Black Kitten Posted October 24, 2008 at 09:09 AM Posted October 24, 2008 at 09:09 AM The economic downturn may represent a grave new world for most folks, but not those in the music industry. Way before world markets began circling the drain, record companies saw their sales dive into free fall. Album purchases - at least the legal kind - have been quickly eroding for most of this decade. (Thank you, Napster and all your peer-to-peer file-sharing offspring.) Here's just the latest example. On this week's Billboard 200 album chart, Usher's "Here I Stand" falls below the No. 100 mark after selling just over 1 million copies. His previous album, "Confessions", sold nine times that figure just four years ago. Let's face it: We're never going back to those halcyon days. Certainly, we're not going back to the go-go days of the '90s, when you had more than a dozen performers who could move more than 10 million copies of a given CD - an era crowned by Shania Twain's "Come on Over", which pushed a whopping 15.5 million copies. That figure made it the largest-selling CD of the entire Nielsen/SoundScan era, which began in 1991, when the industry began using verifiable sales tallies. By contrast, this year's top-selling album has moved an anemic 2.5 million copies (Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III"). While more than two months remain in '08, it's hugely unlikely that Wayne will pick up the extra 1.1 million cash-register rings he'd need to beat the top seller of '07: Josh Groban's "Noel", which topped 3.6 million platters. Nor will he come near the peaks of '06 ("High School Musical 2" at 3.7 mil) or '05 (Mariah Carey's "The Adventures of Mimi" at 5 million). In fact, there has been a steady downturn in total sales for the top five albums in each year of this decade, ranging from a high of 22.3 million in 2001 to an '08 figure that will struggle to reach 10 million. Pondering all this could either make you look longingly at the ledge or flip the script and view the whole situation in a glass-half-full kinda way. Being an optimist, I've decided to go the latter route, and so hereby offer a modest proposal for redefining success in our new age of austerity. Gazing down the Billboard 200, I've established a fresh standard for a smash, or even for a hit. In calibrating this, I axed any albums that have lingered on Billboard's list for more than a year, as they essentially date from another, happier era. (Only a few entries qualify, including Nickelback's "All the Right Reasons", which has sold nearly 7 million copies but started its run nearly three years ago, and Daughtry's self-titled debut, which sold 4.2 million copies but began moving product nearly two years back.) Shorn of those entries, there's just one act on the current top 200 that has broken the 3 million mark (Alicia Keys). Even the most hyped and exposed of albums of '08 - like Mariah Carey's "E=MC2" and Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" - haven't been able to reach the 2 million bar. Given this, here's how we should evaluate top sales now. the new definitions... blockbuster: 2 million & UPThe equivalent of 5 million, or more, back in 2000 Alicia Keys "As I Am" 3.6 millionLil Wayne "Tha Carter III" 2.6MCarrie Underwood "Carnival Ride" 2.3MKid Rock "Rock n Roll Jesus" 2.1MRascal Flatts "Still Feels Good" 2M smash: 1 million & UPThe equivalent of 3 million in 2000 Garth Brooks "Ultimate Hits" 1.9 millionChris Brown "Exclusive" 1.81MColdplay "Viva la Vida" 1.81MJack Johnson "Sleep Throughthe Static" 1.4MLeona Lewis "Spirit" 1.18MMetallica "Death Magnetic" 1.11M (in just four weeks)Mariah Carey "E=MC2" 1.1MRobert Plant and Alison Krauss "Raising Sand" 1.09M"Mamma Mia!" soundtrack 1.05MUsher "Here I Stand" 1.04M"Camp Rock" soundtrack 1.034MLed Zeppelin "Mothership" 995,000The Jonas Brothers "A Little Bit Longer" 992,000Miley Cyrus "Breakout" 953,000Jordin Sparks "Jordin Sparks" 932,833Sugarland "Love on the Inside" 922,000 HIT: 500,000 & UPThe equivalent of a million-selling, platinum CD in 2000 "Alvin and the Chipmunks" soundtrack 876,772OneRepublic "Dreaming Out Loud" 791,000Disturbed "Indestructible" 756,000Rick Ross "Trilla" 684,000Madonna "Hard Candy" 654,000Keith Urban "Greatest Hits" 632,000Radiohead "In Rainbows" 625,000George Strait "Troubador" 579,0003 Doors Down "3 Doors Down" 578,000Seether "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces" 559,000Alan Jackson "Good Time" 552,000Danity Kane "Welcome to the Dollhouse" 546,000Duffy "Rockferry" 528,000Plies "Definition of Real" 520,000Young Jeezy "The Recession" 516,000Trace Adkins "Greatest Hits Volume 2" 508,000 New York Daily News i wonder why's Celine Dion's Taking Chances nowhere in the list of the albums with 1M copies sold in America. Quote
LuisMa Posted October 24, 2008 at 10:05 AM Posted October 24, 2008 at 10:05 AM i wonder why's Celine Dion's Taking Chances nowhere in the list of the albums with 1M copies sold in America. I believe it's because the album is no longer on Billboard's Top 200. But still, Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" is nowhere to be found on the list as well. Quote
ticktock Posted October 24, 2008 at 10:08 PM Posted October 24, 2008 at 10:08 PM i hate how they always blame the internet for low sales but there are factors to be considered. I believe the other factors that have caused the decline in music sales are: 1. Low standards of current music . i.e. today's music sucks!!! 2. We have too much choice when it comes to spending money nowadays. I mean in the 80's and early 90's we didn't have dvds, people just rented videos but nowadays i prefer to spend my money on dvds and games. The gaming market was also very small back then and now it's even bigger than the music industry, that's where all kids are spending their money. Sure there is a decline in music but there is a surge/explosion in the gaming and dvd market. I think that's where all the money has gone, but the record companies just want to blame the internet. Quote http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL1127/6689391/12879817/231201218.jpg
Nmj Posted October 24, 2008 at 11:42 PM Posted October 24, 2008 at 11:42 PM Its just bad stuff these days... Celine's TC album isnt Great I'm sorry but thats the truth the only Great songs on the album is: Taking Chances, Eyes On Me, My Love, Fade Away, Cant Fight the Feelin', and Shadow of Love Thats 6 Songs... I remember those goold Olde Days when all 17 songs on a CD were Great now Fillers are a good word for the albums these daysbecuase if were lucky we get 5 good songs and 10-12 Garbage songs!!!and that goes for celine albums these days too...The last Celine album to have every great song in it was "A New Day Has Come" that had 16 great songs (well, Nature Boy wasnt but all but one isnt bad)-Nmj Quote
dj4celine Posted October 25, 2008 at 12:24 PM Posted October 25, 2008 at 12:24 PM I think statistics and facts matter more than personal favourites. I agree with Luis as to why TCh isn't mentioned in the article. Quote
GoldenLeaf Posted October 25, 2008 at 04:00 PM Posted October 25, 2008 at 04:00 PM Its just bad stuff these days... Celine's TC album isnt Great I'm sorry but thats the truth the only Great songs on the album is: Taking Chances, Eyes On Me, My Love, Fade Away, Cant Fight the Feelin', and Shadow of Love Thats 6 Songs... I remember those goold Olde Days when all 17 songs on a CD were Great now Fillers are a good word for the albums these daysbecuase if were lucky we get 5 good songs and 10-12 Garbage songs!!!and that goes for celine albums these days too...The last Celine album to have every great song in it was "A New Day Has Come" that had 16 great songs (well, Nature Boy wasnt but all but one isnt bad)-NmjNah, that's not the truth, that's just your personal opinion actually. Well, I personally think that there are 14 great songs on TC and 4 bad songs (New Dawn, A Song For You, That's Just The Woman In Me and Sky of L.A). Not bad for an album filled with a total of 18 songs. Quote
GoldenLeaf Posted October 25, 2008 at 04:04 PM Posted October 25, 2008 at 04:04 PM i wonder why's Celine Dion's Taking Chances nowhere in the list of the albums with 1M copies sold in America. I believe it's because the album is no longer on Billboard's Top 200. But still, Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" is nowhere to be found on the list as well. "E=MC2" is no longer on Billboard's Top 200 but is in the list of the albums with 1M copies sold in America. The person who wrote that article probably dislike Celine and Rihanna. That's why they're not mentioned. Quote
LuisMa Posted October 25, 2008 at 04:06 PM Posted October 25, 2008 at 04:06 PM i wonder why's Celine Dion's Taking Chances nowhere in the list of the albums with 1M copies sold in America. I believe it's because the album is no longer on Billboard's Top 200. But still, Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" is nowhere to be found on the list as well. "E=MC2" is no longer on Billboard's Top 200 but is in the list of the albums with 1M copies sold in America. The person who wrote that article probably dislike Celine and Rihanna. That's why they're not mentioned. But "E=MC2" just dropped out. I wonder when the article was published, but yeah, Rihanna should definitely be there. I also agree with Dhruvie: facts and figures speak louder than personal favorites in cases like this. Quote
GoldenLeaf Posted October 25, 2008 at 04:09 PM Posted October 25, 2008 at 04:09 PM smash: 1 million & UPThe equivalent of 3 million in 2000 Garth Brooks "Ultimate Hits" 1.9 millionChris Brown "Exclusive" 1.81MColdplay "Viva la Vida" 1.81MJack Johnson "Sleep Throughthe Static" 1.4MLeona Lewis "Spirit" 1.18MMetallica "Death Magnetic" 1.11M (in just four weeks)Mariah Carey "E=MC2" 1.1MRobert Plant and Alison Krauss "Raising Sand" 1.09M"Mamma Mia!" soundtrack 1.05MUsher "Here I Stand" 1.04M"Camp Rock" soundtrack 1.034MLed Zeppelin "Mothership" 995,000The Jonas Brothers "A Little Bit Longer" 992,000Miley Cyrus "Breakout" 953,000Jordin Sparks "Jordin Sparks" 932,833Sugarland "Love on the Inside" 922,000Nice to see that ''Taking Chances'' can be considered as a smash album as it sold a little more than 1 M in the U.S Quote
Chula Posted October 25, 2008 at 05:38 PM Posted October 25, 2008 at 05:38 PM The article writer missed Celine. Quote
GoldenLeaf Posted October 25, 2008 at 06:53 PM Posted October 25, 2008 at 06:53 PM He should also have added Britney Spear's Blackout in the list as her album sold 1M in the U.S. Quote
Black Kitten Posted October 26, 2008 at 01:13 AM Author Posted October 26, 2008 at 01:13 AM Britney Spears' Blackout sold just a little over 800,000 copies in America according to Neilsen Soundscan. Quote
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