{"id":496,"date":"2006-08-16T16:21:49","date_gmt":"2006-08-17T00:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2006\/08\/16\/this-weeks-sales\/"},"modified":"2006-08-16T16:21:49","modified_gmt":"2006-08-17T00:21:49","slug":"this-weeks-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2006\/08\/16\/this-weeks-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week’s Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

5. Slayer "Christ Illusion"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debut: 62,449<\/p>\n

Wow, makes you yearn for the days of yore, doesn’t it.\u00c2\u00a0 Pre-SoundScan.\u00c2\u00a0 When an act like this had NO CHANCE of making the Top Ten, not unless for some reason they suddenly caught fire with a radio track.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s not gonna happen here.\u00c2\u00a0 Slayer’s hard core fans all went out the first week and purchased this album.\u00c2\u00a0 Which will promptly slide down the chart.\u00c2\u00a0 Into irrelevance.<\/p>\n

Actually, give props to Rick Sales and his team.\u00c2\u00a0 For getting the message out.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s hard to break through the clutter and let your fans know you’ve GOT a new album.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m actually surprised so many people care.\u00c2\u00a0 But metal-heads are dedicated.\u00c2\u00a0 But the fact that this album is number 5 and doesn’t even come close to 100,000 sales…scary.<\/p>\n

7. Kidz Bop Kidz\u00c2\u00a0 "Kidz Bop Ten"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 56,211
Cume: 173,266<\/p>\n

Charles Duhigg should have done an article on the Razor & Tie guys, not Ron Fair.<\/p>\n

This is all concept…\u00c2\u00a0 And to tell you the truth, demonstrates EXCEPTIONAL creativity.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the idea more than the execution.\u00c2\u00a0 Just look at the Velvet Underground!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s what you represent more than how well you do it.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than polishing evanescent turds, come up with something different, that catches the public’s fancy.<\/p>\n

This cost ten cents to make.\u00c2\u00a0 But not ten cents to promote.\u00c2\u00a0 Razor & Tie is one of Nickelodeon’s most coveted advertisers.\u00c2\u00a0 In an era where MTV plays almost no music, R&T is creating its OWN music video channel, granted, in between cartoons (both live action and animated!)<\/p>\n

This is not art.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the fifties reincarnated.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s the mainstream business today.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, the problem with the major labels is they’re not cynical ENOUGH!\u00c2\u00a0 If only they’d realize they were selling crap, and stop spending on stuff that doesn’t go to the bottom line, they could stop bitching so much.<\/p>\n

8. Gnarls Barkley "St. Elsewhere"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 53,747
Cume: 722,135<\/p>\n

Now this isn’t the complete story.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve sold 79,675 digital albums to date.\u00c2\u00a0 But, compare this to something like Fleetwood Mac, whether the first Buckingham\/Nicks album OR "Rumours".\u00c2\u00a0 OH, you say, Fleetwood Mac was not a new band.\u00c2\u00a0 EXACTLY!\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re building acts today via the major label system, you’re fucked.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to get in and get out fast.\u00c2\u00a0 And if this act, with the biggest hit of the summer, deservedly so, has sold SO few albums so far, even INCLUDING digital, you KNOW we’re in trouble.\u00c2\u00a0 Back in the late nineties you know this would be double platinum AT LEAST by now.<\/p>\n

One more thing though.\u00c2\u00a0 They HAVE sold 956,664 digital singles of "Crazy".\u00c2\u00a0 Impressive on one hand, disillusioning on the other.\u00c2\u00a0 A market that didn’t exist.\u00c2\u00a0 Found money.\u00c2\u00a0 But how many of these people would have bought the album in days of yore?\u00c2\u00a0 Generating TEN TIMES THE REVENUE per sale.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you say "Chumbawamba"?\u00c2\u00a0 How many CDs would have been sold of THAT act if you could buy "Tubthumping" as a digital download?<\/p>\n

(Of course, "Crazy" is number one on BigChampagne’s P2P chart and resides on MILLIONS of hard drives, but let’s not speak of the elephant in the room.)<\/p>\n

16. Tom Petty "Highway Companion"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 38,309
Cume: 208,027<\/p>\n

The story isn’t how good or bad this album is, but that you can barely hear it.<\/p>\n

What if the Beatles released a new single today?<\/p>\n

It would flop.\u00c2\u00a0 Unless it employed beats.<\/p>\n

Even the living Beatles, the Eagles, could not count on airplay if they dropped a new "Take It Easy", never mind "Hotel California".<\/p>\n

I feel for these old acts.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve been closed out of radio.\u00c2\u00a0 Their aging audience listens to talk anyway.\u00c2\u00a0 And, unfortunately, wants to only hear the OLD stuff, to relive their youth.<\/p>\n

Mighty frustrating if you’re a true artist.<\/p>\n

Print sold these records.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s the best way to reach an aging audience.<\/p>\n

21. Nelly Furtado "Loose"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 31,757
Cume: 620,503<\/p>\n

Admit it.\u00c2\u00a0 You figured this HAD to be platinum.\u00c2\u00a0 Before Gnarls Barkley’s "Crazy" hit, Nelly had THE track.<\/p>\n

Oh, Nelly did sell 1,238,622 digital copies of "Promiscuous".\u00c2\u00a0 That’s like selling…another 123,000 albums??<\/p>\n

Oh, she did sell 27,372 digital albums.<\/p>\n

Wow!\u00c2\u00a0 What more evidence do you need that iTunes is putting the labels out of business?\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t even do ONE-TENTH THE BUSINESS!\u00c2\u00a0 Unless we can get people to buy more, we’re fucked.<\/p>\n

32. Carrie Underwood "Some Hearts"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 24,875
Cume: 3,279,184<\/p>\n

TV sells records.<\/p>\n

For how long?\u00c2\u00a0 That’s a different question completely.\u00c2\u00a0 But since Carrie functions in the country world, maybe she’s the exception.\u00c2\u00a0 There are still viable careers in country.<\/p>\n

34. Corinne Bailey Rae<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 23,869
Cume: 246,480<\/p>\n

The brass at EMI felt since I loved KT Tunstall, I’d go for Corinne.<\/p>\n

That’s laughable.\u00c2\u00a0 KT is an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 An innovator.\u00c2\u00a0 Just check a YouTube video if you doubt me.<\/p>\n

Corinne Bailey Rae is a marketing exercise.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, I like: "Put Your Records On", but if it hadn’t been for Norah Jones Corinne Bailey Rae probably wouldn’t have even gotten a deal.\u00c2\u00a0 Cocktail music for housewives, who’ve worn out their copies of "X&Y".<\/p>\n

BUT, at least it’s music.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not beats, it’s got melody, it’s ear-pleasing.\u00c2\u00a0 And the public is responding.\u00c2\u00a0 This is an incredible sales total for a new act without a monster hit.<\/p>\n

36. Johnny Cash "American Recordings V"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 25,992
Cume: 258,589<\/p>\n

Dying is a great career move.<\/p>\n

40. Wreckers "Stand Still Look Pretty"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 19,935
Cume: 275, 713<\/p>\n

I’m stunned.<\/p>\n

If they’d put out another Michelle Branch record, it would have sold bupkes, nobody was interested, nobody cared.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe they could have revved up the publicity machine and worked a track hard, but they wouldn’t have made any money.<\/p>\n

But instead Michelle followed her own muse, wanted to do a country record, didn’t even use her own name, and it’s a SUCCESS!<\/p>\n

Trust the artist, not the suit.<\/p>\n

46. Ani DiFranco "Reprieve"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debut: 17,991<\/p>\n

Wow, she’s gonna make more money on her self-distributed record than major labels are gonna clear on their PRIORITIES!\u00c2\u00a0 And she’s not only the record company, but the artist!<\/p>\n

Ani didn’t need the major label machine to deliver her a name.\u00c2\u00a0 She did it all by her lonesome.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s got a hard core fan base.\u00c2\u00a0 She can work forever.<\/p>\n

Who said girls could not compete in this business…<\/p>\n

47. KT Tunstall "Eye To The Telescope"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 17,681
Cume: 573,291<\/p>\n

This is how you build a career.\u00c2\u00a0 I wouldn’t even continue to work this record.\u00c2\u00a0 Let it sell by itself.\u00c2\u00a0 And then deliver a new one to those who ALREADY bought THIS one.\u00c2\u00a0 Satiate fans, not casual buyers.<\/p>\n

If you don’t think gold on a new act is FANTASTIC your priorities are screwed up.<\/p>\n

49. Los Lonely Boys "Sacred"<\/strong><\/p>\n

This week: 17,107
Cume: 138,466<\/p>\n

It’s over.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you say FASTBALL?<\/p>\n

The audience no longer believes in radio acts, no longer believes in their careers.\u00c2\u00a0 A big hit track doesn’t mean SHIT in the future.\u00c2\u00a0 If you want to last, you’ve got to build your base on the road, where people kick the tires, get excited, BELIEVE, and stand by you.<\/p>\n

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5. Slayer "Christ Illusion" Debut: 62,449 Wow, makes you yearn for the days of yore, doesn’t it.\u00c2\u00a0 Pre-SoundScan.\u00c2\u00a0 When an act like this had NO CHANCE of making the Top Ten, not unless for some reason they suddenly caught fire with a radio track.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s not gonna happen here.\u00c2\u00a0 Slayer’s hard core fans all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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-496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}