maceoparker007 said:

The demand is definetly there. But at the moment it feels like the Estate are feeding the starving malnourished purple people with morsels and scraps....I want a full on purple banquet with free flowing wine...

[Edited 9/22/18 0:12am]

I think we can once and for all consider the "there is no market for Prince releases/Prince doesn't sell" argument as being totally dumb and collectively agree to shut off anyone who dares bring it back on this board

databank said:

I think we can once and for all consider the "there is no market for Prince releases/Prince doesn't sell" argument as being totally dumb and collectively agree to shut off anyone who dares bring it back on this board

... Well in that case, bye bye ROD.

So it debuted on iTUNES USA chart at #2, and it jumped to #1 and stayed there for 1 1/2 days...

Currently it is at #4 on the fourth day of its release.

HOw much dollars these sales represent at this stage...i'd like 2 know?

love2thenines2003 said:

HOw much dollars these sales represent at this stage...i'd like 2 know?

We'd have to know how many copies not charts positions.

Also, nowadays streams, though not very profitable, represent a great amount of what would before have been purchases. This cannot not be taken into account.

(Not to mention all the illegal downloads, hard to estimate but also representing a huge undocumented part of a record's "sales"... except of course those "sales" do not generate any profit.)

What is certain is that being #1 today doesn't equal the same number of copies sold, or money made, than it did 20 years ago, but even if being #1 means 50,000 copies when it used to mean 500,000, it still makes a record that charts well as profitable as a record can be in 2018, considering that the vast majority of records do not chart at all. Therefore between satisfying sales and critical acclaim, there is little doubt that this release will be considered a good operation by WB and the Estate. It doesn't mean they'll start flooding the market with Prince products next week, but it means there's an incentive to keep the "Prince" brand alive and active. The whole post WB albums on streaming platforms + Anthology + Piano album was a good marketing campaign overall.

feeluupp said:

databank said:

I think we can once and for all consider the "there is no market for Prince releases/Prince doesn't sell" argument as being totally dumb and collectively agree to shut off anyone who dares bring it back on this board

... Well in that case, bye bye ROD.

PennyPurple said:

feeluupp said:

... Well in that case, bye bye ROD.

feeluupp said:

databank said:

I think we can once and for all consider the "there is no market for Prince releases/Prince doesn't sell" argument as being totally dumb and collectively agree to shut off anyone who dares bring it back on this board

... Well in that case, bye bye ROD.

Expected to land at #8 on the U.K. charts:

http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=313513&title=-U.K.-MIDWEEKS:-DO-QUEENS-MAKE-A-WINNING-HAND?

Prince is one slot behind at #8 with posthumous rarities collection, Piano & A Microphone 1983 (Warner Bros.).

databank said:

I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if first week sales are higher than those for 4Ever, which was released in the run up to Xmas, traditionally the period of highest sales within the year.

Good to see it doing well chart wise/iTunes chart wise.

jjam said:

I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if first week sales are higher than those for 4Ever, which was released in the run up to Xmas, traditionally the period of highest sales within the year.

Good to see it doing well chart wise/iTunes chart wise.

We won't be able to get an exact comparison between P&AM83 and 4Ever, since 4Ever was released on a Tuesday insted of the now-standard Friday. That means 4Ever didn't get a full week of sales its first week.

It's at #4 now, Sept 24. Still pretty good considering what kind of release this is. I can't wait to get it.

databank said:

love2thenines2003 said:

HOw much dollars these sales represent at this stage...i'd like 2 know?

We'd have to know how many copies not charts positions.

Also, nowadays streams, though not very profitable, represent a great amount of what would before have been purchases. This cannot not be taken into account.

(Not to mention all the illegal downloads, hard to estimate but also representing a huge undocumented part of a record's "sales"... except of course those "sales" do not generate any profit.)

What is certain is that being #1 today doesn't equal the same number of copies sold, or money made, than it did 20 years ago, but even if being #1 means 50,000 copies when it used to mean 500,000, it still makes a record that charts well as profitable as a record can be in 2018, considering that the vast majority of records do not chart at all. Therefore between satisfying sales and critical acclaim, there is little doubt that this release will be considered a good operation by WB and the Estate. It doesn't mean they'll start flooding the market with Prince products next week, but it means there's an incentive to keep the "Prince" brand alive and active. The whole post WB albums on streaming platforms + Anthology + Piano album was a good marketing campaign overall.

Streams are profitable, music industry revenue and profits are way up as streaming services grow. Most people aren't going to bother to illegally download a song they can stream as part of their streaming service. It's the way to counter the illegal downloads.

wouldnt these "chart" positions prove that with the right promotion he will sell??? Prince said he could release stuff as good as purple rain but they wont back it so it wouldnt sell as much

5 days after release

luvsexy4all said:

wouldnt these "chart" positions prove that with the right promotion he will sell??? Prince said he could release stuff as good as purple rain but they wont back it so it wouldnt sell as much

That's the paradox... Prince could sell incredibly well, IF he wanted too...

Take ATWIAD for example, it was clear he didn't really "care" about the sales... 1999 sold over 6 million (a huge boost due to the release of PR...) Purple Rain was a worldwide hit selling over 21 million... So just from those two albums he sold over 27 million copies... With ATWIAD his instructions to WB was no promotion no singles no videos, etc... Just "release it without any promotion." They did and it went on to sell 3 million world wide...

When he wants to promote he gets the numbers, but in retrospect he does things "his" way, and the artistry always comes before the commercial aspect when you take a look back in his career...

When he really wanted to promote he got the numbers, look at D&P, the media blitz promotion, hiring of Frank Dileo, it went on to sell over 6.7 million copies...

Ofc there are some examples where he did extensive promotion and didn't get the numbers example: Emancipation, Rave... But when he really hires a team and makes calculated promotions he gets the numbers.

feeluupp said:

when he really hires a team and makes calculated promotions he gets the numbers.

a 'professional' team at that. Not the bs of the past/post WB shit.

rdhull said:

feeluupp said:

a 'professional' team at that. Not the bs of the past/post WB shit.

Right hence my post Prince can get the numbers only IF he wants too... Obviously the WB stuff sold the best, but don't forget Musicology, it sold 3 million world wide. 2.7 million in one year, with over one million in pure sales, and ofc the rest from the ticket sales... But the fact he can still sell 3 million 20 years after his biggest release, that shows his staying power...

The last album to get an RIAA certification was 3121 it went GOLD... But the rest of his albums in the last 10 years he really didn't care to promote at all.

rdhull said:

feeluupp said:

a 'professional' team at that. Not the bs of the past/post WB shit.

I hate to say this - but a team to which no one expects him to contribute anything but the album.

Genesia said:

rdhull said:

a 'professional' team at that. Not the bs of the past/post WB shit.

I hate to say this - but a team to which no one expects him to contribute anything but the album.

DIAMONDS & PEARLS and MUSICOLOGY were the two best promotional efforts made by Prince and his team. The hiring of Frank Dileo for D&P promotion was because they were in dire need of a commercial success after the major loss of money from the Graffiti Bridge album and movie.

Piano and Microphone 1983 will debut at #7 with 36k-39k in projected sales for the week.

info comes from Hits Daily Double.

not bad.

itsjustaroundthecorner said:

Piano and Microphone 1983 will debut at #7 with 36k-39k in projected sales for the week.

info comes from Hits Daily Double.

not bad.

This will represent Prince’s 20th top 10 album on the Billboard 200

1999 - #7

Purple Rain – 1

ATWIAD – 1

Parade- 3

SOTT- 6

Batman- 1

Graffiti Bridge- 6

Diamonds & Pearls – 3

The Hits / BSides - 4

- 5

The Gold Experience- 6

Musicology – 3

3121 – 1

Planet Earth – 3

Lotus Flower/MPLSound – 2

Plectrumelectrum – 8

Art Official Age- 5

The Very Best of Prince - 1

Ultimate - 6

Piano & a Microphone – 7* (HDD estimate)

[Edited 9/26/18 6:49am]

feeluupp said:

itsjustaroundthecorner said:

Piano and Microphone 1983 will debut at #7 with 36k-39k in projected sales for the week.

info comes from Hits Daily Double.

not bad.

Actually that is lower than expected tbh, and just imagine by the second week it will drop way down... So for 4EVER and PURPLE RAIN DELUXE sold a lot more in its first week debut...

One thing you can see by the sales/ sales plus streaming numbers, is Prince still has a very low ratio of streaming... If you look at all the other artists on this list... For example Aria Grande had just 5-6k pure sales but 34-37k with sales plus streaming... Prince ratio for sales plus streaming is literally less than 2%, so his streaming numbers are still extremely low compared to most modern and not modern artists...

1. *Josh Groban (Reprise) 94-99k Total Activity, 92-97k Albums
2. *Brockhampton (Question Everything/RCA) 89-94k, 66-71k
3. Eminem (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) 66-71k, 19-22k
4. Drake (YMCMB/Republic) 61-66k, 2-3k
5. Travis Scott (Cactus Jack/Grand Hustle/Epic) 56-61k, 1-2k
6. Post Malone (Republic) 43-47k, 3-4k
7. *Prince (Warner Bros.) 36-39k, 33-36k
8. Ariana Grande (Republic) 34-37k, 5-6k
9. Nicki Minaj (YMCMB/Republic) 33-36k, 3-4k
10. Juice WRLD (Grade A/Interscope) 32-35k, <1k

You forget that the streaming numbers are falsified by using computers to stream the music from the web sites. Just like fake twitter accounts and facebook accounts used to fudge the numbers. For a non-commercial album to reach number 7 is outstanding.

Also, streaming largely skews younger, why would loads of them be listening to an oldster like Prince? Top 10 is pretty good for a one-take sketch tape!

kewlschool said:

feeluupp said:

Actually that is lower than expected tbh, and just imagine by the second week it will drop way down... So for 4EVER and PURPLE RAIN DELUXE sold a lot more in its first week debut...

One thing you can see by the sales/ sales plus streaming numbers, is Prince still has a very low ratio of streaming... If you look at all the other artists on this list... For example Aria Grande had just 5-6k pure sales but 34-37k with sales plus streaming... Prince ratio for sales plus streaming is literally less than 2%, so his streaming numbers are still extremely low compared to most modern and not modern artists...

1. *Josh Groban (Reprise) 94-99k Total Activity, 92-97k Albums
2. *Brockhampton (Question Everything/RCA) 89-94k, 66-71k
3. Eminem (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) 66-71k, 19-22k
4. Drake (YMCMB/Republic) 61-66k, 2-3k
5. Travis Scott (Cactus Jack/Grand Hustle/Epic) 56-61k, 1-2k
6. Post Malone (Republic) 43-47k, 3-4k
7. *Prince (Warner Bros.) 36-39k, 33-36k
8. Ariana Grande (Republic) 34-37k, 5-6k
9. Nicki Minaj (YMCMB/Republic) 33-36k, 3-4k
10. Juice WRLD (Grade A/Interscope) 32-35k, <1k

You forget that the streaming numbers are falsified by using computers to stream the music from the web sites. Just like fake twitter accounts and facebook accounts used to fudge the numbers. For a non-commercial album to reach number 7 is outstanding.

In fact not, it's not so easy. A friend of mine did that for a year with his own music, made a fortune at the end of the year, then got banned by all the streaming services he had abused from getting any further royalties for the rest of his life for breaking users and conditions terms (basically he could sue for further royalties as long as he doesn't get them from cheating anymore, but they kinda said we'll pay this time because we don't wanna bother going into a legal battle, but good luck to you if you want to get into one later, which he didn't because he wouldn't make much money with legit streams anyway).