I guess it wasn't a bad move on Prince's part to sell his cd only at target

but you have to look at that in alot of ways....
Now STING is a major success for the type of album it is, SURE the police and his solo stuff sold millions, but his new record is far from a "mainstream" type album, its also using NO promo $$'s, most of its airplay is coming from Starbucks, so Major success for Sting.

The Rihanna cd is the one struggling the most in terms of what was invested and WHAT you sold. Most of the $$'s on that project were spent on Videos Budgets, Media coverage and then commissioning the songwriters and samples, which is where most of the money goes. SO in that respect, that album has been a huge cash drain.

I heard they about to drop Mariah.


Anyway um, they need to start promoting to older fan base because young people are not buying albums..thats what it is. DONT THEY REALISE THIS!?!?! It's the people who grew up actually buying lp's tapes and cd's that are the core market!

paisleypark4 said:

So true. Part of knowing your market is not only who has the disposable income, but also what their BUYING HABITS are.

Cinnie said:

I think the thing is that they figure if we change the blueprint for how we market things we are going to have to actually take "chances", and my thing is the bottom already has fallen out, take a gamble, i mean its NOT like its a real gamble. I mean the new Sting sold almost 400,000 albums with no video or single or scandal, and the new so and so has sold a quarter of that with tons of dollars.

They still promote to the older generation but they don't know the older generation's taste. Look at Rod Stewart's new album....a Barry Manilow type album full of covers. And look when folks like The Barkays record a new album....an album full of slow to midtempo songs made with cheap shit hop drum machines.

They act as if the older generation is still into classical music and other forms of slow music only....in other words....dull. Most of that generation is either dead or in nursing homes. That older generation had tastes more like today's younger generation (just goes to show that most of the younger generation is going backwards instead of forwards). No, the older generation of today grew up on disco, funk, hard rock, and heavy metal. We grew up on kick ass music so naturally we aren't going to buy and album full of nothing but slow dull shit.

I bet the older generation still knows how to rock out, people just don't wanna give them the benefit of the doubt but I bet they can still.

RnBAmbassador said:

No surprise R. Smelly is at the bottom of the heap, barely breaking 100K.

As far as the numbers, this is the average anymore. It takes a LOT to sell 1,000,000. I bet Prince still hasn't (and won't) break a million with Lotus. Whitney and Maxwell are right in there w/ the average. Remember, Keith Urban and Prince battled it out for #1 that week, and both were only in the 380,000 range, were they not? Gone are the days of selling a million copies in one week. This is the new rule, not the exception.

vainandy said:

My goodness, this is so true. The baby boomers wanna rock still, but they only get served these very verrrrry mellow put-you-to-sleep albums. Rod Stewart isn't the only one who put out a dull album to supposedly appeal to a certain generation.

Rod Stewart fans still wanna rock! They're pumpin' that album with "Maggie May" on it or whatever.

Hell, when my stepmom goes to the music store she says "apparently I'm a metalhead".

Most definately. You should see them at class reunions or parties at clubs where they have people to dress up like the 1970s and they play disco music. They throwdown. They form Soul Train lines and they shake ass just like they used to. And none of this holding onto their hip and lower back when they shake ass either.

And just look at recent Prince and Michael Jackson concerts. Both artists ain't spring chickens but they get on down just like they were still in their 20s. Not just them, but the audience too.

I have never understood why these old groups go into the studio these days and record something where everything is so slow that even my grandmother would have turned her nose up at it. It's the younger generation that they are going after, not the older one because the older one likes to party.

Oh Lord, and a lot of the older rock fans still have their AC/DC T-Shirts that they wear to this very day. And just look at all the Jimi Hendrix T-Shirts around these days. The rock fans will love rock till the day they die.
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[Edited 12/13/09 10:40am]

R. Kelly is doing well for someone with no promo.

vainandy said:

And inversely, they NEVER liked Barry Manilow, and never will.

midiscover said:

Not compared to the others. And every "artist" (I use the word loosely w/ him) has a core fan base that will buy their shit. Looks like R. Kelly has just over 100,000.

Exactly. Barry Manilow was more for my grandmother's generation, not my mother's. Rod needs to wake up because his fans from my mother's generation want to hear something like "Maggie May" and his fans from my generation want to hear something like "Infatuation".
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[Edited 12/13/09 10:49am]

ernestsewell said:

Like who? He didn't have one track that was a huge hit like his previous albums did. So it wasn't enough to carry the album. Jive dropped the bomb on him either way. It was damned from the get go and he has a lot fans He sold over 13 million this whole decade.

vainandy said:

He's been chasing the success of "Forever Young" and "Have I Told You Lately".

ernestsewell said:

His songs ain't been charting well since "Number One" either.

Cinnie said:

Someone needs to remind that sucker that he did "Hot Legs" and "Stay With Me" (w/the Faces)! Like IMMEDIATELY!!!!

Timmy84 said:

Certainly one would be aware when you prepare a set list, and every time the set drags, it's all your new dull material.

I mean, this mutha did "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" 30 years ago and it still jams.

midiscover said:

What, I could have sworn that was him!

Cinnie said:

That's just weird. He's one of the greatest rock singers of all time and yet he thinks we enjoy that lounge shit he's doing lol

As far as Andy's opinion on slow tempo music.....I think the average tempo of what's on the radio is going to speed up a LOT in 2010.

Black Eyed Peas abandoned their usual mid-tempo 100-115BPM songs with the biggest song of the year, "I Gotta Feeling" which clocks in at a very danceable 128BPM.

That's why it was such a good jam in the clubs, people could really dance to it.

The Rhianna and R. Kelly discs have been out less than one whole month. It's much too early to deem the projects failures. Mariah, on the other hand, the sales data speak volumes.

Identity said:

Good point. But yeah Mariah's sales are a travesty.

If this bitch Susan blocks Alicia from #1 next week I will LMAO.

Timmy84 said:

Rod is 64 years old. I would imagine he is trying not to appear as if he is clinging to his 30s like some of his peer acts that can seem a little desperate. He just may not want to "rock" anymore.

Militant said:

Even this has to be partly due to touring with U2. You realize when you hit the stage you need to knock the audience on their asses with some energy!