BTWs sales in the US have decreased dramatically since the first few weeks. For instance, last week it actually sold less copies than Adele's 3.5 year old debut album.

Really?

I wonder if sales would have been this high for BTW had it not been for the 99p thing on Amazon.

She cheated her first week sales imo.

To be fair, looking again, the sales for BTW were lower than '19' on Hits Daily Double but slightly more than '19' on Soundscan but either way not much in it. Have to say, without the 400k sold at 99c her figures in the US (relatively speaking considering she's claimed to be the world's biggest pop star) aren't that impressive.

It's the retailers I feel sympathy for - they reportedly have 2 million unsold physical copies to shift from their shelves! Given that she's currently selling approx 55k/week worldwide and assuming 27k of these will be digital downloads, I calculate it will take the retailers approx 72 weeks to sell those unsold copies they have in stock! They surely can't be happy.

Yeah I would have though that to, but it see most of her fans come from around Europe and places like Japan and Taiwan. Obviously she's big in the US but it's not were she biggest if that makes any sense.

it was an Amazon decision to sell at 99c and although the record label would know the promotion was going to happen they would have no say in it as they can't fix retail prices. As has already been said Amazon did the same for Rated R and Taylor Swift plus many more I'm sure.

There was no DEAL as such because the Record Company still get their full price and Amazon take the loss -----actually it's not a loss at all as it's subsidised from their marketing budget ----- so why would Interscope want to stop anything. A sale is a sale to them. Also who is to know how many of the 400,000 that were sold at 99c would have sold at full price anyway.

As far as expectations go the off the top of the head numbers created by fans on an internet forum mean absolutely nothing . The only ones that really matter are those of Gaga and her record label. They will certainly have had an expectation which may have been higher or lower but after only 41/2 months and having almost matched the individual sales of TF and TFM already I doubt they are in panic mode. Of course they will be in "how do we sell even more" mode because that's their job

Interscope/Gaga going along with Amazon's plans because they saw the benefit, isn't quite the same as Interscope/Gaga plotting this manipulative marketing strategy to cheat their way, which the implication often is. Like a poster said above.


Y&I is #21 on iTunes right now, and is about to get promoted on Jonathan Ross tomorrow.


Come off it. Firstly, that's assuming that none of the 400k who used the Amazon promotion would have bought it regularly which is quite obviously flawed because it was used upon it's immediate release...so naturally one can assume that a lot of attentive fans who were keen to buy it ASAP jumped on it. So much so that the servers crashed, in fact, meaning they had to add on the second day.

If only half of those downloads would have been a regular purchase (which I suspect is an underestimate), that takes her up to 900+k of non-disputable debut sales. I can only assume that you're unfamiliar with todays pop industry if that is in any way "unimpressive". Hell, even the non-Amazon figure of 700k is a rarity for a popstar.

If there was still excess of 2 million copies by this time next year, I could see concern, but the albums only been out for 5ish months, it's yet to go through a period of high sales (Christmas) with a remix album coming out and she's still got a few more singles up her sleeve and a year of touring, which will include extensive international promotion for India/Asia.

The huge debut sales had to come from somewhere. Those millions that could have been spread out over months were instead concentrated within the space of a few weeks.

[quote=toanythingtaboo;53359371]Interscope/Gaga going along with Amazon's plans because they saw the benefit, isn't quite the same as Interscope/Gaga plotting this manipulative marketing strategy to cheat their way, which the implication often is. Like a poster said above.




Maybe this one will buck the trend but Gaga's promo this time around hasn't managed to give her stuff anything more than a short-lived boost. The VMAs being a case in point.




No-one will ever know the definitive answer for this one but the fact remains that BTW experienced a HUGE second week drop and indeed is the quickest exitee from the Top 10 of the 'One Million sales in the first week' club' so it would tend to assume that many of those 400k sold at 99c were sold to non-stans.


Like I stated, at current sales levels the stock remaining on shelves will take over 70 weeks to clear. There are 52 weeks in a year. Like most artists Gaga may indeed experience an increase in sales during the Xmas period but what about after Xmas? Not sure how the remix album will help sell the old album stock, by the way?


Why? Surely those who bought the album in the first few weeks would be spreading the word as to how good it is? More to spread the word = more potential sales. That's how artists grow their fan base, surely. You can't try and tell me going from a million sales in week one in the US to less than 15,500 just over 4 months later bodes well for the next album. Can you?

C'me on! That's so easy of an excuse...They saw the benefit in it and they accepted the deal. They cheated their way through whichever you want to put it

Oh really??? That's a real surprise!?

Makes totally sense. I knew she was quite Big in Japan but I would have thought the US would be where she's the biggest before Europe even. That's interesting!

Oh please, how is that a surprise? With the amount of hype surrounding Adele atm and the records broken, I think it's pretty unsurprising.

[quote=konebyvax;53359893]
It doesn't really matter whether it's experienced a big drop in sales after 4 months; the truth of the matter is that the album has sold nearly 2 million in the US which is massive and is currently the second biggest seller thee (I think?). It makes no difference whether it gets to those sales in 4 months or 4 weeks, still sold the same amount.

Besides, the fact is no one apart from Digital Spy regulars give a sh*t. There are certain people on here who use sales as a way to justify opinions or use them in a competitive way, especially the Adele obsessives. Outside of DS no one cares, at all, about album sales, in fact if you asked someone on the street I'm sure 9/10 times they'd think Gaga was outselling Adele..

you have clearly contradicted yourself there in two post within minutes. first you comment on the `hype` surrounding adele breaking sales records and then you potentially underestimate a lot of people by suggesting that the general public are completely unaware of these reported items.

my mother only the other week commented on adele`s success sales wise and she likes both artists. however, i wouldn't go as far to say it affects her life in any way and she probably doesn't have a clue what digital spy is. she like millions of other people probably heard about adele`s sales via the radio.

I was going to say the same thing, gpk. JakeM641 seems to be implying that all Adele's sales are coming from Digital Spy, lol.




You see, it actually does. It's far better long term sales wise to have longevity and consistency. This will be demonstrated when Gaga doesn't even end the year in 2nd place on the US year end album chart. It's a bit like the hare and the tortoise. And even though Gaga had that amazing (and artificially enhanced) first week, Adele is now many more sales ahead of her than she was when BTW was launched (and currently outselling her in her homeland by over 100,000 sales per week). Having a huge opening week (especially in those circumstances) just means the album goes out of the Top 10 quicker - and staying in the Top 10 is crucial to accumulating sales long term, thus giving the album longevity. This album will have no real longevity unless something amazing happens.

I'm loving the feigned "surprise" at Adele's success and "concern" at Gaga's struggle. Come on now, you're better than that.



As is just assuming that they were in cahoots based on absolutely no evidence beyond your bias and forum grumblings. Why would Amazon require Gaga's/Interscopes acceptance? They purchased the albums for full retail price in order to include them in the 99c promotional series, which shifts authority squarely on to Amazon's shoulders. You can argue at what point Gaga/Interscope knew it was going to happen, but I doubt they'd have been able to stop it. It wasn't Amazon doing them a favour to get more sales, it was to their own benefit.

It's also displaying your ignorance if you think anything that went down, no matter which side of the fence, constitutes as "cheating". Every single copy of the album, regardless of cost, was intentionally purchased and as long as they meet the minimum retail requirement that is completely fair. No rules were broken, there fore it was not cheating.


How is the VMA's a case in point? It has next to no impact over here. Paul O'Grady, R1BW and Graham Norton all had an effect, despite their relatively small audiences. Not sure what JR gets, but it's after XF which goes without saying is the biggest tv spot we have on offer.


I don't see how that couldn't have been expected? Most people who wanted that album as soon as it came out, went and bought it, resulting in over a million copies shifted that week, the next week and beyond was casual-supported and the sales reflected that. It's what happens when you have such a massive fanbase, as opposed to a vast casual one.


I think it would be pretty pessimistic to assume the current sales level will not improve, especially with the winter sales boost coming and the amount of promotion available to her. Apologies, I was speaking in general terms regarding The Remix album contributing sales.


Those who bought the album in the first few weeks were mostly already fans though. It may have been different had it been more of a phenomenon-like success, where hype builds as word spreads like her first album...but BTW prematurely ejaculated, essentially. The hype building and word spread was the foreplay before release. But, it's not like it stopped there. It obviously slowed down, but its still sold nearly double in the US and over double and a half WW since debut. Not incredible, but respectable and moving in the right direction. A big hit is needed, IMO.

That's looking in very simplistic terms though, isn't it? There's a lot going on to explain why that's the case. Plucking figures and comparing them like that is erroneous.

As for the next album, it depends what she does. Other posters have pointed out that album-for-album, there's not been much decrease, so I imagine she'll follow a Britney-like pattern of reaching a point where sales plateaux at 3/4 million as the dedicated fanbase is solidified. If casuals jump on bored every now and then, the better.

My personal feelings on it, is that they should give the next album away digitally for free. Set up a link on her website, potentially surround it with sponsorship/advertising space to gain some revenue with each visit, and track the number of hits to calculate how many the material is reaching. It would be very interesting to see how many people actually listen to her albums compared to those who purchase them, so by offering a legal HQ download it offers all those illegal downloaders an alternative whilst allowing Gaga/Interscope to monitor.

Obviously they would be forgoing a great deal of money, sales figures and chart positions, but by tracking the hits there's potential bragging rights (which is essentially what they're used for). "Lady Gaga controversially gave her new album away for free and has since broken records with 15 million downloads, which compliments her official album sales of XX million" etc. Besides, we all know the money is in touring. What would be happening is simply them taking the next step of using the music to act as promotion for the tour.

The physical album could be released later for those who want it/computer illiterate, and considering her fanbase could add a sizeable bonus figure. Plus there's the potential of singles. By releasing two before the album comes (ideally they wouldn't say it would be free, to prevent people holding off) there's more potential for revenue.

I think this would be a very innovative way to counteract sales slumping. Depending on the material, she could boost the sales of her 6th album with the added fans. Both Gaga and her manager have said they would give the album away for free, so it's not off the cards.

You're really putting words into my mouth now.I don't remember theorizing on how she brainwashed Amazon to get her album out for 99c. Gave an opinion on how I felt about her sales. Got my facts wrong and you corrected me. So I don't know where you get the impression I was talking about commercial rules being broken!?? - You can be quick at judging my posts as being bias and forum grumblings but considering you're not that much objective yourself on that matter going on lengthy explanations I found that hugely ironic...I argued against the simple way you made it sound like, implying they had no control over this kind of deal which is to me a bit too easy to say. And you're totally right, I have no knowledge on this kind of details but up til now I thought we were sharing opinions on her sales and how she achieved them? Well I'll guess I need to enrol on a business course before being talking pop music on DS

Don't recall suggesting you were "theorising on how she brainwashed Amazon to get her album out for 99c". Commercial rules being broken = cheating. How else could she "cheat" in this context?

Not seeing how that's ironic, and I may well indeed be biased but I am also basing my opinion largely on evidence rather than emotion.

And by all means take a course.

Even if you hated Gaga, I still think you'd be one of my favourite FMs here.

Thanks so much.

You're welcome, dahling!

adele is the queen

i have to say i was surprised by 19 outselling btw in the us. remember the charts work differently in the us. 19 would be considered a catalogue album. so those albums are not even on the same chart. i was certainly not aware of it.

gaga is doing well and even if her sales are slipping slightly. if anyone can reserve a trend, she can.

QUEEN OF POP.

So much for the fans of HAS BEEN Madonna and their claims that albums don't sell anymore and its all about touring. I wonder what their excuse will be next year when Gaga's tour leaves Madonna's comeback in its wake LOL.

Oh, I'm sure Madonna's just quaking in her boots, being the most successful female artist of all time, planning a (most likely) even bigger tour than Sticky & Sweet and getting past her mid-life crisis stage by working with Orbit again, presenting a more mature and cohesive work rather than competing with little girls squabbling over who is better. Yeah, terrible time for being a Madonna fan.:sleep: