"Courage" album - Official Topic

[PuraVida]

The song is cheesy enough for these ideas to work. I think it would be a fun, quirky music video for Celine.

 

Which? Imperfections? It could be done in a fun, quirky way or also a slightly more serious and "fierce" way. A video where she plays a heightened version fo the runway/fashion doyenne she has become

[ordinary fan]

Just curious, how many copies has the courage album sold by now? I can't find information

[weasley123]

Just curious, how many copies has the courage album sold by now? I can't find information

 

I believe Courage still hasn’t cracked 1 million copies worldwide which make it the lowest selling number of her English discography. It’s a shame since Courage has so many potential songs.

[scielle]

I actually just looked it up on MRC Data last week (formerly Nielsen SoundScan), and the US number was something like 215k all-in. I don’t recall the Canadian number, and MRC doesn’t have global coverage, but I suspect that’s correct - i.e. that it hasn’t cracked a million. A shame, as content-wise it’s by far her strongest English album to date, but that’s what you get for botched promo! And that probably means fewer English releases in the future.

[emi&celine]

I actually just looked it up on MRC Data last week (formerly Nielsen SoundScan), and the US number was something like 215k all-in. I don’t recall the Canadian number, and MRC doesn’t have global coverage, but I suspect that’s correct - i.e. that it hasn’t cracked a million. A shame, as content-wise it’s by far her strongest English album to date, but that’s what you get for botched promo! And that probably means fewer English releases in the future.

 

Or in the opposite it could mean intensive promo for her next English album just like Céline and her team did with « Sans attendre » after the disappointing sales of « D’elles ».

Edited June 12, 2021 at 09:35 PM by emi&celine

[Shaun]

I fear Céline’s next English album releases will go down the route of “The Great American Songbook” or “Celine at the movies” etc.

 

She just isn’t shifting the units now with new original English material.

[couldawouldashoulda]

I actually just looked it up on MRC Data last week (formerly Nielsen SoundScan), and the US number was something like 215k all-in. I don’t recall the Canadian number, and MRC doesn’t have global coverage, but I suspect that’s correct - i.e. that it hasn’t cracked a million. A shame, as content-wise it’s by far her strongest English album to date, but that’s what you get for botched promo! And that probably means fewer English releases in the future.

 

Fewer English releases and continuing to rely on Greatest Hits concert, I imagine.

[couldawouldashoulda]

I actually just looked it up on MRC Data last week (formerly Nielsen SoundScan), and the US number was something like 215k all-in. I don’t recall the Canadian number, and MRC doesn’t have global coverage, but I suspect that’s correct - i.e. that it hasn’t cracked a million. A shame, as content-wise it’s by far her strongest English album to date, but that’s what you get for botched promo! And that probably means fewer English releases in the future.

 

Fewer English releases and continuing to rely on Greatest Hits concert, I imagine.

[Holborn]

Just curious, how many copies has the courage album sold by now? I can't find information

 

Back in December a member had said 700k sales WW and March 1st another member said 750k. Not sure about the sources but the album definitely hasn't reached 1mil. sales WW. Frankly, if these numbers are correct it's not even a bad result given the 0 promotion of the album and how poorly everything around Celine is being handled.. especially her social media "presence" is just a nightmare. Her YT channel as well.

[scielle]

Keep I mind much of that number is thanks to the tour bundle. I’ve got like 8 unopened copies of the CD which I didn’t want but was forced to buy along with tickets.

What would those numbers be without a tour bundle? A fraction, I imagine.

[Holborn]

Keep I mind much of that number is thanks to the tour bundle. I've got like 8 unopened copies of the CD which I didn't want but was forced to buy along with tickets.

What would those numbers be without a tour bundle? A fraction, I imagine.

 

You weren't really forced to, you had the choice. I remember that people were saying you had to go and accept/claim the CD. Plus the bundle was just for the US and maybe Canada. If everyone were given a free CD then she would have surpassed 1mil. easily given that she sold 630k? tickets in NA.

Edited June 12, 2021 at 10:48 PM by Holborn

[scielle]

You weren't really forced to, you had the choice. I remember that people were saying you had to go and accept/claim the CD. Plus the bundle was just for the US and maybe Canada. If everyone were given a free CD then she would have surpassed 1mil. easily given that she sold 630k? tickets in NA.

 

Oh you had to claim it once paid for - it didn’t automatically come your way - but the paying wasn’t optional. I claimed them all because I figured “well, I had to buy them, might as well contribute to the sales numbers”. Clearly not everyone had. And then I couldn’t even gift them because nobody has CD players anymore.

And yes, US and Canada only.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2021 at 10:53 PM by scielle

[Holborn]

Oh you had to claim it once paid for - it didn't automatically come your way - but the paying wasn't optional.

 

And apparently the majority didn't even bother. It's funny and sad at the same time. They paid yet they didn't even claim it, however her sales instantly got a "bad reputation" because of the stupid bundle that most didn't take advantage of

[scielle]

 

And apparently the majority didn't even bother. It's funny and sad at the same time. They paid yet they didn't even claim it, however her sales instantly got a "bad reputation" because of the stupid bundle that most didn't take advantage of

 

Yep!

I think a lot of people didn’t realize they had to claim them. I definitely overheard at one of the shows something like “weren’t we supposed to get the new album? Because it never came.”

 

So yeah, great album, botched distribution.

 

 

[rfkavanagh]

In the US, in order for an album to count toward the charts, it can't be a forced bundle or free gift with purchase - that's why buyers are required to actively opt in to receiving the CD after purchasing their ticket. If it were just sent out automatically, that copy of the album wouldn't be chart-eligible. They do their best to follow up on potential orders by emailing everyone reminders to claim their album, but there's only so much they can do, and sadly, redemptions are always pretty low these days since so few people care about getting a CD. But I claimed every one I could!

 

At least that's how it was until recently - I think Billboard has changed the rules yet again after all the various bundle controversies, and now I think it has to be even more overtly shown as an add-on to your ticket purchase, with its own separate purchase price (I haven't checked the latest eligibility updates recently, but I think that's how they're doing it now). Céline was far from the only artist to benefit hugely from bundling an album with either concert tickets or online merch orders; unfortunately, she was one of the highest profile ones, with the biggest tumble from the top in week two!

[scielle]

Well in a way, lower label sales expectations should give her more creative freedom. I just wonder what she’s going to do with it. Very hard to tell what she truly wants to do next on the recording front.

[mirage]

The promo looked promising, but her schedule messed things up big time.

 

They completely missed opportunities with the announcement, or to have her sing Ashes on TV shows.

[scielle]

By the way, the Canadian number is 108k. So all in - sales, downloads, streaming - that’s 323k STEAs in North America.

[PuraVida]

I fear Céline's next English album releases will go down the route of "The Great American Songbook" or "Celine at the movies" etc.

 

She just isn't shifting the units now with new original English material.

 

I think now would be the perfect time to do an "unreleased" album. They're very en vogue right now, and it gives her more time to collect good material and have Courage enjoy some more shine.

[Xpresso]

The promo looked promising, but her schedule messed things up big time.

 

They completely missed opportunities with the announcement, or to have her sing Ashes on TV shows.

But why would she sing Ashes on TV shows if it's not even on the album? I think the missed opportunity was not including Ashes on Courage. Someone forgot to negotiate that part with Deadpool.

[Celinelife]

Actually COVID did a lot of things...who knows what they had planned?

[SuperLove4Celine]

But why would she sing Ashes on TV shows if it's not even on the album? I think the missed opportunity was not including Ashes on Courage. Someone forgot to negotiate that part with Deadpool.

 

This. 100% this. Excluding “Ashes” was absolutely stupid. The lyrics even fit the theme of the album.

[couldawouldashoulda]

Hmmmmm, I seem to recall people, back in 2019, saying that Ashes should in no way be on Courage. ONLY NEW SONGS!!! No HDAMLF, no Recovering, and no Ashes. It’s funny how people change their minds over the years.

[SuperLove4Celine]

Hmmmmm, I seem to recall people, back in 2019, saying that Ashes should in no way be on Courage. ONLY NEW SONGS!!! No HDAMLF, no Recovering, and no Ashes. It’s funny how people change their minds over the years.

 

I was not one of those people. I was actually one of the people who had sh!t flung at him for suggesting such a thing.

[Taking Chances]

I was not one of those people. I was actually one of the people who had sh!t flung at him for suggesting such a thing.

 

By the time Courage released, Ashes was already old. Most of us didn't want orphan songs to take up any spots on her new album. We wanted new songs, and that's completely reasonable. Including Ashes on her album wouldn't have changed anything anyway. It wouldn't have become more successful because of it. The momentum of that song was already gone.

 

She could have included it as a b-side on one of her singles, but she didn't release any digital (or physical) singles except Flying On My Own, and that wasn't even a single. All we got for Imperfections and Courage was music videos.

Edited June 13, 2021 at 09:59 PM by Taking Chances

[jpatdeleon09]

Hmmmmm, I seem to recall people, back in 2019, saying that Ashes should in no way be on Courage. ONLY NEW SONGS!!! No HDAMLF, no Recovering, and no Ashes. It’s funny how people change their minds over the years.

 

I think at least Ashes should be part of it. Like BATB on Celine Dion album.

[ordinary fan]

Well overall the sales are not good for a Celine Dion album, but despite the promo situation, Celine as an veteran artist etc, the sales are still better than most of her peers can show with more promo which is good enough for me.

[SuperLove4Celine]

By the time Courage released, Ashes was already old. Most of us didn't want orphan songs to take up any spots on her new album. We wanted new songs, and that's completely reasonable. Including Ashes on her album wouldn't have changed anything anyway. It wouldn't have become more successful because of it. The momentum of that song was already gone.

 

She could have included it as a b-side on one of her singles, but she didn't release any digital (or physical) singles except Flying On My Own, and that wasn't even a single. All we got for Imperfections and Courage was music videos.

 

And yet, the music video has over 100 million views. Many more views than even some of her biggest "hits". When the song is mentioned to people, they recognize it. The connection to Deadpool is iconic. Including it on "Courage" would have helped anchor the album in people's minds. The average Joe isn't going to know anything about the songs "Flying On My Own," "Courage" or "Imperfections." However, if you were to say to them, "I just listened to Celine's recent album. The one with 'Ashes' on it." Many people would have a legit reference point. So, yes, I will always stand by my belief that excluding the song from the album was a boneheaded decision.

Edited June 14, 2021 at 11:51 PM by SuperLove4Celine

[PuraVida]

And yet, the music video has over 100 million views. Many more views than even some of her biggest "hits". When the song is mentioned to people, they recognize it. The connection to Deadpool is iconic. Including it on "Courage" would have helped anchor the album in people's minds. The average Joe isn't going to know anything about the songs "Flying On My Own," "Courage" or "Imperfections." However, if you were to say to them, "I just listened to Celine's recent album. The one with 'Ashes' on it." Many people would have a legit reference point. So, yes, I will always stand by my belief that excluding the song from the album was a boneheaded decision.

 

The best decision of all would have been to have the Courage album come out the same month as the Deadpool soundtrack and have it on there. Instead it came out an enitre year later.

 

I think if they gave the album the same amount of promo they gave it real life, including Ashes would not have made a difference. At some point you'd have to reckon with "get an entirely new song from Celine" versus "X amount more albums sold bc Ashes was on the Courage album"

[Celinelife]

Covid really wrecked the album's sales. Who knows what else they had planned for Courage? It might be they were planning for Ellen and giving Courage album as gift.

Or they were going to do a big Netflix documentary for her last show of Courage World Tour. Or they were to release Lying Down music video.

What if Lying Down music video is for another album..like Have You Ever Been In Love? For A New Day Has Come and One Heart.