Part 1 : https://prince.org/msg/7/...?&pg=1
Part 2 : https://prince.org/msg/7/...?&pg=1

Worldwide charts and sales for Welcome 2 America :


Australia : 5-37-out!
Physical album sales : 2-7-8-16-41-51-44-50-out !

Austria : 3-17-36-58-out!
Belgium ( Flanders) : 2-3-10-21-28-108-104-119-101-141-out
Belgium : (Wallonia) : 2-23-25-35-99-139-out!
Canada : 26-out
Top sales : 2-19-out?

Czech : 92-out
Denmark : 12-out
Vinyl charts : 2-7-14-out?

Netherlands : 2-12-29-96-80-out !
Finland : 27-out !
France : 4 (4,900)-39 (1,500+)-68(1, 100)-83 (1, 000)-102 (850) -132 (700)-184 (650).-out!
Total : 11,000 including 3,000 SDE
Deutschland : 3-15-17-60-83-out!
Ireland : 25-out!
Italy : 26-out!
Physical : 9-9-49-out-46

Japan : 10 (6,373)-31 (1, 539)-51 (553)-84 (533) -33 (1, 540) -114 (357)-118 (384)- 271 (159)-out!
Total : 12,500, including 11,787 physical sales.

Norway : 39-out!
Poland : 42-out!
Portugal : 2-6-5-19-16-19-out-21-out!
Scotland : 3 -17-out?
Spain : 7-out !
Vinyls charts : 2-4-16-23-33-64-83-75-74-out?
Swedien : 53-out?
Switzerland : 2-4-13-31-33-57-78-out !
UK Albums : 5 (6,034)- 111 (1,081)-out. Estimated total : 10,000.
UK album physical sales : 3-14-31-73-99-out !

US Billboard 200 : 4 (57k) -113-out!
US Top sales : 2 (50k)-7 (9k)-16 (5k)-12 (5k)-32 (3k)-44 (2k)-67 (2k)-82 (2k)--out.
US Top Current sales : 2-6-7-11-22-25-40-47-57-65-69
Total Sales: 81,000
Total sales + streaming : 90,000

Wales : 2-18-39-out-100-60

Worlwide sales :
1st week : 107,000
2nd week : 25,000
3rd week : 15,000
4th week : 13,000
5th week : 9,000
6th week : 5,000
7th week : 4,000
8th week : 4,000
9th week : 4,000
10th week : 2,000
11th week : 2,000

Total : 190,000.

[Edited 8/13/21 15:48pm]
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[Edited 10/19/21 19:13pm]
[Edited 10/19/21 19:13pm]

So, W2A is already out of the official album charts in the UK!

But it s still ranking for its 2nd week on :

Rnb charts : #3
Physical sales charts : #15
Vinyl charts : #26 ( down from #2 last week!)
Download charts : #36
Sales charts : #14

Scotland : #17 ( #3 last week)
Ireland : out!

Let's just celebrate that success.
[Edited 8/13/21 15:48pm]

RODSERLING said:

So, W2A is already out of the official album charts in the UK!

That might be a record for the biggest second week drop in UK chart history! It's a flop. It really is. According to HDD it isn't in the Top 50 and sold less than 12,599

homesquid said:

The problem is that the official charts are made of sales + streaming.

It s a flop in term of streaming, for sure.
Which is not surprising, considering there's not even a video for any song of the album.
Not even a lyric video that could be made in a few hours for a few thousand bucks.

Im term of sales, W2A is still #14 in the UK, for a very expensive set, that's not so bad.
In the US, some of HDD forrcast have less than 250 albums sold.
AOA was #15 the 2nd week, when streaming wasn't added yet.
I think W2A will also do about the same in the top album SALES charts.

Global charts MediaTraffic :

http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums.htm

Welcome 2 AMERICA is #4 worldwide with 107,000 copies, including sales...+ streaming !

Such numbers are similar to AOA (108,000), despite the fact that AOA's numbers were 100% based on CD sales + downloads ( not even vinyl!).

One must though take into account that W2A sales is also consisting for the most part of the very costly SDE, that contains in fact twice the album.

53,27% of the sales were from US only, wheres AOA had just the opposite, 53% sales outside the US.

68,3% of the worldwide sales (74,307) were in fact from the 4 big markets : US, Japan, UK, France.

Now we have a ratio number for future worldwide sales.

https://www.billboard.com...2-america/

He's now one of a dozen artists with at least 20 top 10s in the chart's 65-year history.
37, The Rolling Stones
34, Barbra Streisand
32, The Beatles
32, Frank Sinatra
27, Elvis Presley
23, Bob Dylan
22, Madonna
21, Paul McCartney/Wings
21, Bruce Springsteen
21, George Strait
20, Elton John
20, Prince

So Prince has : 6 top ten in the 80's, only 4 in the 90's, 3 in the 2000's, 6 in the 2010's ( in fact 7 since 1999 reentered the top 10 in 2016)

RODSERLING said:

Global charts MediaTraffic : http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums.htm Welcome 2 AMERICA is #4 worldwide with 107,000 copies, including sales...+ streaming ! Such numbers are similar to AOA (108,000), despite the fact that AOA's numbers were 100% based on CD sales + downloads ( not even vinyl!). One must though take into account that W2A sales is also consisting for the most part of the very costly SDE, that contains in fact twice the album. 53,27% of the sales were from US only, wheres AOA had just the opposite, 53% sales outside the US. 68,3% of the worldwide sales (74,307) were in fact from the 4 big markets : US, Japan, UK, France. Now we have a ratio number for future worldwide sales.

Deluxe does not count as 2 copies sold. It counts as one even though there is 2 formats in 1 package. 107,000 copies is 107,000 copies.

[Edited 8/13/21 23:51pm]

kewlschool said:

I NEVER said nor implied it counted as two copies sold

I just said " Ok, sales are maybe not that huge, but you must take into account the fact it was overpriced and that in fact the SDE contains twice the album ".

For the record, MediaTraffic counted in 2009 MJ's The Collection as 5 separated albums, 1 copie sold = 5 albums sold.

I wish every chart in the world would count twice SDE such as Originals, W2A, etc. That would be fair.
[Edited 8/14/21 0:47am]
[Edited 8/14/21 0:48am]

RODSERLING said:

homesquid said:

That might be a record for the biggest second week drop in UK chart history! It's a flop. It really is. According to HDD it isn't in the Top 50 and sold less than 12,599

The problem is that the official charts are made of sales + streaming. It s a flop in term of streaming, for sure. Which is not surprising, considering there's not even a video for any song of the album. Not even a lyric video that could be made in a few hours for a few thousand bucks. Im term of sales, W2A is still #14 in the UK, for a very expensive set, that's not so bad. In the US, some of HDD forrcast have less than 250 albums sold. AOA was #15 the 2nd week, when streaming wasn't added yet. I think W2A will also do about the same in the top album SALES charts.

Good points. Without a hit single this is probably Prince's sales ceiling comprised of a core group of fans. I'm sure the promo of W2A roped in some casual fans too. It would really be cool for Prince to have another hit single. I predict someone is going to remix one of his songs and it will hit one day.

RODSERLING said:

Just wondering why Michael Jackson wasn’t on the list of artist with at least 20 top ten hits on Billboard? MJ had 32 Top Ten Hits while living and to date has two posthumous Top Ten entries. Btw, not trying to turn this into a debate, just stating FACTS to clarify your list.

Free2BMe said:

This is albums, not singles. Michael only had 10 top ten albums, although he would have 12 if Billboard had allowed catalog albums to chart in 2009 when he died. Also, he has 30 credited top ten singles on Billboard (two of which were posthumous). This doesn’t include top ten hits with the Jackson 5/Jacksons.

renfield said:

Thank you for the clarification.
[Edited 8/14/21 19:59pm]

homesquid said:

RODSERLING said:

So, W2A is already out of the official album charts in the UK!

That might be a record for the biggest second week drop in UK chart history! It's a flop. It really is. According to HDD it isn't in the Top 50 and sold less than 12,599

The album went Top 5. That is far from a flop.

Some second week positions for W2A:

Swiss : #4
Netherlands : #12
Belgium ( Flanders) : #3
Belgium ( Wallonia) : #23
Australia : #37
Ireland : out
Scotland : #17
UK : #14 ( sales charts)
Japan : #31
[Edited 8/15/21 16:22pm]

Seriously, Belgium can't get together on their music charts? Like, does anybody outside of Belgium care about sales in Flanders versus Wallonia?

PJMcGee said:

Two worth better than one
That country don't have his own theaters box office neither.

W2A 2nd week in France : #39 (-35) with a little more than 1,500 copies.
Total sold since the release : 6,400.

In Italy, for its 2nd week, W2A is... Wait for it..
Out of the top 100 !
But #19 on the vinyl charts.

.
[Edited 8/16/21 10:44am]

RODSERLING said:

Last week was #3 on the vinyl chart.

Welcome 2 America loses 109 ranks in the Billboard 200. Ouch!
But that huge fall hide the fact it still selling well in physical/digital format, exceptionally well, for a Prince album.

Also of note, Purple Rain is already outselling W2A in the vinyl format, because the SDE counts only as one CD album, whereas it should be fair if it was counted twice.


US Billboard Charts (21/08/2021)

The Billboard 200

TW LW 2W WOC Title Artist ( Peak )
113 4 -- 2 Welcome 2 America ‒ Prince ( 4 )

TOP ALBUM SALES

TW LW 2W WOC Title Artist ( Peak ) Imprint | label
7 2 -- 2 Welcome 2 America - Prince ( 2 ) NPG
25 26 25 171 Purple Rain (Soundtrack) - Prince


TOP CURRENT ALBUM SALES

TW LW 2W WOC Title Artist ( Peak ) Imprint | label

6 2 -- 2 Welcome 2 America - Prince ( 2 ) NPG


VINYL ALBUMS

TW LW 2W WOC Title Artist ( Peak ) Imprint | label
8 11 9 216 Purple Rain (Soundtrack) - Prince And The Revolution ( 1 ) Warner, NPG
9 2 -- 2 Welcome 2 America - Prince ( 2 ) NPG

TASTEMAKER ALBUMS

TW LW 2W WOC Title Artist ( Peak ) Imprint
9 3 -- 2 Welcome 2 America - Prince ( 3 )

And the last important market for the second week of W2A :
Germany : #15 (-12)

RODSERLING said:

Welcome 2 America loses 109 ranks in the Billboard 200. Ouch!

Sigh...most people want 1978-1990. How much proof do we need? The D&P reissue era will be interesting. I expect bad numbers. Other than the hit singles there's nothing there.

homesquid said:

Did you read the
S
E
Ntence after?
If W2A is a flop, then 95% of albums sold in stores this week are huge flops, since it s still in the top ten of the best selling albums.

Do you really think than Parade SDE will attract masses, will sell so much better than D&P?
Nah. That s a myth.

As long as there will be zilch promotion to these products ( I mean real music vidéos, radio singles, etc.), they will only attract a niche market.

The Album that could have sold a lot was Originals, but they completely fucked up the marketing appeal of the project by releasing NC2U a year before (!)

W2A, the track, could have had more exposition with a radio edit, a video, a professionnally filmed performance of the song, etc.

Also, what are they waiting for releasing the Netflix show ? 2035?

homesquid said:

RODSERLING said:

Welcome 2 America loses 109 ranks in the Billboard 200. Ouch!

Sigh...most people want 1978-1990. How much proof do we need? The D&P reissue era will be interesting. I expect bad numbers. Other than the hit singles there's nothing there.

W2A performed as well as PR Deluxe and better than any other posthumous release, including the 1999 and SOTT SDEs (nos.45 and 20 respectively, and off the BB 200 in 1 and 2 weeks), Piano & A Microphone 83 (no.11 and off in 2 weeks), and Originals (no.15 and off in 3 weeks).

The public, outside of the purple hardcore, appear to be more interested in his newer music than 35 year old outtakes and remasters. It could be that Sony did a better marketing job than Warner Bros, but a 'new' album seemed to have more appeal.

I never saw much Prince new albums in wreckastores since AOA, not even, because AOA was released only on CD at the time.
Now, there are dozens of W2A regular edition, SDE, vinyl...

It s great to see Prince ranking #3 in the biggest recordstore chain in France, aaside Billie Eilish ( who was #1 with only 5,000 copies of more than Prince with a lot more promotion).

I honestly don't think al the copies sent in stores will be sold, but still... Such an exposition is positive publicity.

Moreover, Piano/Mic, Originals amd W2A have rave reviews, surely the best reviews ever for a Prince album since SOTT.
That helps legitimate these releases too.

RODSERLING said:

I never saw much Prince new albums in wreckastores since AOA, not even, because AOA was released only on CD at the time. Now, there are dozens of W2A regular edition, SDE, vinyl... It s great to see Prince ranking #3 in the biggest recordstore chain in France, aaside Billie Eilish ( who was #1 with only 5,000 copies of more than Prince with a lot more promotion). I honestly don't think al the copies sent in stores will be sold, but still... Such an exposition is positive publicity. Moreover, Piano/Mic, Originals amd W2A have rave reviews, surely the best reviews ever for a Prince album since SOTT. That helps legitimate these releases too.

They sell the physical copies in our local record store. There are times when they run out of Prince albums (They don't carry but 1 of each popular album-except on new releases.) They sold out of all record day Prince albums.

The fact it is the first complete album from the vault was a great marketing aspect which peaked interest from the public.

For its 3rd week, W2A is out of the Japan Oricon top 50 album charts. The #50 sold 1,850 copies.

That's in fact a top 300, but you have to pay a subscription to see the rest of the top. If someone has 1080 yens to give me...

BUT, there is a concurrent chart, the Billboard Japan, that is a top 100 where W2A ranks at #61.
It is Unfavorable to W2A since the 1st week it was #12 (#10 for Oricon), the 2nd week #37 (#31 for Oricon).

So I guess that W2A is in fact about #54/#55 on the Oricon charts, with about 1700 copies sold. Total : 9,500 copies sold in Japan in 3 weeks.

Best selling albums in the US in 2021 so far, as of week 32

Rank Estimated 2021 Sales TITLE Artist Estimated Total Sales
20 114,000 PURPLE RAIN Prince & the Revolution 4,160,000
79 59,000 WELCOME 2 AMERICA Prince 59,000

So for its 2nd week in the US, W2A sold 9,000 ( without streaming).

AOA aold 15,000 during its 2nd week.
[Edited 8/20/21 6:53am]

I updated the first post of this thread with new chartrun and sales.
Take a look at it from time to time.


Worlwide sales :
1st week : 107,000
2nd week : ~25,000


Interesting to see that it holds up well in Germany (#17, last week #15). Surely has to do with the marketing operation with the Hot Summer single in Rolling Stone.

Out in Canada because they use that same huge streaming shit than Billboard. But it's in fact still #20 on their Amazon ( just for the CD version!).
Very good for a beginning of a 4th week.

Out in Ireland, Scotland, Czech, Italy, Norway, Poland.