NUMBERTWOFANATIC said:

They need to get the video to "Call My Name" out there ASAP!! Radio is hoppping on "Call Your Name"!! Keep the Party Movin'!!

Congrats to Musicology I guess , still not too enthused by the album but if its selling
its selling I guess .

Prince and slash in the TOP 5

we are in the 80´s again

I'd love to know where this album would be on the charts without the ticket sales.

EvilWhiteMale said:

maybe up to #1 the concert cds r spread out therefore
diluting the sales.

I am sure after the Essense festival the Retail r goin to pick up with more then 200k attending and not gettin a cd
[This message was edited Wed Jun 16 16:15:34 2004 by asg]

asg said:

Of course the concert cds are spread out - this chart counts albums sold each week, so it can only count concert cds if Prince played that week! Why would a total from a couple of weeks ago be added onto this weeks?!

But it's clear the natural retail sales are doing very well anyway.

Shocking that the Velvet Revolver album can sell that well, with no advance hype or promotion. There sure is something different about hard rock. A blue collar thing to behold.

EvilWhiteMale said:

It'd still be in the top 30, two months into it's release. Without ticket sales, Musicology would still have
1) Debuted at number three
2)Spent four weeks in the top 10
and 3)Sold well over 500,000 copies (gold certification).

Not 'Purple Rain' by any stretch, but not too shabby for a guy more than a quarter-century into his career.

Glad to see Velvet Revolver at number 1! I really like Contraband

ultrraviolette said:

im glad to see hard rock making a comeback...i was getting so sick of boy bands and rap

ultrraviolette said:

Same here. Great disc.

Week One – 191,000
Week Two – 173,000
Week Three – 150,000
Week Four – 76,637
Week Five – 42,000
Week Six - 71,000
Week Seven – 93,000
Week Eight – 79,000 (approximate figure, based on slide-down scale of the top four)

Total 875,637

okay...i'm really in favor of the musicology album, y'all know i'm happy for prince and his success this year, and i'm all for the album being at the toppermost of the poppermost by whatever means he can keep it there...

...but i really think that without the concert ticket bundling scheme, the album would at best be languishing in the midsection of the top 100, and would slink out of sight by the end of this month or early july (and that's being generous).

i mean, look at comeback albums (and i'm sorry, this IS a commercial comeback) by folks like bruce springsteen or bob dylan - they've gotten the same media/critical hype in years past for certain albums, and they had a surge up the charts, but that surge went right back down the charts and stalled in some lower-yet-respectable position for a while until their promotional push was done and the chart position slithered out of sight.

i think it's smart and admirable...and to some extent completely JUSTIFIED...for prince to take the ticket/CD bundling approach for a high chart position, but at the end of the day, the simple, uncomplicated, unmanipulated truth is: more people wanna see prince live than listen to his new studio material. ain't no shame in that, but it is what it is...

EvilWhiteMale said:

These numbers are available. Without the concert cds, it was top 5 during the first week, top 10 the second week, top 20 the next and the rest is either top 20 or 40. A less remarkable, but nonetheless strong charting by Prince. You also have to factor that the cd distributed at concerts did take away from retail sales, so even just counting retail isn't too objective or realistic -- some percentage of the concert cds would have nrrm bought in the stores if they had not been handed out.

Any way you cut it, Musicology is a commercial success.
[This message was edited Wed Jun 16 19:34:56 2004 by Aerogram]

Aerogram said:

Exactly.

Aerogram said:

so far the cd has sold 540,000 retail ...and about what 300,000 at the concert? how many of those 300,000 would have bought the cd if they didnt get it for free? even if you say 1 out 3 thats another 100,000 in retail sales..and how about the people that downloaded it online from NPGMC? i dont think those numbers are factored in...so any way you look at it Musicology is a big hit!

moonshine said:

my sentiments exactly

Aerogram said:

Actually, at least here in the States, it was top 3 the first week, top 3 the next week, top 7 the week after that, and top 10 the week after that one...it would have spent 4 weeks in the top 10 with or without concert sales added in. It has spent it's first 2 months in the top 30 with OR without ticket sales...not too shabby considering that I don't think any other Prince CD or album has spent its first 2 months in the top 30 since maybe Diamonds & Pearls (I don't think Gold, Emancipation or Rave sold that consistently)...



Very true...as well as, it's not like if concert goers had the choice of either buying a ticket and a CD or just buying a ticket, that Prince's sales from the concerts would disappear...they would decrease, definitely...but I bet there'd still be maybe 5,000 or so a week counted, at minimum...and there was only about a 5,000 difference between #30 (Prince) and #20 (whoever it was)...realistically, Prince may have still been in the top 20...

EvilWhiteMale said:

Well, look above and u'll find the answer. Not as high as it is now, but impressive none the less. Facts is facts, unfortunately for your argument. Still, there's always next time EWM. Good luck!

Ultimately, the ticket sales ARE counted so the figures without them are just a little something of interest as a sidenote.

Not a hugely successful album but still a very decent showing from what is an average to good pop album from Prince.

Famboozled said:

Exactly!

Have you noticed how uninspired and weak the hater's jabs have been lately? As Bugs Bunny said to Elmer Fudd, "Hey laughing boy, well whaddya know, no more buwwets!"

2004: The Return of Positvity!

Can we all please remember that the World of Music doesn't just revolve around how well it sells in the States!

People, u seem 2 b 4getting that Musicology did pretty well throughout the international market, hitting No.3 in the UK, No.1 in Argentina, No.1 in Denmark, No.2 in Switzerland, No.3 in Holland, No.4 in Germany, No.4 in New Zealand, No.5 in Belgium, No.6 in Sweden....and the list goes on!#

AND ALL WITHOUT CD'S BUNDLED IN2 THE EQUATION!!

So, this is a Global success, and hitting Top Spot anywhere in the world is one hell of an achievement when u consider his recent commercial per4mances.

Go P!!

peacE
[This message was edited Thu Jun 17 5:43:45 2004 by midasG]
[This message was edited Thu Jun 17 5:43:58 2004 by midasG]

2freaky4church1 said:

What? I've been hearing about this album for months to the point where I almost thought it was out already. There was quite a bit of hype for this album that I noticed and I don't even have cable, so I'm not sure how much MTV and others were pumping the album, It sounds pretty instresting. Certaintly better than the non-existant "Chinesse Democracy".

Mazerati said:

It's nice to see any kind of significant change on the charts but the sales don't always translate into what radio plays (unfornately). Also, first week sales can be misleading but I hope they hold on. Now my only question is...what boy bands. Clam down! It isn't 1998 anymore!

2freaky4church said:


no advance hype?
[This message was edited Thu Jun 17 15:30:08 2004 by Universaluv]

jpav said:

Sorry, but the album still sucks. It did well because of ticket sales, low competition and great promotion. That doesn't make for a great album. You'll see, Musicology will be forgotten about by the world.

there are so may masterpieces that were forgotten by the world, why a solid good album like Musicology wouldn´t?

7salles said:

But the difference is that most people won't consider it to be a masterpiece. I think it's an album the people will put at the bottom of their collection.

Mazerati said:

Shit ME too!