It's great to see such a truly wonderful and musically eclectic album doing so well (and Britney's latest flopping). If only "Comfort Woman" would sell that many copies, we'd have a perfect world.

Of course, OutKast has only sold 2 million, but shipped 6 million, so the figures are a bit misleading, but still...

I wonder how high it can go as they keep spinning singles off of it for the next few years (just like w/ Janet's Rhythm Nation).

Outkast suck ass

VoicesCarry said:

poor britney.maybe she should stick to acting now(can she act? :Hmm:)

does Soundscan and the RIAA still count total numbers for double albums differently?

garnis said:

AaronAlmighty said:

Yes. RIAA counts a double album as two units for certification.

And according to their site, Speakerboxxx/Love Below is certified as 4x platinum.

garnis said:

at least they are not as repetitive as you.

Raven said:

Ah, that explains the discrepancy then. Billboard has them at 6x platinum, which means Billboard hasn't updated to 4x platinum (that would be "8x platinum" since it's a double album, if you follow my logic).

I remember Shania Twain opted out of the "double the certification for a double album" when she released Up, which I think is certainly more reasonable (otherwise, she'd have another diamond record). Especially since you can easily get a double album for the price of a single album these days. It should be changed to number of UNITS sold.

Good for them.Love Outkast

I'm surprised! Ususally stuff this good is kept a secret.

VoicesCarry said:

I've noticed that Shania's album did amazing out of the box but then kind of went away (as the lead single, which was a great song, didn't hit the charts that hard) but have seen that it is still on the charts and sometimes gets into the upper regions, like the Top 30 or 40 but it doesn't have any certifaction yet. Wondering if they are waiting until they think it's sold all it can. It is currently 49 but keep in mind it is a year old album (which is very rare now of days). And I like the fact that she is a coutnry artist doing well without haveing to pander to the Republicans (or for that matter, an artist not doing badly becuase of something they said bad about the Cons). Funny fact, the only artists with older albums (and the only ones near comparable to Twain's) in the Top 50 are 3 Doors Down and that hump Toby Keith (with his album from last year), both who had pro-war, pro-Bush songs. Um,hmmm...I think so!
[This message was edited Fri Dec 12 10:16:11 PST 2003 by VinnyM27]

VinnyM27 said:

Shania makes music that's just plain fun. No thought required. Plus, she puts on a hell of a live show. Up! has sold about 7 million copies (probably shipped about 8 or 9 then), but it's up to Mercury to get it certified. They'll probably do that when it hits diamond.

VoicesCarry said:

Sold 7 million in the US? I didn't think it was that big of a seller! Wow! What to go Shania. I didn't think that album would get near Diamond.

And yes, Shania's music is a lot of fun but she has some good story songs in there too ("I Ain't Going Down"). "Up!" was the first album of hers I bought (and on the day of release) and I'm very glad I did. Still don't have any of her others.

For the record though, just a little bit of HISTORY about certification. A few Years back the BACKSTREET BOYS "black N blue" was certified 7 times Platnum, and according to SOUNDSCAN the CD scanned just over 2 million units (not that thats bad). And also TLC's 3d was certfified 3 times platnum and according to Soundscan it barely broke a million. So certifications are always BLOATED figures, that do not track what stores send back and what sits on the shelves. Not that Im knocking OUTKAST because I do like them, I just had this nonsense about Certifications and Soundscan, none of its really accurate. And Last but not least BRITNEYS new CD is not a sales flop, 1.3 million in 2.5 weeks is nothing to shake your head at, sure its not going to sell 5 or 10 million, but finally she has made a good CD start to finish. I mean STRIPPED by AGUILERA is a great CD but its a sales FLOP too by comparing it to past sales, the CD has just passed 2 million, her first CD was in the 6 range.

Outkast 'Speakerboxx' has gone 6x Platinum cuz it's a double album...the album has acutally sold just over 2 million...this album will hit diamond status (10 million) by the end of the holiday season...

lastdecember said:

A lot of errors:

Black and Blue scanned 1 million + units in its first week, and has SOLD a little over 5 million since (certified 7x)

TLC's 3D is only certified PLATINUM, not 3x platinum (check RIAA's site).

Stripped has sold 3.3 million units according to a recent Billboard column.

Britney's new CD is a flop, considering that she's losing at least 50% of her sales each week during the HOLIDAY season. Now she's below Hilary Duff in the charts. Something's wrong there for what they're paying her.

She will top out at about 3 million units, when all is said and done.

lastdecember said:

I can personally attest to "Black and Blue" as I was working in a store that sold CDs and when I walked over to the music section, there was maybe a hundred copies of B&B and they didn't look like they were going anywhere. Don't you think that Jive must have been pissed as hell considering they really expected all those to sell (and quickly so they could ship out more if needed). And while you are saying that the albums by Britney and Christina look like flips, keep in mind very few poeple are selling over a few million and that 2 million is like the new 5 million. Sad to say but consindering how low record sales are... BTW, I've noticed the Dave Matthews solo album shipped platinum but this was another case like B&B were I went to a Best Buy and they had at least a hundred and they weren't moving. Same for Clay Aiken. In one stores I was at they had crates full of them on the floor under the display cases. I almost litterally tripped over them. Very good points about certifaction sometimes not meaning as amuch when record companies get greedy and ship a ton of albums out.

VoicesCarry said:

Keep in mind Britney's first single isn't what people would call...good! It might change of her yet. She could have staying power if a good batch of singles come out. I don't know how the album sounds but I've heard clips and "Breathe On Me" sounds like a hit and something people might want considering the lack of dance music on radio.

And those are some good stats there, Voices.

Christopher said:

She could always turn to porn.

VinnyM27 said:

It's odd how much an ill-chosen first single can just kill an album's momentum, which is what I think has happened here (mind you, I hate most of In The Zone anyway). Same thing with Madonna's American Life...the title track just devastated any chances the project had for success. People heard the track, said "WTF IS THIS??? SHE CAN'T BE SERIOUS" and that was that. Even Madonna did not get a second chance, and that's saying something. Had she released Nothing Fails as the lead single, I think the results would have been much different.

Britney has no chance of redeeming In The Zone. MATM only made #35, and the album's gone over with consumers like a lead balloon. Its sales just do NOT justify the money she gets, and after a few more albums Jive's going to figure that out. I mean, Breathe On Me sounds like sub-par Kylie. The most annoying thing about it is that Britney COULD be really sexy but she keeps on singing in that annoying "I'm just an innocent baby doll" voice, and it completely ruins whatever she does. There's a fine line between sounding sensuous and sounding stupid and she just always seems to cross it. I don't get her appeal. There are tons of dance divas out there who could make lines like "Just put your lips together...and blow" sound hot. Britney just sounds like she's 3 years old...it's time to mature, woman! Can you imagine her instead of Kylie singing "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"? I think not.

Black & Blue did sell more than you think, but it wasn't enough to justify the BSB's existence, either, I guess.

I think she DOES sound great on "Toxic", though. Really, really sexy. But then I looked at who did the background vocals: former dance diva turned extremely successful songwriter Cathy Dennis ("Touch Me (All Night Long)", "C'Mon & Get My Love"). If Britney's vocals sound double-tracked on the chorus and the "Intoxicate me now, with your lovin' now, I think I'm ready now" part, it's no accident. They blended her vocals with Cathy's, which managed to smooth them out and make them sound good for once.

VoicesCarry said:

I really liked what I heard of "Breathe On Me" but it would sound better coming out of either Minogue. Yeah, pretty soon Britney will only be famous for being famous!

And I still don't understand the critcism for "American Life" not the best Madonna single but I think a lot of people that aren't internet saavy probably haven't even heard AL the single. And the news media and radio (mostly radio) made it sound like the song was somehow un-American. It wasn't. It didn't get a fair shake but yeah, "Nothing Fails" would have been a hit single and might have saved the album. Looks like it is too late for it now. Bette luck with the next one I guess.

VoicesCarry said:

That first album by Cathy Dennis was so good and had some many hits. Never understood why she never got a fair shake as a singer (in America anyway). Glad that she is doing so well with the songwriting thing.

VinnyM27 said:

Her second album, Into The Skyline, bombed. It was a pretty good record, more intimate than her first. She did not get a second chance, like so many acts out there, despite the fact that Move To This (her debut) placed 4 top ten hits in the US. If you want to hear her best, though, try to find Am I The Kinda Girl?, her 1996 Europe/Japan-only album. It's a very acoustic record, with a lot of Beatles influences. But very soft and relaxing. The Japanese release featured 2 bonus tracks so it's probably the biggest bang for your buck.

Her songs include:

Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
Kylie Minogue - Come Into My World
Kylie Minogue - Dancefloor
Kelly Clarkson - Before Your Love
Clay Aiken - Measure Of A Man
Rachel Stevens - Sweet Dreams My LA Ex (#2 in the UK this year)
Britney Spears - Toxic
Celine Dion - Reveal

So she's good at writing hooks, even if some of the stuff may be bland.
She also produces (or coproduces) most of the stuff she writes.

VoicesCarry said:

I totally agree that "Am I the kinda girl?" was/is a great album. Cathy is a great songwriter and as I like to dabble in that area too, she is quite inspiring! (plus she's a Richmond girl like moi!) Even though I cant stand "pop"! I adored every single one of the songs on "Am I the kinda girl?" and I recommend you check it out if only for her fantastic cover of "Waterloo sunset"!

There was a ballad on her first album in 1990 that was a big hit here in the US. I think it was called "Too Many Walls"- I love that song.

jtgillia said:

Oh I sooo love that song. I use to sing it all the time and covered it once for a demo tape! It is truly a beautiful song. She is very talented especially as a songwriter as that song shows!