Now that Steve Jobs destroyed the music industry, they probably need to re-calibrate what defines gold and platinum. Probably cut it to 500k for plat and 250k for gold. It isn't the same as things were when CD / Vinyl or Cassette purchased in record stores was the only means of access. They need to redefine the criteria based on current times. You can't compare with even 5-10 years ago.
Napster came out in June 1999. That destroyed the music industry. The first ipod didn't surface until Oct 2001. Napster promoted stealing music. Apple sells music but people never stopped stealing it after they got that first taste. That destroyed the music industry and thats why albums don't sell as well today even though you can buy an album now with one click on your iphone or droid. What does it feel like to be so wrong?
This albums savior is going to have to be Sirens. I haven't seen how it is doing on the singles charts but it could be a slow grower and ratchet up album sales or not as people can now preview all of the songs and just buy one. Crazy new world we live in.
I think the best shot they had for expanding their audience and sustaining record sales would have been Infallible. It's a much, for lack of a better word, cooler song. Taps into hip hip tones a a bit, has a solid chorus. Sirens is a beautiful song, but it's a ballad. When's the last time an artist outside of country had a hit with a ballad? You could make the case for Adele maybe, but anything that came from 21 was guaranteed to get airplay and sell more copies regardless of what style it was.
Just don't think ballads are commercially where it's a these days.
A note of clarification: an album is certified gold when it ships 500,000 units to retail, regardless of whether or not they sell. Thus, you can sell fewer than 500,000 units to customers but still be certified gold. Bear this in mind when you use "going gold" as shorthand for selling 500,000 copies. That's not exactly what it means in practice.
Stealing music has something to do with declining album sales-- and if you're one of the people stealing music, stop stealing music-- but the bigger impact has been the result of the easy availability of individual tracks, whether it be singles available at the click of a button for 99 cents, or album tracks. In the past, when only singles and albums were commercially available, and the single might cost $2.99 (in the CD single era), people would just buy the album. Now, they can pick three or four tracks (not just the single) for that price.
Interestingly, the non-single that appears to be garnering the most digital downloads is...
(Wait for it)
"Future Days." The song is No. 30 on the Rock Digital Songs list, Pearl Jam's only entry on that chart, and No. 2 on the Hard Rock Digital Songs list, behind only Avenged Sevenfold's "Hail To The King" and ahead of Pearl Jam's three other entries, "Black" (No. 19), "Yellow Ledbetter" (No. 21) and "Getaway" (No. 22). (Don't ask me why "Future Days" is categorized as hard rock. I think they just go by artist.)
Yes, neither "Sirens" nor "Mind Your Manners" cracks either one of these charts. (Rock Digital Songs is 50 positions long; Hard Rock Digital Songs is 25 positions long.)
Yeah I noticed that about Future Days. I think Sirens was there last week. It got up #3 on Itunes.
"Future Days" was the final song on a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. Think that has something to do with it?
Now that Steve Jobs destroyed the music industry, they probably need to re-calibrate what defines gold and platinum. Probably cut it to 500k for plat and 250k for gold. It isn't the same as things were when CD / Vinyl or Cassette purchased in record stores was the only means of access. They need to redefine the criteria based on current times. You can't compare with even 5-10 years ago.
Napster came out in June 1999. That destroyed the music industry. The first ipod didn't surface until Oct 2001. Napster promoted stealing music. Apple sells music but people never stopped stealing it after they got that first taste. That destroyed the music industry and thats why albums don't sell as well today even though you can buy an album now with one click on your iphone or droid. What does it feel like to be so wrong?
Yeah, I laughed when I read "Steve Jobs destroyed the music industry." Actually, he saved what was left of it with iTunes (the world's No. 1 music retailer -- as in, where music is sold) and the iPod. That said, I subscribe to Spotify, which is truly destroying the music industry, and buy only vinyl when I can.
My Pearl Jam Road: 10/22/90 Seattle | 12/22/90 Seattle, Moore Theater | 9/29/92 Seattle, Magnusson Park, Drop in the Park | 9/5/93 The Gorge, with Neil Young and Blind Melon | 7/20/06 Portland, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with Sleater-Kinney | 7/22/06 The Gorge, 10/21/06 Mountain View, Shoreline Ampitheatre, Bridge School Benefit | 9/21/09 Seattle | 9/22/09 Seattle | 9/26/09 Portland, OR | 7/14/2011 Eddie Vedder, Portland, OR | 11/29/13 Portland, OR
Interestingly, the non-single that appears to be garnering the most digital downloads is...
(Wait for it)
"Future Days." The song is No. 30 on the Rock Digital Songs list, Pearl Jam's only entry on that chart, and No. 2 on the Hard Rock Digital Songs list, behind only Avenged Sevenfold's "Hail To The King" and ahead of Pearl Jam's three other entries, "Black" (No. 19), "Yellow Ledbetter" (No. 21) and "Getaway" (No. 22). (Don't ask me why "Future Days" is categorized as hard rock. I think they just go by artist.)
Yes, neither "Sirens" nor "Mind Your Manners" cracks either one of these charts. (Rock Digital Songs is 50 positions long; Hard Rock Digital Songs is 25 positions long.)
Yeah I noticed that about Future Days. I think Sirens was there last week. It got up #3 on Itunes.
"Future Days" was the final song on a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. Think that has something to do with it?
After two weeks, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #2 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their second week of release?
After one week, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #1 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their first week of release?
After one week, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #1 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their first week of release?
I actually thought it might do better than that with the tour, Fallon week, and World Series. It seems like the peak is always week 1, I'm not sure how you get a bounce anytime after release. Just a downward plane. I think it'll crawl toward Gold, which is surprising in a way because I think it's really good, and unsurprising in a way because no one buys CDs anymore.
I actually thought it might do better than that with the tour, Fallon week, and World Series. It seems like the peak is always week 1, I'm not sure how you get a bounce anytime after release. Just a downward plane. I think it'll crawl toward Gold, which is surprising in a way because I think it's really good, and unsurprising in a way because no one buys CDs anymore.
Edit: i guess if a single takes off it could go from ~40k to ~80k or something and hover there for a spell
I actually thought it might do better than that with the tour, Fallon week, and World Series. It seems like the peak is always week 1, I'm not sure how you get a bounce anytime after release. Just a downward plane. I think it'll crawl toward Gold, which is surprising in a way because I think it's really good, and unsurprising in a way because no one buys CDs anymore.
Edit: i guess if a single takes off it could go from ~40k to ~80k or something and hover there for a spell
Last week saw the lowest total number of albums sold in the U.S. since Soundscan started tracking it in 1991-- but there were still 4.5 million albums sold, so it's not quite "no one." (And most of those are physical albums, not downloads, which will come as a surprise to most people but is true.)
The Christmas season tends to drive up sales totals across the board, so that could be something that helps Pearl Jam get to or past 500,000, especially if "Sirens" is getting a lot of radio play.
Hits Daily Double puts LB at #4 in week 2 and Billboard puts LB at #2. On week 1, HDD was slightly higher than BB and this week, slightly lower. Is this the same thing with a cutoff issue? Ir are the sources different?
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Hits Daily Double puts LB at #4 in week 2 and Billboard puts LB at #2. On week 1, HDD was slightly higher than BB and this week, slightly lower. Is this the same thing with a cutoff issue? Ir are the sources different?
Well Billboard uses Nielsen Soundscan. I thought everyone used them? So I don't know why the numbers are different.
After three weeks, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #11 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their third week of release?
After three weeks, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #11 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their third week of release?
After three weeks, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #11 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their third week of release?
It was touched on in another thread by someone else, and i agree with it... the song I think that would boost sales for Lightning Bolt is .... I know this will pain some of you (not me, I like it) .... Sleeping By Myself.
The song screams radio hit to be honest. Catchy, cross-genre, and perfect length.
I sent an email in 2009 asking. This was the response. Not cheap
No. You need not be a business. Our rates are below.
The Ltd. Access package is what you would need to track your titles weekly. The cost is $1,595.00 per quarter. You can track up to 20 of your own titles or digital tracks weekly. You may change 1 per week. The reports are delivered each Wednesday morning directly to your email! We bill this access directly to your credit card at the start of each quarter so you can pay it off monthly & get flyer miles for the expense!
You can also buy a 1-time report for 1 title for $650.00.
Full access to our TITLE section online starts at $7,950.00 per quarter.
Full access to the Entire system online starts at $14,950.00 per quarter.
If you have airplay on your record, you may be interested in our "Indie Basics" package. The cost is $3,000.00 per 13 weeks and the package provides sales, airplay, first play email alerts and merged info for marketing your record.
We also have a "Digital Only" package that gives you online access to all digital track purchased info and all Digital charts starting at $7,500.00 per quarter
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Behind that bush over there. Posts: 47,315
I sent an email in 2009 asking. This was the response. Not cheap
No. You need not be a business. Our rates are below.
The Ltd. Access package is what you would need to track your titles weekly. The cost is $1,595.00 per quarter. You can track up to 20 of your own titles or digital tracks weekly. You may change 1 per week. The reports are delivered each Wednesday morning directly to your email! We bill this access directly to your credit card at the start of each quarter so you can pay it off monthly & get flyer miles for the expense!
You can also buy a 1-time report for 1 title for $650.00.
Full access to our TITLE section online starts at $7,950.00 per quarter.
Full access to the Entire system online starts at $14,950.00 per quarter.
If you have airplay on your record, you may be interested in our "Indie Basics" package. The cost is $3,000.00 per 13 weeks and the package provides sales, airplay, first play email alerts and merged info for marketing your record.
We also have a "Digital Only" package that gives you online access to all digital track purchased info and all Digital charts starting at $7,500.00 per quarter
After three weeks, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #11 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their third week of release?
*Does not include two weeks available on vinyl only (debuted at #55 vinyl-only, then fell to #173 before leaping to #1 upon the CD release).
thanks. i enjoy tracking this stuff in this thread. could you include the actual sales figures?
I don't have that information for each of these albums on a week-by-week basis but, even if I did, it wouldn't be particularly illuminating because the record sales environment has changed radically over this time span. "Vs." sold more copies in its first week than "Backspacer" has in over four years since its release. Part of that is a function of Pearl Jam being less popular, and part of it is a function of album sales precipitously declining as a general matter. (Part of it, I suspect, is also a function of direct sales from the Ten Club that I do not believe are picked up by Nielsen Soundscan-- although I would love for someone with inside knowledge to correct me if I'm wrong about that. The Ten Club really didn't get into direct sales until "Pearl Jam" in 2006.)
After three weeks, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #11 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their third week of release?
*Does not include two weeks available on vinyl only (debuted at #55 vinyl-only, then fell to #173 before leaping to #1 upon the CD release).
thanks. i enjoy tracking this stuff in this thread. could you include the actual sales figures?
I don't have that information for each of these albums on a week-by-week basis but, even if I did, it wouldn't be particularly illuminating because the record sales environment has changed radically over this time span. "Vs." sold more copies in its first week than "Backspacer" has in over four years since its release. Part of that is a function of Pearl Jam being less popular, and part of it is a function of album sales precipitously declining as a general matter. (Part of it, I suspect, is also a function of direct sales from the Ten Club that I do not believe are picked up by Nielsen Soundscan-- although I would love for someone with inside knowledge to correct me if I'm wrong about that. The Ten Club really didn't get into direct sales until "Pearl Jam" in 2006.)
I've always wondered that about the Ten Club sales too. I have to imagine those sales are pretty significant by now. Probably tens of thousands in the first week of a release.
"Darkness comes in waves, tell me, why invite it to stay?"
After three weeks, "Lightning Bolt" sits at #11 on The Billboard 200. How does this compare with prior Pearl Jam studio albums in their third week of release?
*Does not include two weeks available on vinyl only (debuted at #55 vinyl-only, then fell to #173 before leaping to #1 upon the CD release).
thanks. i enjoy tracking this stuff in this thread. could you include the actual sales figures?
I don't have that information for each of these albums on a week-by-week basis but, even if I did, it wouldn't be particularly illuminating because the record sales environment has changed radically over this time span. "Vs." sold more copies in its first week than "Backspacer" has in over four years since its release. Part of that is a function of Pearl Jam being less popular, and part of it is a function of album sales precipitously declining as a general matter. (Part of it, I suspect, is also a function of direct sales from the Ten Club that I do not believe are picked up by Nielsen Soundscan-- although I would love for someone with inside knowledge to correct me if I'm wrong about that. The Ten Club really didn't get into direct sales until "Pearl Jam" in 2006.)
thanks. i enjoy tracking this stuff in this thread. could you include the actual sales figures?
I don't have that information for each of these albums on a week-by-week basis but, even if I did, it wouldn't be particularly illuminating because the record sales environment has changed radically over this time span. "Vs." sold more copies in its first week than "Backspacer" has in over four years since its release. Part of that is a function of Pearl Jam being less popular, and part of it is a function of album sales precipitously declining as a general matter. (Part of it, I suspect, is also a function of direct sales from the Ten Club that I do not believe are picked up by Nielsen Soundscan-- although I would love for someone with inside knowledge to correct me if I'm wrong about that. The Ten Club really didn't get into direct sales until "Pearl Jam" in 2006.)
If it has a bar code. It is being tracked.
Why do you say that? It's true that the scanning of the bar code registers a sale, but that assumes that the entity doing the scanning is set up to transmit data to Nielsen Soundscan. Major retailers are set up to transmit to Soundscan, but why would you assume that the Ten Club (or its distributor) is? My local independent record store sells CDs with bar codes, but they don't scan the bar codes. They ring in the sales at cash registers that are not connected to any network, and their sales do not get reported to Nielsen Soundscan. Why do you assume that the Ten Club is scanning the bar codes and uploading the information to Soundscan when they ship the CDs?
By the way, I'm not saying I know that the Ten Club sales aren't reported for a fact. I'm just saying that it would require an unusual arrangement for the Ten Club to conform to how sales at retailers are tracked.
Santos? Any insight about this that you can share?
Billboard had it at 166k in week 1, 46k in week 2. That brings the total to around 239k since the release.
For a rock record, I think that's the best anyone has done in quite a while.
You may not consider this rock, but "Babel" by Mumford & Sons sold over 600,000 its first week earlier this year. (I think "rock" is a pretty broad category; Mumford isn't "hard rock," but I'd still consider it rock.) The record has sold over 1 million copies in 2013. And Imagine Dragons has sold 1.1 million this year of "Night Visions."
Billboard had it at 166k in week 1, 46k in week 2. That brings the total to around 239k since the release.
For a rock record, I think that's the best anyone has done in quite a while.
You may not consider this rock, but "Babel" by Mumford & Sons sold over 600,000 its first week earlier this year. (I think "rock" is a pretty broad category; Mumford isn't "hard rock," but I'd still consider it rock.) The record has sold over 1 million copies in 2013. And Imagine Dragons has sold 1.1 million this year of "Night Visions."
I can't wait for the whole Mumford and Sons fad to pass. Same with Black Keys.
Comments
Napster came out in June 1999. That destroyed the music industry. The first ipod didn't surface until Oct 2001. Napster promoted stealing music. Apple sells music but people never stopped stealing it after they got that first taste. That destroyed the music industry and thats why albums don't sell as well today even though you can buy an album now with one click on your iphone or droid. What does it feel like to be so wrong?
I think the best shot they had for expanding their audience and sustaining record sales would have been Infallible. It's a much, for lack of a better word, cooler song. Taps into hip hip tones a a bit, has a solid chorus. Sirens is a beautiful song, but it's a ballad. When's the last time an artist outside of country had a hit with a ballad? You could make the case for Adele maybe, but anything that came from 21 was guaranteed to get airplay and sell more copies regardless of what style it was.
Just don't think ballads are commercially where it's a these days.
Stealing music has something to do with declining album sales-- and if you're one of the people stealing music, stop stealing music-- but the bigger impact has been the result of the easy availability of individual tracks, whether it be singles available at the click of a button for 99 cents, or album tracks. In the past, when only singles and albums were commercially available, and the single might cost $2.99 (in the CD single era), people would just buy the album. Now, they can pick three or four tracks (not just the single) for that price.
"Future Days" was the final song on a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. Think that has something to do with it?
Cincinnati, Columbus 2000
Baltimore 2013
Yeah, I laughed when I read "Steve Jobs destroyed the music industry." Actually, he saved what was left of it with iTunes (the world's No. 1 music retailer -- as in, where music is sold) and the iPod. That said, I subscribe to Spotify, which is truly destroying the music industry, and buy only vinyl when I can.
That would definitely seem to explain it.
"Vs.": #1
"No Code": #1
"Lightning Bolt": #2
"Vitalogy": #2*
"Yield": #3
"Pearl Jam": #8
"Backspacer": #10
"Binaural": #13
"Riot Act": #36
"Ten": Not charted
*Does not include two weeks available on vinyl only (debuted at #55 vinyl-only, then fell to #173 before leaping to #1 upon the CD release).
you mean 2nd week?
Whoops. Yeah, I forget to edit the first sentence. I fixed it above.
Edit: i guess if a single takes off it could go from ~40k to ~80k or something and hover there for a spell
A lot of people still haven't heard Sirens
Last week saw the lowest total number of albums sold in the U.S. since Soundscan started tracking it in 1991-- but there were still 4.5 million albums sold, so it's not quite "no one." (And most of those are physical albums, not downloads, which will come as a surprise to most people but is true.)
The Christmas season tends to drive up sales totals across the board, so that could be something that helps Pearl Jam get to or past 500,000, especially if "Sirens" is getting a lot of radio play.
Well Billboard uses Nielsen Soundscan. I thought everyone used them? So I don't know why the numbers are different.
"Vs.": #1
"Vitalogy": #3*
"Yield": #5
"No Code": #7
"Pearl Jam": #10
"Lightning Bolt": #11
"Backspacer": #16
"Binaural": #26
"Riot Act": #67
"Ten": Not charted
*Does not include two weeks available on vinyl only (debuted at #55 vinyl-only, then fell to #173 before leaping to #1 upon the CD release).
thanks. i enjoy tracking this stuff in this thread. could you include the actual sales figures?
Would be hard if you're not a member of Nielsen Soundscan or in the business
The song screams radio hit to be honest. Catchy, cross-genre, and perfect length.
I sent an email in 2009 asking. This was the response. Not cheap
huh??? their response almost seems like a joke.
I don't have that information for each of these albums on a week-by-week basis but, even if I did, it wouldn't be particularly illuminating because the record sales environment has changed radically over this time span. "Vs." sold more copies in its first week than "Backspacer" has in over four years since its release. Part of that is a function of Pearl Jam being less popular, and part of it is a function of album sales precipitously declining as a general matter. (Part of it, I suspect, is also a function of direct sales from the Ten Club that I do not believe are picked up by Nielsen Soundscan-- although I would love for someone with inside knowledge to correct me if I'm wrong about that. The Ten Club really didn't get into direct sales until "Pearl Jam" in 2006.)
Hitsdailydouble had it at 27k last week.
Billboard had it at 166k in week 1, 46k in week 2. That brings the total to around 239k since the release.
For a rock record, I think that's the best anyone has done in quite a while.
I've always wondered that about the Ten Club sales too. I have to imagine those sales are pretty significant by now. Probably tens of thousands in the first week of a release.
If it has a bar code. It is being tracked.
Why do you say that? It's true that the scanning of the bar code registers a sale, but that assumes that the entity doing the scanning is set up to transmit data to Nielsen Soundscan. Major retailers are set up to transmit to Soundscan, but why would you assume that the Ten Club (or its distributor) is? My local independent record store sells CDs with bar codes, but they don't scan the bar codes. They ring in the sales at cash registers that are not connected to any network, and their sales do not get reported to Nielsen Soundscan. Why do you assume that the Ten Club is scanning the bar codes and uploading the information to Soundscan when they ship the CDs?
By the way, I'm not saying I know that the Ten Club sales aren't reported for a fact. I'm just saying that it would require an unusual arrangement for the Ten Club to conform to how sales at retailers are tracked.
Santos? Any insight about this that you can share?
You may not consider this rock, but "Babel" by Mumford & Sons sold over 600,000 its first week earlier this year. (I think "rock" is a pretty broad category; Mumford isn't "hard rock," but I'd still consider it rock.) The record has sold over 1 million copies in 2013. And Imagine Dragons has sold 1.1 million this year of "Night Visions."
I can't wait for the whole Mumford and Sons fad to pass. Same with Black Keys.