I am very disappointed in prince's album sales lately.....how can u call yourself a legend and your latest album doesnt go platinum and may not make gold in america?

I hate to see my idol look old and washed up like this.....

Do u think he will ever sell 10 million like a true legend should?

The music industry has changed alot, me personally I couldnt care less if he sold 10 or 10 million albums, aslong as hes still about and I am still able to enjoy his music then im happy

mirrorbestfriend said:

No one will sell 10 million again. Prince only did it one time himself.

Your idol doesn't seem too concerned about his record sales. He only has had a few blockbuster albums in terms of sales figures. Besides Purple Rain, he has NEVER been the best seller of any year.

As far as being old and washed up:

1. Obviously you haven't been to a Prince concert lately.
2. If low sales makes you old and washed up--Prince was old and washed up by 1986...
3. This sseems like a question/concern of a newish Prince fan? Are you a newer fan?


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[Edited 7/31/07 8:04am]

Prince does not give a rats behind about how many CD's sold.
Money is made from touring, merchandise etc
No doubt he has a very happy bank manager this tour.

He won't sale 10 million but he might sell 10 million.

Sorry, couldn't help myself...

mirrorbestfriend said:

You know, the thing about legends is that they usually have already proved that they were as such.....in the past. You know, formerly made a biblical-worthy impact on the masses at some point in their life. So, there you go. "Prince" could stop, now, and still be considered a legend as I believe he has reached the pinnacle as such. Now, I'm not saying that I like "Planet Earth" (Because, quite frankly, as it stands, this album was a "hit and/or miss" for me. Not to mention that the "misses" outweighed the "hits", but that's another story.). I don't, really. I only like "Somewhere Here on Earth", "The 1 U Wanna C", "Planet Earth", and that's pretty much it. But, I don't really expect much out of the guy. Though, I would like an album with more spunk than the last three, I'm not writhing in pain because his latest releases aren't killers. I'm quite content.

With the way the music industry is evolving/collapsing I doubt very much if ANYONE will sell 10 million copies of an album in the USA ever again!

Incidentally that is a DIAMOND rating with RIAA and if you look into this you will see that very few artists have ever achieved this and even fewer have achieved it more than once (The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd spring to mind).

However, in most cases the artists who have acheived sales of over 10 million of a single album are usually older more established artists (The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd) who didn't initially sell 10 million but benefitted from people upgrading their collections when new formats appeared (ie Vinyl, Tape, CD).

I think the interesting thing that is happening today is that the music industry is coming full circle to where it was in the 1950s when the single ruled supreme and albums were far less important (often just a collection of singles and weak filler tracks). It is widely recognised that The Beatles were amongst the first artists to use the "album" as an end to itself by including songs that were easily as strong or stronger than the singles (Rubber Soul and Revolver) or even not featuring a single at all in the album song list! In fact the *heyday* of the album was the 1970s with the proliferation of "concept albums" from artists/groups who didn't even release singles (Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd). Today with the rise of internet downloads kids are starting to buy one-off songs readily and ignoring albums (therefore negating the relevance of albums in the audiences view).
[Edited 7/31/07 8:41am]

skywalker said:

MJ's Invincible sold 8 mill worldwide.

Madonna's confessions also sold 8 mill worldwide so it can be done.

blumer said:

errr well neither of those is 10 million like the original question from mirrorbestfriend

In addition the original post appears to be referencing the USA alone for 10 million sales not worldwide!
[Edited 7/31/07 9:27am]

And anyway - who the was the last artist to sell 10 million copies in the USA?

Take a look here:

http://www.angelfire.com/.../main.html

hmm having read this myself it appears that several artists have achieved this in the last few years:

(2003) OutKast - "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" = 11 million
(2002) Shania Twain - "Up!" = 11 million
(2002) Norah Jones - "Come Away With Me" = 10 million

However, it's interesting to note that nobody over the last 3 years has done this (and this coincides with the launch of things like iTunes).

And for the record:

(1984) Prince and the Revolution - "Purple Rain" = 13 million
[Edited 7/31/07 9:38am]

This is a better/more up-to-date list direct from the primary source...

http://www.riaa.com/golda...tblDiamond

enjoy!

1. 8 million isn't 10 million

2. Those albums came out years ago--the record biz has fallen even further since then in terms of sales. As far as Prince goes, he sold 10million + only at his commercial peak. That is in 1984 when music sales were reaching heights never seen before...

Does it matter?

I know you own it? WHY do you need people you will never meet enjoy what you listen too?

Numbers only matter what He is taking home! Prince is making some serious money!!!! Also real musicans make the lion share of their money on their gift which is playing live.

ElectricBlue said:

yes that is true but record sales not touring is what made him known

mirrorbestfriend said:

Ummmm. NO ONE sells 10 million anymore.

You're such a genius you should already know this; Mariah's number one album of the year sold maybe 6 million, Usher the year before sold maybe 6 million, etc. etc.

It's been YEARS since any album sold 10 million.

So, in your opinion EVERYONE is washed up.

Will Prince ever sell 10 million again?

At the rate his music has been going lately...probably not but with Prince you just never know...he could surprise the fuck out of all of us at any minute!

Will that matter to Prince or the people who enjoy his music? Definitely not!

Britney Spears could have the comeback of a lifetime and sell 10 million copies of a new cd next week! Will that make her more of a legend than Prince? HELL TO THE MOTHERFUCKING NAW!!

Legendary status is not based on how many records a performer sells! It's based on how much that music resonates with the people who buy it and STILL listen to it years AFTER it's no longer on the charts and the "popular" thing to do! Believe that shit!!
[Edited 7/31/07 17:04pm]

Hell No! Still love em' though

mirrorbestfriend said:

-----
No one sells 10 million. Please take the time to look at the facts and P was selling out the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit back in 83. He was not selling a lot of records with the exception of PR he never has but, he was a big concert draw long before the masses knew anything about him.

He is doing good for a 48 year old brother.

SexyBeautifulOne said:

Co-sign that!

By mirrorbestfriend's rationale people like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan etc etc would NOT be legends because they have NEVER sold 10 million copies of any of their albums!

Conversely Shania Twain, Celine Dion and Britany Spears are mega legends!

Hmmm go figure