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Thread started 07/14/07 10:08am

asg

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How much did purple rain sell in its first week? was it 3mil??

I know purple rain sold 1.4mil copies in the first 24hrs but i still dont know how much it sold in its first week??
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Reply #1 posted 07/14/07 10:36am

jtfolden

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Actually, on what do you base your info. Sources?
[Edited 7/14/07 10:38am]
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Reply #2 posted 07/14/07 10:49am

asg

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jtfolden said:

Actually, on what do you base your info. Sources?
[Edited 7/14/07 10:38am]


I saw the 1.4mill figure on a news item where they have what happened on that day back thru the yrs.
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Reply #3 posted 07/14/07 11:53am

jtfolden

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asg said:

jtfolden said:

Actually, on what do you base your info. Sources?


I saw the 1.4mill figure on a news item where they have what happened on that day back thru the yrs.


IIRC, it sold that amount over the course of a week or two, not within 24 hours. If it had, the album would have debuted at #1, which it didn't.
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Reply #4 posted 07/14/07 1:24pm

asg

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jtfolden said:

asg said:



I saw the 1.4mill figure on a news item where they have what happened on that day back thru the yrs.


IIRC, it sold that amount over the course of a week or two, not within 24 hours. If it had, the album would have debuted at #1, which it didn't.


it sold 1.4mil in 24hrs only not 2 weeks back in the 80s no albums did debut at #1 becasue it wasnt done purely by the numbers! It was very hard for an album to reach #1 let alone debut at #1
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Reply #5 posted 07/14/07 1:44pm

jtfolden

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As I said, we'd need a real source to verify that. I used to buy Billboard magazine in the 80's and don't recall numbers like that.
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Reply #6 posted 07/14/07 2:11pm

asg

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jtfolden said:

As I said, we'd need a real source to verify that. I used to buy Billboard magazine in the 80's and don't recall numbers like that.


well it was widely known prince had sold more then 1mil albums on the first day but until i read that article i didnt know it was 1.4mil in a single day plus
purple rain spent a total of 24 consequtive weeks at #1 no album has ever done that! I am dtrying to search it was in the news several months back

how long was the movie release affter the album here is what i found on time magazine

. Purple Rain had already sold nearly 2.5 million copies before the movie was released last Friday

http://72.14.253.104/sear...d=41&gl=us
[Edited 7/14/07 14:20pm]


here is another source
http://www.superiorpics.com/prince/

It also spent an incredible 24 consecutive weeks at #1, becoming one of the top soundtracks ever. The album reportedly sold more than a million copies on the day of its release.
[Edited 7/14/07 14:24pm]
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Reply #7 posted 07/14/07 2:29pm

jtfolden

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asg said:

well it was widely known prince had sold more then 1mil albums on the first day


I don't know how widely known it was... Until now, I've never heard the claim but stories do change over time.

how long was the movie release affter the album here is what i found on time magazine

. Purple Rain had already sold nearly 2.5 million copies before the movie was released last Friday


The album was released June 25th, 1984 and the movie was released July 27th or so, a month later.

Selling 2.5 million in a month sounds like a more accurate figure and more in line with what I read. i have a real hard time believing the album sold 1.4mil in 24 hours and then took another month just to sell 1mil copies.
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Reply #8 posted 07/14/07 2:42pm

carlluv

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jtfolden said:

asg said:



I saw the 1.4mill figure on a news item where they have what happened on that day back thru the yrs.


IIRC, it sold that amount over the course of a week or two, not within 24 hours. If it had, the album would have debuted at #1, which it didn't.


He's about right. I remember doing a oral report on Prince for a speech class,way back in "86". I rememember saying that Purple rain sold at least one million copies in it's first day
why in God's name do u wanna make me cry
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Reply #9 posted 07/14/07 5:53pm

krayzie

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asg said:

I know purple rain sold 1.4mil copies in the first 24hrs but i still dont know how much it sold in its first week??


3 mil in its first week? that's impossible. I know that the all-time first-week record by Nsync is 2.5 mil
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Reply #10 posted 07/14/07 9:20pm

asg

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krayzie said:

asg said:

I know purple rain sold 1.4mil copies in the first 24hrs but i still dont know how much it sold in its first week??


3 mil in its first week? that's impossible. I know that the all-time first-week record by Nsync is 2.5 mil


nsync could be in the soundscan era b4 that they never reported any hard numbers
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Reply #11 posted 07/14/07 10:13pm

lovemachine

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asg said:

I know purple rain sold 1.4mil copies in the first 24hrs but i still dont know how much it sold in its first week??


Nope.
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Reply #12 posted 07/14/07 11:50pm

WellInever

according to billboard: it was 11 on pop and 18 RB


http://www.billboard.com/...F14%2F1984


http://www.billboard.com/...F14%2F1984


#1 RB July 28


http://www.billboard.com/...F28%2F1984

#1 pop Aug 4

http://www.billboard.com/...F04%2F1984
[Edited 7/14/07 23:54pm]
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Reply #13 posted 07/15/07 12:05am

jtfolden

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krayzie said:

asg said:

I know purple rain sold 1.4mil copies in the first 24hrs but i still dont know how much it sold in its first week??


3 mil in its first week? that's impossible. I know that the all-time first-week record by Nsync is 2.5 mil



Right, it took PR about a month to sell 2.5 mil according to the link previously provided.
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Reply #14 posted 07/15/07 12:08am

jtfolden

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asg said:

krayzie said:



3 mil in its first week? that's impossible. I know that the all-time first-week record by Nsync is 2.5 mil


nsync could be in the soundscan era b4 that they never reported any hard numbers


Never reported hard numbers? Of course they did... it just took longer to collate them at Billboard.
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Reply #15 posted 07/15/07 4:39am

Raze

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jtfolden said:

asg said:



nsync could be in the soundscan era b4 that they never reported any hard numbers


Never reported hard numbers? Of course they did... it just took longer to collate them at Billboard.




they were extremely inaccurate, even after they numbers were collected. which is why you saw a HUGE shift toward r&b and country on the albums and singles charts after the introduction of soundscan
"Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you." - Kahlil Gibran
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