{"id":2964,"date":"2010-05-28T07:22:05","date_gmt":"2010-05-28T15:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=2964"},"modified":"2010-05-28T07:22:05","modified_gmt":"2010-05-28T15:22:05","slug":"sales-week-ending-52310","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2010\/05\/28\/sales-week-ending-52310\/","title":{"rendered":"Sales-Week Ending-5\/23\/10"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Glee: The Music, Vol. 3-Showstoppers<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 135,748
Debut<\/p>\n

And there’s another package coming out on June 8th, "Journey To Regionals".<\/p>\n

The classic rock paradigm is dead.\u00c2\u00a0 Wherein instead of releasing two or three albums a year, you put out an album every two or three years.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, first it was a year between projects, and then…it would stretch to the better part of a decade in some cases.\u00c2\u00a0 The band was getting it right as their fans were getting older, having babies and forgetting them.<\/p>\n

Today is the era of clutter.\u00c2\u00a0 And nothing sticks.\u00c2\u00a0 Does anybody remember the remake of "We Are The World"?\u00c2\u00a0 Does anybody remember lonelygirl15?\u00c2\u00a0 "Glee"’s moment is now.\u00c2\u00a0 And the people involved realize this and are flooding the marketplace with product while it’s desirable, when people want it.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you think the paradigm is any different for regular recording acts, you’re sorely mistaken.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t know how many years you get in the spotlight, but while you’re hot, keep putting stuff out.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t worry about airplay, the fact that individual songs move up and down the chart for the better part of a year is irrelevant, radio doesn’t buy your record, PEOPLE do.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is why you can purchase last night’s "American Idol" performances on iTunes today.<\/p>\n

I’d love to tell you this album is crap.\u00c2\u00a0 A souvenir for mindless twits.\u00c2\u00a0 But instead I’m going to say it’s loaded with certified hits, and you can hear the joy in the performances.\u00c2\u00a0 Puts a smile on your face, makes you want to get up and do the Safety Dance yourself.<\/p>\n

2.\u00c2\u00a0 Black Keys "Brothers"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 73,370
Debut<\/p>\n

There’s a war online, between fans of the old Black Keys and the new.\u00c2\u00a0 Just read the comments on Amazon.<\/p>\n

If you listen to the opening track of "Brothers", "Everlasting Light", you’ll reach for the skip button immediately if you’re not a fan.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll think this music is made for people who are too hip for the room, who use bands as a badge of honor.\u00c2\u00a0 And you’d be right, "Brothers" is number one at the Music Monitor Network’s independent stores.<\/p>\n

"Tighten Up", the following track, is better, because the Danger Mouse influence shines through.\u00c2\u00a0 Still, this is not "Crazy".<\/p>\n

But if you go back to the old days, and listen to "Thickfreakness", you’ll find something that you’ll never believe will go mainstream, but lacks pretension, and cuts to the bone like an old blues record.<\/p>\n

Maybe they got tired of being niche, but going modern has left the Black Keys in a musical no-man’s land.<\/p>\n

3. Justin Bieber "My World 2.0"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 61,828
Percentage change: +2
Weeks on: 9
Cume: 1,104,631<\/p>\n

All you haters, listen to this:<\/p>\n

\n
One Time (My Heart Edition) Justin Bieber<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is the "My Heart Edition" of "One Time", and as guitargirl996 says in the comments, "All his songs should have a My Heart Edition!!!"<\/p>\n

Compare this to the hit take:<\/p>\n

\n
Justin Bieber – One Time<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Not all teen acts are identical.\u00c2\u00a0 Some make quality music, like the Backstreet Boys.\u00c2\u00a0 New Kids On The Block might have been lowest common denominator tripe, pandering to the prepubescent demo, but those Backstreet Boys tracks could be appreciated by adults.\u00c2\u00a0 If you don’t think "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" is a killer, you just haven’t listened to it.\u00c2\u00a0 And "Larger Than Life" truly rocked.\u00c2\u00a0 It was closer to Mutt Lange than almost all of the tracks populating the Active Rock format. Mutt knows you must not forgo melody and hooks, that they’re key to universal success.\u00c2\u00a0 Def Leppard was loved by all, they’re touring decades later on those albums they did with Mutt.<\/p>\n

The "My Heart Edition" of "One Time" is universal.\u00c2\u00a0 Comprehensible by all.\u00c2\u00a0 Just a boy and an acoustic guitar, the song is featured.<\/p>\n

But the big hit version?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s laden with the sound effects of Top Forty radio.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, all the tracks sound alike, with the synthetic drums, the heavy bottom, the focus on rhythm.<\/p>\n

That’s what it takes to win on Top Forty.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is why it’s such a niche.\u00c2\u00a0 The tracks are all the same, it’s just the faces that change.\u00c2\u00a0 And Bieber is succeeding by playing by the established Top Forty rules.<\/p>\n

But these rules are killing the business, because there’s no universality.\u00c2\u00a0 Many dismiss this Top Forty sound out of hand.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s so repetitive.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s hard to take seriously.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a medium focused on fame more than music.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas the "My Heart Edition" is about music, and cuts to the bone of pre-teens and can be understood by adults as well.<\/p>\n

Are our hands tied, do we need to play by the Top Forty rules, or is that a sideshow and as soon as someone sells melody, singalong quality, are they going to triumph, the same way the boy bands leveled everything on the radio before them?<\/p>\n

4. Damian Marley & NAS\u00c2\u00a0 "Distant Relatives"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 57,285
Debut<\/p>\n

At first this sounds just one step away from being an SNL skit.<\/p>\n

Imagine rap and reggae meeting…\u00c2\u00a0 Is this a marriage we were truly waiting for?<\/p>\n

And then, the more you listen, the more you come to like it.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve just got to get in the head of where they’re coming from, which seems to be a dark room filled with smoke.<\/p>\n

This is an album, not a single.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you’re the type of person who still invests in long players, not only buying them, but listening to them, you’ll enjoy this.<\/p>\n

Actually, reggae and rap were not so distant to begin with.\u00c2\u00a0 On the surface, it looks like a way to cash in, but this is a winner. Thumbs up, I recommend it.<\/p>\n

5. Lady Antebellum "Need You Now"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 46,013
Percentage change: -15
Weeks on: 17
Cume: 2,126,068<\/p>\n

This is not that different from Band Of Horses below.\u00c2\u00a0 Band Of Horses thinks it’s testing limits, whereas Lady Antebellum is not straying from the center, isn’t even close to the border.\u00c2\u00a0 But…knowing atmosphere and instrumentation are secondary, Lady Antebellum focused on the songs first, and they’ve succeeded.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re outselling GaGa.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing new about Lady Antebellum, but they do the old so well.\u00c2\u00a0 This is barely country, there’s just occasional Nashville instrumentation to make sure it’s safe for country airplay.\u00c2\u00a0 This is as mainstream as it gets today.\u00c2\u00a0 And isn’t it funny it’s outselling all the hits on Top Forty.<\/p>\n

Now the lyrics are bland, unlike Taylor Swift, which is why she’s an icon and they’re faceless, but you listen and feel warm all over, both touched and safe…and that’s very appealing in this topsy-turvy world we live in today.<\/p>\n

6. Band Of Horses "Infinite Arms"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 45,071
Debut<\/p>\n

Scuttlebutt is the band sold out, that it signed to Columbia, is playing the major game and has lost its edge.<\/p>\n

Then again, did Band Of Horses have an edge to begin with?<\/p>\n

If you liked the alt-country sound of the seventies, from CSN to Manassas to even Gram Parsons, you’ll enjoy this.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s inoffensive, breaks no new territory.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re afraid to bring Damian Marley & NAS into your house, try this.\u00c2\u00a0 You can even play it at a cocktail party.\u00c2\u00a0 But your soul will be better off with Damian and NAS, it’s good to test your limits sometimes.<\/p>\n

Top Forty is closed to this sound.\u00c2\u00a0 But in the old days, bands like this struggled for years, album after album, to concoct a song that would cross over.\u00c2\u00a0 And then the rest of the public would buy the album and be clued in.\u00c2\u00a0 But today, with acts playing to their core, there’s not quite that hunger to test your limits, to deliver universality.<\/p>\n

9. LCD Soundsystem "This Is Happening"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 31,403
Debut<\/p>\n

Either you believe this guy is a genius and the rest of us are clueless or you listen and you say the guy is talented, but playing to his core and can’t break through.<\/p>\n

So, we’ve got a media that says James Murphy is the shit and a mainstream public that’s fully willing to ignore him.<\/p>\n


16. Janelle Mon\u00c3\u00a1e "The ArchAndroid<\/span>"<\/p>\n

Sales this week: 21,039
Debut<\/p>\n

THE buzz act.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve gotten more e-mail about Janelle than any other act this week.\u00c2\u00a0 Most referencing her Letterman appearance, many marveling that she’s associated with Diddy.<\/p>\n

And I’m not only hearing from hip-hoppers, but dyed-in-the-wool rockers, even jam band fans.<\/p>\n

She’s definitely unlike anything else out there.\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t that what we used to sell in the music business, innovation, the thing you can’t take your eyes off of?<\/p>\n

It’s hard to take your eyes off of Ms. Mon<\/span>\u00c3\u00a1e.\u00c2\u00a0 Check it out:<\/p>\n

\n
Janelle Mon\u00c3\u00a1e – Tightrope – Late Show with David Letterman<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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

Sales this week: 17,262
Percentage change: -40
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 107,418<\/p>\n

Sounds like what it is, two journeymen in search of a star.<\/p>\n

This lacks the polish of Lady Antebellum, and the introspection of Band Of Horses.\u00c2\u00a0 If they weren’t who they are, this wouldn’t sell at all.\u00c2\u00a0 Nice people.\u00c2\u00a0 Nice music.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s the problem.<\/p>\n

29. The Dead Weather "Sea Of Cowards"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 12,620
Percentage change: -72
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 57,572<\/p>\n

Reading the press, you’d think this is the biggest band in the land.\u00c2\u00a0 Is the Dead Weather the new Beck?\u00c2\u00a0 Who can do no wrong in the media as fewer and fewer members of the public care?<\/p>\n

Jack White is talented.\u00c2\u00a0 But I wish he’d just cut that one tune that blew EVERYBODY away instead of putting out endless side projects that appeal to fans only.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, a guy this smart could cut that universal track.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s a challenge Jack…<\/p>\n

50. Zac Brown Band "Pass The Jar"<\/span><\/p>\n

Sales this week: 8,680
Percentage change: -20
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 45,372<\/p>\n

In the old days, the really old days, the seventies, this would be a monster.\u00c2\u00a0 But today, this live album languishes down the chart while the big studio album, on the chart for over a year, 79 weeks to be exact, resides at number 21, selling 17,703 copies this week, for a cume of 1,934,220.<\/p>\n

Are live albums dead?\u00c2\u00a0 Or do most people have no idea this album is out?\u00c2\u00a0 Or both?<\/p>\n

This should be selling better.\u00c2\u00a0 But to blow it up, they’re going to have to break a single from it.<\/p>\n

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

1. Glee: The Music, Vol. 3-Showstoppers Sales this week: 135,748Debut And there’s another package coming out on June 8th, "Journey To Regionals". The classic rock paradigm is dead.\u00c2\u00a0 Wherein instead of releasing two or three albums a year, you put out an album every two or three years.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, first it was a year between […]<\/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-2964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-LO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2964","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=2964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2965,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2964\/revisions\/2965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}