Prince's strategy of including a copy of his latest album, "Musicology," with each ticket sold to shows on his ongoing North American tour continues to pay chart dividends. His is the only title in the top 10 to see a sales increase this week as the album shoots 8-4 on The Billboard 200 on a 35% gain to 96,000 copies following four major Southern California dates.

http://www.billboard.com/...1000527609

NUMBERTWOFANATIC said:

Go !! Go !! Go !! Go !! Go!!

Keep the Party Movin'!!!!

$$$$$

$$$$$

give it to 'em Prince!!

I still have this unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach that somehow the industry will downplay his success and call it "cheating." In other words, they will continuously imply that people don't want to buy Prince's shit, so he uses trickery to get them to "buy" it by bundling the price with the concert ticket.

Either way, Prince can't win for losing. Yes, he'll make money, but he'll forever have an *asterisk* by his name and the "artist who formerly could sell records...without bundling tactic."

VERY SAD indeed!

laylow03 said:

'trickery', as in all the countless shit albums that sell millions of copies off the strength of one bullshit song. p just beat them at their own game.

laylow03 said:

Valid point. I could see the scenario of Musicology falling way down on the charts without the tour support and good publicity. But that doesn't mean he can't enjoy the fruits of his labor despite the "SUITS" throwing hissie fits and changing the rules. At the end of the day, we'll remember Prince's name as opposed to the "SUITS".
[This message was edited Wed Jun 9 12:21:54 2004 by Mynameisspmarc]

laylow03 said:

i see what you're saying, but really this album has sold SO MANY copies without the concert promotion. it only lost 3% this week and stuck around 40k, thats amazing. remember when rainbow children was released it sold, what, 20k? not even that, it didnt crack the top 100, and NEWS didnt crack the top 200. so for him to come back like this is stunning.

maybe in time people will turn on him, but for the time it seems either neutral or positive. i think its kinda cool noone else but prince, in the history of music, will ever be able to do this! but the main point is, that its sold plenty without concert tickets and exceeded ever single fans expectations, apart from the ones that always predict a "santana" comeback (which this isnt so far, but may be).

laylow03 said:

I don't give a fuck about what "they" think or say about it ... and this isn't sad news at all, it's great news for our guy who'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

By my calculations (according to HITS Daily Double) the album has sold 512,000 retail (I break it down in another thread). And it has hit a pretty nice considtent 40,000 unit a week stride. And it is still in the Top 20 based on pure sales. So regardless of what anyone says, this album is a hit. Not a blockbuster, not the next 'Purple Rain" but a solid hit for a pop star who has not had a commericially successful album since 1996.

dealodelandron said:

Hey, I'm agreeing with you; it's just that the industry will spin it that way and we all know it. No matter what P does, they'll find a way to downplay or discount his success...

reuters


Prince's controversial strategy of including a copy of his latest album, "Musicology," with each ticket sold to shows on his North American tour continues to pay chart dividends. His NPG/Columbia set was the only title in the top 10 to see a sales increase this week as the album rose four places to No. 4 on a 35% gain to 96,000 copies following four major southern California dates. Its total stands at almost 800,000 copies

Who gives a flying f*ck how the industry spins it. From it's very inception the music business has ripped off artists, especially the black ones, so their credibility and opinions are pretty low in my book. Prince came up with a great idea, Billboard agreed to it, and now that it's been successful beyond anyone's expectations, some folks want to complain.
So if you want to worry how some people are gonna view Musicology, fine. I'm gonna continue to celebrate the fact that a unique performer came up with a unique idea, that Musicology is a hit even without the concert CDs, and that after more than 26 years in the music business Prince is still going strong, even when so many people thought his career was dead and buried.
So, without further ado:

laylow03 said:

oh no, i get where you are comin from. its just my sarcastic remark. you are totally right.

i think there is a lot more merit in his strategy than he gets praise for. those that have been to his shows, are telling others that it was dope. its driving concert sales throughout the country. those that can't afford to go to the show end up buying a cd to try and get a little bit of that prince vibe. i'm sure some people are picking up copies for others after the show as well. at least people have some idea of what they are getting.

wow!

Woo-hoo. 93,000 more copies sold this week. Check it out:

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

Total 796,637

GottaLetitgo said:

Exactly!

I am lovin this! He has the indusry's attention now. Look at them tryin 2 catchup!

If his stragegy isn't genius, then I don't know what is. I love seeing these numbers. It's a hit, period end of discussion.

Regardless of how these sales are tallied, Prince is getting the maximum PR exposure of staying in the Top 10. That means his album is always "in your face," i.e. featured on the listening stations at stores, mentioned in news articles as "Top 10," and mentioned as "Top 10" by media folks covering Prince in print, online, on TV and radio.

It's hard to underestimate the PR value of an album title sitting on the Top 10 list when anyone looks at Billboard magazine or Billboard.com. This is positive PR and exposure, which in turn generates more sales. Musicology is a solid hit, any way you look at it.

dealodelandron said:

Ooooh yeh. Shame them.

NUMBERTWOFANATIC said:

Sony's
Strategy

not
Prince's

dealodelandron said:

very nice point!

But I think most stories already seem to be calling the strategy "trickery", and really, it kind of is, sorry to say.

But more power to him, and his money-making genius. More power to Sony for signing a contract that allows Prince to distribute these things too. I don't think the promos give any money to Sony at all, which means a lot of lost revenues.

Of course, it might also mean gained revenues, if word of mouth spreads enough to encourage people to buy the album.

Genius is the only way 2 describe HIM

On Tuesday June 8th their is an article in the Daily News NYC paper. NOW ENTERTAINMENT BULLET & BOMBS by Jim Farber. Title Prince's CD sales a 'given' Some call it a stroke of genius. Others call it a scam. Either way, Prince's decision to give away his latest album "Musicology," to everyone who attends his concerts- giving the CD a steroid boost on the charts- has paid off for His Purpleness. Last week, "Musicology" leaped from No. 16 back to No. 8 on Billboard's Top 200 list. Aided by albums given away at two big areana shows in California, that represents a 41% increase in CDs moved. Of the 703,000 copies counted by SounScan so far, roughly 25% were freebies, according to Billboard. Though Prince's tour started on March 28, the company has added those CDs given away only since "Musicology" hit stores April 20. That any free copies are counted has caused major grumbling in the industry. It's cheating, critics say, because those "sales" haven't been voluntary. Prince insists that the album's price was built into the concert tickets' prices, andthat attending a show demonstrates an interest in any music the star makes. There are several problems with this. First, Prince ticket prices -$45 to $75- are too low to account for an added-vaule CD. Compare them to Madonna's tickets, which run up to $300. Second, scores of long-running acts that easily sell out big shows every year - from Poison to America- can't interest fans in any new music. Then there's the problem of couples attending Prince's show. Such folks have complained on his fan sites that they have no use for two copies of the CD. And concert-goers who haven't heard about the bonus may already own the album, so Prince is counting them twice. To thwart such sneakiness in the future, SoundScan just announced a tweak in it's policy. From now on, as far as it's concerned, performers offering concert giveaways will have to use a two-tier ticketing system: a lower price for just the concert and a higher one to include the album, clearly indicating a desire to purchase it. The group Gomez has already employed this plan. Fans who attended some shows were able to pick up the album at the event (and get some extra music downloads) for an additional $10. It didn't exactly send sales through the roof. The band's "Split the Difference" opened with just 5,732 copies purchased. Prince, however, will definitely keep raking it in. He has 42 dates left on his tour, with an average 14,624 capicity at each, according to PollStar. So even if his album didn't sell one more copy in stores, it would still add 614,208 to it's final figure. Fair? Maybe not. Smart? Defintely.

Prince is & will always be" tha man" he rulzes.

mellow1 said:

Now, do ya'll see what I mean. The industry is constantly calling it "cheating." What I'm scared about is I hope that people don't get totally turned off by Prince and he doesn't sell any more records, thinking that there'll always will a scam involved. Remember the Crystal Ball fiasco? I didn't think it was a scam at all. Where on God's green earth can one buy 5 CD's for $50, plus an extra one, plus a t-shirt??? No where!!!!! But people will constantly dog Prince, and not that it's such a big deal. I just don't want people to stop buying music or complaining about Prince being a liar and a scammer. It's NOT a scam at all. Why wouldn't a fan of Prince welcome a CD included in the price of a ticket? That's just ludicrous to assume that a fan wouldn't want the CD. If there is a couple, shit, just give the extra CD away!

laylow03 said:

4 this writer 2 even bring up Madonna's $300.00 tix prices as if its the going rate for concerts hurts his credability. The Music Bizness have been cheating 4 years. Now if it was cheating Billboard would'nt have allowed it in the 1st place but now since P is blowing up, the same P haters from back in the day are complaining. They did'nt expect this TOUR 2 blowup like it did. P will 4ever b the Curtain Puller in the game. Long live the 1!

Milty said:

THAT RIGHT PRINCE STRIKE BACK!

ZAP TO RECORD INDUSTRY!

POW!

I'll say it again - those who are upset with Prince for this marketing strategy are simply JEALOUS because they didn't think of it first. Generally, Prince fans are loyal and if they could afford it, they leave with more than Musicology in their bags. I remember when Prince came to San Diego in April, 2001 - I saw some people with 3 or 4 CD's in their hands, of the NPG Music Club Stuff. So I don't know what all the beef could be about except the above reason.