Jack White's Lazaretto beats Pearl Jam's 20 year old vinyl sales record

choop

Jack White just smashed a 20-year-old record. The Nashville rock god sold 40,000 vinyl copies of his new LP, Lazaretto, in the first sales week since the album's June 10 debut. That handily breaks the 34K-record for one-week vinyl sales Pearl Jam set in 1994 with their album Vitalogy.

http://www.spin.com/articles/jack-white-lazaretto-vinyl-sales-record-ice-cream/?utm_source=spinfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spinfacebook

HesCalledDyer

=D> At least someone respectable did it and not N-fucking-Sync.

Patrick_Sea3

Wonder if it includes the vault sales of the album?

whofeelslikeadrank

"handily"? 40K>34K, yes. but rock god? reading the article, it looks like spin needs to spit that white out... 20 years ago, sales of vinyl were on life support, lest we forget? spin does mention the "ongoing vinyl revival", yet stands by white's holiness? ok b-(

rgambs

not a good album though...unless you like sound effects and falsetto..not his best work..i get being unique, but end of the day it still needs to have melodies that work together.

pjsteelerfan

rgambs said:

not a good album though...unless you like sound effects and falsetto..not his best work..i get being unique, but end of the day it still needs to have melodies that work together.

Completely disagree but too each there own, I think it is a great album

rgambs

yeah my buddy loves it! It sounds like an album entirely of red dots and aye davanitas..but with less melody and more falsetto...reminds me of ross playing keyboard on friends

shep

whofeelslikeadrank said:

"handily"? 40K>34K, yes. but rock god? reading the article, it looks like spin needs to spit that white out... 20 years ago, sales of vinyl were on life support, lest we forget? spin does mention the "ongoing vinyl revival", yet stands by white's holiness? ok b-(

I'll stand by his holiness... everything the man touches turns to gold.

If you haven't seen him live since the white stripes ended - go do it. you will understand what spin is talking about. I was never a white stripes fan - got into jack white from the dead weather and the raconteurs.... but I have been completely converted.

The man is rock royalty. If you refuse to accept it, you've got your head up your ass.

all that being said...

I like the new album... but I am dying for a new raconteurs record... by far my favorite project of his... wish he'd take that vehicle out of the garage.

jamburger

How many of those 40k units were multiple copies purchased simply because of the gimmicks? A second color option... hidden tracks... holograms... etc.

This to me is like breaking Hank Aaron's homerun record. A juiced up slab of vinyl.

Patrick_Sea3

There are only 2 versions, the vault copy, and the normal release of the LP.

SVRDhand13

whofeelslikeadrank said:

"handily"? 40K>34K, yes. but rock god? reading the article, it looks like spin needs to spit that white out... 20 years ago, sales of vinyl were on life support, lest we forget? spin does mention the "ongoing vinyl revival", yet stands by white's holiness? ok b-(

In terms of actual numbers it may not seem like a lot, but this is a 17% difference, which is quite high considering Vitalogy had the record for 20 years.

SVRDhand13

jamburger said:

How many of those 40k units were multiple copies purchased simply because of the gimmicks? A second color option... hidden tracks... holograms... etc.

This to me is like breaking Hank Aaron's homerun record. A juiced up slab of vinyl.

Vitalogy was released on vinyl two weeks before CD, while Lazaretto was released on vinyl, cd, and mp3 the same day. I'd say Pearl Jam got a great edge in that respect and the very reason they had the record for so long.

With this all being said, I should be defending my favorite PJ album and one of my favorite albums of all time haha, but I think Jack White is doing great things for vinyl.

jjflash

SVRDhand13 said:

jamburger said:

How many of those 40k units were multiple copies purchased simply because of the gimmicks? A second color option... hidden tracks... holograms... etc.

This to me is like breaking Hank Aaron's homerun record. A juiced up slab of vinyl.

Vitalogy was released on vinyl two weeks before CD, while Lazaretto was released on vinyl, cd, and mp3 the same day. I'd say Pearl Jam got a great edge in that respect and the very reason they had the record for so long.

With this all being said, I should be defending my favorite PJ album and one of my favorite albums of all time haha, but I think Jack White is doing great things for vinyl.

All good points. To be honest, I didn't realize Pearl Jam previously owned the record.

Jack White knows how to a) make an album and b) sell a record. Combine those two and he has a new vinyl record. And, yes, the Vault version def helped inflate the units sold. With all that JW has contributed to the resurgence of vinyl, it seems fitting that he nows wears that particular crown. However, major props to PJ for doing it w/o gimmicks in an era where it wasn't hip to buy vinyl. Makes me realize that in a much less overt way they've had a hand too in keeping vinyl alive and kicking B-)

Zod

What record is this? First week sales of an LP? Wouldn't albums from the hey day of Vinyl handily beat this record?

jamburger

Zod said:

What record is this? First week sales of an LP? Wouldn't albums from the hey day of Vinyl handily beat this record?

Since SoundScan tracking started in early '91. So, it's the best selling first week of vinyl in 23 years.

SVRDhand13

jamburger said:

Zod said:

What record is this? First week sales of an LP? Wouldn't albums from the hey day of Vinyl handily beat this record?

Since SoundScan tracking started in early '91. So, it's the best selling first week of vinyl in 23 years.

Yes, and I believe that early vinyl sales would have destroyed the 40k mark.

Zod

Ahh so it's a record that only exists because no one was paying attention when Vinyl was popular I guess that's not a bad one to lose. I imagine Thriller or Bad would of made this record look like small potatoes.

DewieCox

rgambs said:

not a good album though...unless you like sound effects and falsetto..not his best work..i get being unique, but end of the day it still needs to have melodies that work together.

Ahh, you listened to the first 2 singles and judged the whole album on that. Great work!! There's not a sound effect to be heard on the whole album. Just a stylistically diverse album full of Jack White style tuneage.

Maybe Vitalogy got the record when vinyl sales were in a valley, but music sales as a whole suck nowadays and getting people to actually buy it like Jack White has done is nothing to sniff at. He also knocked Abbey Road out of it's several year reign as best selling album the year that he put out Blunderbuss.


Don't why people have to get so butthurt over, what I assume they perceive as a negative, towards PJ. Just be glad they had the record for so long and that they played at least a small part in keeping vinyl alive.

Pearl Jam_ie

I wonder how many cds Vitalogy sold in its first week, compared to Lazaretto?

Driftin'Along

I agree with the people saying that Lazaretto isn't a very good album. I tried to listen to the whole thing and it seemed weird for the sake of being weird. I am a Jack White fan typically but this was just not very good. I think the gimmicks definitely helped the sales. I don't think that can be debated. I didn't read the article so there is no pro-PJ spin on my response. I think time will tell which album is better. Edge goes "handily" to Vitalogy.

SVRDhand13

Let me first say that this is not directed at anyone here in particular. But I will never understand how someone can say an album is not good before giving it several listens. You don't glance at a Monet and review it, you don't watch half a movie and review it, you don't read only the odd number chapters of a book and review it, etc.

The music evolves with repeated listens. This album is a "grower" for sure.

jeffbr

Well, just about every release PJ does on vinyl these days is a "gimmick", too. Limited edition, collector, colored wax, sleve art.
I just want bands to get back to putting out a regular release with regular cover art, and drop the gimmicks. Rerelease the catalog and sell the damned things for $18 each. At least Jack White seems to care about vinyl, and recording for vinyl, and getting it into fans' hands. PJ tries to make it a quick cash grab. Even the damned PJ bootleg vinyl releases are going for $40 because of the way PJ has created scarcity. So at this point I'm glad PJ no longer holds the record, and at this point they won't ever come close again unless they change the way the release their music on vinyl to make it more fan friendly. It shouldn't be any harder to get a record than a CD when a band releases something. It's just another medium, not a treasure or trophy.

indifferentman

jeffbr said:

Well, just about every release PJ does on vinyl these days is a "gimmick", too. Limited edition, collector, colored wax, sleve art.
I just want bands to get back to putting out a regular release with regular cover art, and drop the gimmicks. Rerelease the catalog and sell the damned things for $18 each. At least Jack White seems to care about vinyl, and recording for vinyl, and getting it into fans' hands. PJ tries to make it a quick cash grab. Even the damned PJ bootleg vinyl releases are going for $40 because of the way PJ has created scarcity. So at this point I'm glad PJ no longer holds the record, and at this point they won't ever come close again unless they change the way the release their music on vinyl to make it more fan friendly. It shouldn't be any harder to get a record than a CD when a band releases something. It's just another medium, not a treasure or trophy.

Frankly I think the opposite as far as it comes to a smart business model for musicians. Look at how much different album sales are post Napster. Especially now that you don't even need to steal music anymore, you can just fire up Spotify and listen to almost the entire discography of almost any band out there. Who needs to buy physical cds? And where do you find a good selection of them?

Go into any Target, Walmart, etc today and look at their cd selection. Instead of seeing the full catalog of most popular bands for sale on the shelf you get one isle of "Rock, Rap, Country, etc." And who in their right mind wants to pay $18 for that, if they even have it in stock when you can download it off of iTunes or Amazon in a matter of minutes? Hell I've even read that some car companies are pondering not putting cd players in their radio anymore. In my brand new Mazda I can listen to music via. bluetooth, USB, or Pandora.

While I agree that it's annoying for the fans that actually want to buy vinyl to LISTEN TO not just leave in the plastic and admire on a shelf because it cost them hundreds of dollars to accquire and they wouldn't dare open it it is a smart way for bands to make up for the profit they have lost on cd sales. If PJ, Radiohead, NIN etc can make a limited pressing LP or box set that will sell for $300 more power to 'em. It's smart business approach.

DewieCox

^^^I agree with your sentiments, but I think different methods of added value are needed more than limited edition stuff. That's what Jack White has done here. Instantly unique and one of a kind, but not really limited for the time being. I'm sure there are some repeat buyers, but either way he's created a huge buzz with this record and the shows he's played since the release.

PJ has proven time and time again that they're a little out of touch when it comes to added value. Remember "big bold free" and or the incomplete bootleg dl's of shows that are readily available with Backspacer. The same people that question the validity of JW's sales numbers with multiple version would celebrate if the white Backspacers pushed it to some sales record. I'd love for PJ to put out a fan club only version of LB, where they took preorders and rush released them to get them to the biggest fans by release.

jeffbr

indifferentman said:

jeffbr said:

Well, just about every release PJ does on vinyl these days is a "gimmick", too. Limited edition, collector, colored wax, sleve art.
I just want bands to get back to putting out a regular release with regular cover art, and drop the gimmicks. Rerelease the catalog and sell the damned things for $18 each. At least Jack White seems to care about vinyl, and recording for vinyl, and getting it into fans' hands. PJ tries to make it a quick cash grab. Even the damned PJ bootleg vinyl releases are going for $40 because of the way PJ has created scarcity. So at this point I'm glad PJ no longer holds the record, and at this point they won't ever come close again unless they change the way the release their music on vinyl to make it more fan friendly. It shouldn't be any harder to get a record than a CD when a band releases something. It's just another medium, not a treasure or trophy.

Frankly I think the opposite as far as it comes to a smart business model for musicians. Look at how much different album sales are post Napster. Especially now that you don't even need to steal music anymore, you can just fire up Spotify and listen to almost the entire discography of almost any band out there. Who needs to buy physical cds? And where do you find a good selection of them?

Go into any Target, Walmart, etc today and look at their cd selection. Instead of seeing the full catalog of most popular bands for sale on the shelf you get one isle of "Rock, Rap, Country, etc." And who in their right mind wants to pay $18 for that, if they even have it in stock when you can download it off of iTunes or Amazon in a matter of minutes? Hell I've even read that some car companies are pondering not putting cd players in their radio anymore. In my brand new Mazda I can listen to music via. bluetooth, USB, or Pandora.

While I agree that it's annoying for the fans that actually want to buy vinyl to LISTEN TO not just leave in the plastic and admire on a shelf because it cost them hundreds of dollars to accquire and they wouldn't dare open it it is a smart way for bands to make up for the profit they have lost on cd sales. If PJ, Radiohead, NIN etc can make a limited pressing LP or box set that will sell for $300 more power to 'em. It's smart business approach.

Great post, and I actually agree with what you said including the business approach. My post was just a reaction to people either bagging on Jack white or people being disappointed with PJ's record being broken. I do think that they should treat vinyl much the same as they treat CDs, and I understand comletely that there is a market for the $300 box sets. I don't think those things are mutually exclusive, though. My post was mostly just trying to express that I don't have a problem with PJ's record being broken, and that they'll never acheive that record again unless they change their approach. If it is not in their business interest to do so, then that is what we'll live with. They are losing some revenue to the bootleg market (by their own choice), and if they're cool with that then so be it. I guess my frustration is that I don't buy digital media (I'm one of those spotify listeners), and I'm pretty much done buying CDs. But I do buy vinyl to listen to. Just not typically PJ vinyl since they don't seem to produce it to be played. It is just more merch to them.

jamburger

DewieCox said:

^^^I agree with your sentiments, but I think different methods of added value are needed more than limited edition stuff. That's what Jack White has done here. Instantly unique and one of a kind, but not really limited for the time being. I'm sure there are some repeat buyers, but either way he's created a huge buzz with this record and the shows he's played since the release.

PJ has proven time and time again that they're a little out of touch when it comes to added value. Remember "big bold free" and or the incomplete bootleg dl's of shows that are readily available with Backspacer. The same people that question the validity of JW's sales numbers with multiple version would celebrate if the white Backspacers pushed it to some sales record. I'd love for PJ to put out a fan club only version of LB, where they took preorders and rush released them to get them to the biggest fans by release.

Actually, the same people might make the point that PJ sales numbers are inflated by the unnecessary multiple copies purchased by its own fan base. You know, when your 10 Club order doesn't come in by release date, so you feel compelled to run to your local store for a copy.

2-feign-reluctance

rgambs said:

not a good album though...unless you like sound effects and falsetto..not his best work..i get being unique, but end of the day it still needs to have melodies that work together.

Sound effects? You mean real instruments right?

arakias

Too bad sales aren't weighted by the current population. I wonder if a higher percentage of living people bought Vitalogy or bought Lazaretto

indifferentman

Yeah, it is a shame that you have to make a decision to "ruin your investment" and actually open the damn record and play it and I agree with you there.

Everything doesn't have to be a cash grab for merch. Pearl Jam has made a hell of a revenue stream out of merch though. I gave up for good with trying to buy it after I saw people standing in the 95 degree heat for 9 hours at Wrigley just to get to the booth finally and find out there weren't any posters left.

I personally have never gotten into collecting vinyl but I may someday. There's an awesome local record store that also sells refurbed vintage stereo equipment and I might take the plunge someday and buy a good home entertainment system setup from them.

quimby20

What is interesting is that Neil Young is a big Jack White fan. That alone should carry a lot of weight in the PJ community. You might not like Jack White but I for one am glad he is doing what he is doing. I am a vault member and I would have no problem if PJ offered the same service. One great release every quarter for $60. The best part, everyone would get one as long as you are current.

derbydave

quimby20 said:

You might not like Jack White but I for one am glad he is doing what he is doing. I am a vault member and I would have no problem if PJ offered the same service. One great release every quarter for $60. The best part, everyone would get one as long as you are current.

I for one...LOVE this idea!!
Where do I sign up???
10 Club take my $$$ NOW!!