gmt":"2010-05-14T15:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=2897"},"modified":"2010-05-14T07:07:17","modified_gmt":"2010-05-14T15:07:17","slug":"sales-week-ending-5910","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2010\/05\/14\/sales-week-ending-5910\/","title":{"rendered":"Sales-Week Ending 5\/9\/10"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Godsmack "Oracle"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 117,481
Debut<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, the "Billboard" chart was evidence of overall popularity, you could peruse it and get the pulse of what was happening in America.<\/p>\n

But that was before SoundScan.\u00c2\u00a0 When suddenly math entered the picture and opinion dropped out.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, in the old days, the "Billboard" charts were fixed.\u00c2\u00a0 And I don’t advocate a return to those days.\u00c2\u00a0 But I will say that without interpretation, this chart is only marginally meaningful.\u00c2\u00a0 It tells you what is selling this week.<\/p>\n

Some acts aren’t selling almost anything this week, but are playing to soldout crowds.<\/p>\n

Other acts may have never reached the pinnacle of the chart, but have maintained a midlist position for dozens of weeks.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, can you tell me the number one movie a month ago?<\/p>\n

Doubtful.<\/p>\n

And can you tell me the number one album a month ago?<\/p>\n

That’s questionable too.<\/p>\n

But everyone knows "Avatar".\u00c2\u00a0 And everyone knows GaGa.<\/p>\n

Well, it turns out everybody doesn’t.\u00c2\u00a0 Andy Rooney famously claimed he was out of the loop.<\/p>\n

But I’ll guarantee you almost no one knows Godsmack.\u00c2\u00a0 Take a survey, in a country of three hundred million how many even recognize the name, never mind know the music.<\/p>\n

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.\u00c2\u00a0 Godsmack has a hard core fan base.\u00c2\u00a0 Which rushed out and bought this album this week. After they’ve all got it, then what?\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe there’ll be airplay and sustaining sales.\u00c2\u00a0 But I doubt they’ll be anywhere near enough to put "Oracle" at the top of the chart.<\/p>\n

In other words, Godsmack had the number one album this week and that doesn’t mean a whole hell of a lot.\u00c2\u00a0 Old wave media will trumpet the band’s success…and you wonder why people are avoiding newspapers in droves, tuning out vapid television.\u00c2\u00a0 Because in a world of endless information, we want no information not relevant to us, certainly without explanation as to why it should be relevant to us.<\/p>\n

And it’s not only music.\u00c2\u00a0 They make many fewer movies than record albums, so looking at the movie grosses gives you a better idea of what’s happening in the marketplace.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, what is really happening?\u00c2\u00a0 A bunch of adolescents dying to get out of the house went to see a hundred million dollar extravaganza, a visual pinball machine?<\/p>\n

But you can fool the audience once, which is what movies are about, but it’s hard to fool the audience again and again, which is why we’ve had so few career artists in the past two decades.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re selling our acts like movies, all flash and expensive marketing.\u00c2\u00a0 Few care, and those who do partake oftentimes leave the experience claiming it’s crap.\u00c2\u00a0 Furthermore, they can go online and find out everybody else thinks it’s crap too.<\/p>\n

This baffles the purveyors.\u00c2\u00a0 They want to believe nothing’s changed.\u00c2\u00a0 But in pursuit of ever higher grosses, to support their lifestyles, they’ve removed the rough edges, they’ve homogenized the product for consumption, they’ve removed the essence.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve turned Coke into New Coke.\u00c2\u00a0 And you remember that debacle…<\/p>\n

Godsmack is more dependent on airplay than other hard rock acts.\u00c2\u00a0 And funnily enough, the less you’re dependent on airplay, the longer and deeper your shelf life in the hard rock world.\u00c2\u00a0 But at least the band can claim a number one, can take pleasure in still having a career a few albums in.<\/p>\n

But most of us don’t care.<\/p>\n

Doesn’t mean the music is good or bad.<\/p>\n

Just means that we don’t care and there’s almost nothing the machine can do to make us care.<\/p>\n

4. Carole King & James Taylor "Live At The Troubadour"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 77,664
Debut<\/p>\n

As I told Felice, I don’t hate Carole King and James Taylor, I hate their audience.<\/p>\n

Let me make it even clearer.\u00c2\u00a0 This weekend, these two are playing the Hollywood Bowl.\u00c2\u00a0 Am I gonna go?\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, I’d attend for free. But I wouldn’t pay.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s nothing new.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve just run out of ways to charge people to get in.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re both touring on the work they did forty years ago.<\/p>\n

Creepy if you think about it.<\/p>\n

But it was great work.<\/p>\n

But it’s not like it’s been unavailable.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only on record, but endless tours.\u00c2\u00a0 Why would someone go now?<\/p>\n

For pure nostalgia.<\/p>\n

I want you to look around after the performers leave the stage, before the encores.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll see empty seats, you’ll see people streaming towards the exits.\u00c2\u00a0 Because they hated the music?\u00c2\u00a0 No.\u00c2\u00a0 Because they want to beat the traffic!<\/p>\n

If you’re worried about the traffic, the music can’t be that riveting, can’t be that good.<\/p>\n

I remember when you’d clap after the lights went on.\u00c2\u00a0 You rarely see that anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 The lights come up, everybody stops making noise.\u00c2\u00a0 Used to be people made noise even when they started playing a record over the PA.\u00c2\u00a0 Come back!\u00c2\u00a0 More!\u00c2\u00a0 More!\u00c2\u00a0 MORE!<\/p>\n

And oftentimes, the performers would respond, come out and do something special, something unanticipated.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing unanticipated about this show.<\/p>\n

Having a Napster subscription, I played this album from beginning to end.<\/p>\n

Stunningly, Carole sounded good and James sounded bad.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is the opposite of their recent public performances.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve lamented James becoming a crooner, but at least he got rid of the nasality in his voice.\u00c2\u00a0 Now he’s crooning nasally.\u00c2\u00a0 Listen, you won’t love it.<\/p>\n

But he did perform "Blossom".<\/p>\n

And "Machine Gun Kelly" and "You Can Close Your Eyes".<\/p>\n

But this project is not about music, it’s about money.<\/p>\n

And that’s a shame.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost as bad as the lemmings without brains who are overpaying to see these aged performers trot out the warhorses one more time.<\/p>\n

Special?<\/p>\n

Give me a break.<\/p>\n

6. Deftones "Diamond Eyes"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 62,267
Debut<\/p>\n

See Godsmack above.\u00c2\u00a0 But the Deftones are just a little less mainstream, which means they’ve got a little more credibility and ultimately a little more longevity, they are even less hit dependent.<\/p>\n

7. Court Yard Hounds<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 61,119
Debut<\/p>\n

Does anybody expect this to have legs?<\/p>\n

I certainly don’t.\u00c2\u00a0 Nice girls.\u00c2\u00a0 Not without talent.\u00c2\u00a0 But Natalie Maines is the star.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, we know this because the Dixie Chicks were barely more than stiff BEFORE she joined the band.\u00c2\u00a0 Why should they suddenly be successful without her now?<\/p>\n


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

Sales this week: 37,611
Percentage change: +38
Cume: 3,306,181
Weeks on: 80<\/p>\n

I want you to read this story:<\/p>\n

\n
Internet Killed the MTV Star: A new breed of director is taking the music video in audacious directions <\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What this "New York" magazine article posits, and I’ll distill it, so you don’t have to read it, is we’re living in a golden era.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, there are no music videos on television, but they’re thriving on the Net.\u00c2\u00a0 Best example being Lady GaGa.<\/p>\n

Mmm…\u00c2\u00a0 Is that true?<\/p>\n

That begs the question…\u00c2\u00a0 If you spend a fortune and make a great video, can you build a superstar act?<\/p>\n

Then again, maybe it isn’t even about money.\u00c2\u00a0 OK Go’s whole career is based on innovative videos.\u00c2\u00a0 But the now indie act doesn’t sell much product.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, I believe everybody would agree Lady GaGa has much better songs.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to the Eagles.\u00c2\u00a0 If they spent a million or two doing a video for the title track of "Long Road Out Of Eden" would the album sell again, or at least the single, would ticket revenue go up, would they escape the nostalgia badge?<\/p>\n

Then again, let’s say the Eagles make a great video.\u00c2\u00a0 Unlike with GaGa, there’s nowhere for the track to cross over.\u00c2\u00a0 Top Forty radio is never going to play "Long Road Out Of Eden".\u00c2\u00a0 Nor Hot AC.\u00c2\u00a0 Which leaves the rock channels…\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And Active Rock is about heavier bands and the even more irrelevant AAA is about wimpy acts, often with good intentions but marginal talent.<\/p>\n

So…<\/p>\n

If you’ve got a hit song, which is very rare indeed, despite the protestations of creators and purveyors, and you have access to a ton of money and make music that can be played on Top Forty or Hot AC, can you replicate GaGa’s success?<\/p>\n

I’d posit you can.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d posit GaGa’s outfits are superfluous.\u00c2\u00a0 She had hit tracks and innovative videos.\u00c2\u00a0 And, she made beat-infused music that works on radio and in clubs.\u00c2\u00a0 Replicate this and…<\/p>\n

This is what major labels do.\u00c2\u00a0 Exactly.<\/p>\n

But let’s stick with the Eagles, because "Long Road Out Of Eden" is a very powerful track, with meaning.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is not the case with almost all the new work of the dinosaurs.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, we don’t want to hear new tunes by old acts, but if they could only record something good, give us something to work with, then what?\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, if you’re an oldster and you have one incredible track, despite the genre, can you create a video so good that it pays incredible dividends?<\/p>\n

I’d say yes.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d say you can put yourself on the national radar.<\/p>\n

What I’m talking about here is the power of Internet video.\u00c2\u00a0 If we see something good, no, great, we tell everybody we know about it. And everybody’s online.\u00c2\u00a0 And the message is sent instantly.\u00c2\u00a0 So growth can be extremely quick and exponential.<\/p>\n

All this focus on the Long Tail, how you can make marginal music and make a living…\u00c2\u00a0 Most people don’t care, the only ones enticed are the marginal musicians themselves, and their tiny number of fans.\u00c2\u00a0 But at the opposite end of the spectrum, can we make big acts BIGGER?<\/p>\n

It starts with one track, that’s all the public can digest.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans might want more, but nobody else does at first.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you support that one stellar track to the point where it pays dividends?\u00c2\u00a0 Is this the new paradigm?<\/p>\n

You might call it the rich getting richer.<\/p>\n

But today, most of the rich are getting poorer, and very few new people are getting rich making music.<\/p>\n

So, is it about money.\u00c2\u00a0 And marketing.\u00c2\u00a0 Online.<\/p>\n

It’s definitely about quality.<\/p>\n

P.S. The sales bump can be attributed to GaGa’s "American Idol" appearance.<\/p>\n

27. Black Eyed Peas "E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies)"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 22,821
Percentage change: +16
Weeks on: 48
Cume: 2,498,892<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, "Rolling Stone" was the Bible.\u00c2\u00a0 More important to its readers than any newspaper, than any radio station.\u00c2\u00a0 It was truly the heartbeat of America.<\/p>\n

But then its core audience got older.\u00c2\u00a0 And the music became less important.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you play to your core values, or sell out?<\/p>\n

"Rolling Stone" sold out.<\/p>\n

But never as badly as it did in the article "40 Reasons To Get Excited About Music".<\/p>\n

Number one reason?<\/p>\n

The Black Eyed Peas.<\/p>\n

Huh?<\/p>\n

That’s what I thought.\u00c2\u00a0 And I also didn’t see any reasons why we suddenly should be excited about music.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re in a fallow period, hoping for a revolution.\u00c2\u00a0 But rather than focus on that revolution, "Rolling Stone" decided to put forth the premise that we’re in the best of times.\u00c2\u00a0 By trotting out the Black Eyed Peas.<\/p>\n

"The Most Corporate Band In America".\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what the "Wall Street Journal" said.\u00c2\u00a0 I read that article.\u00c2\u00a0 But stunningly, another "Rolling Stone" reader did also.\u00c2\u00a0 And after citing it, went on to write: "Rock & roll is supposed to be guttural, anti-authoritarian and nasty."\u00c2\u00a0 I couldn’t have said it better myself.<\/p>\n

Other letters were just as good:<\/p>\n

"If you can explain how a band in which no one can play an instrument is going to save rock, then I’ll drink the Kool-Aid."<\/p>\n

And:<\/p>\n

"I’m not upset that the Peas make music for commercials.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m upset that you’re calling Will.i.am’s marketing the best thing to happen to the art form."<\/p>\n

Then there’s the guy who wrote in to say:<\/p>\n

"…their music sounds like it was made by R2-D2 and C-3PO on a laptop."<\/p>\n

That nails it.<\/p>\n

Sure, we can give "Rolling Stone" kudos for printing dissenting opinions, but there’s a bigger point here.\u00c2\u00a0 The magazine eviscerated its credibility, in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n

We’ve got the label, the newspapers (not only the "Journal") and TV telling us how great the Peas are.\u00c2\u00a0 But we’re sitting at home, scratching our balls, saying WE DON’T BELIEVE IT!<\/p>\n

The intermediaries are out of touch.\u00c2\u00a0 This is bubble gum music.\u00c2\u00a0 Sold to those who will ultimately forget it.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas "Satisfaction" will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n

So don’t sacrifice your core values for momentary money.\u00c2\u00a0 And know that the public’s not buying it.\u00c2\u00a0 People just don’t believe today’s mainstream music counts.<\/p>\n

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