What drives album sales?

[Girls, girls, girls, girls...]

Hi everyone.
What's your opinion on this? Like, singles, tours, TV advertising... What? Having a huge iTunes hit? Or a radio hit?

[polly]

A mixtire of both but I must say a song and an album will have more longevtiy if radio support it. iTunes shows how popular an artist can be... but if radio doesn't push the song, the album doesn't get anywhere. A song can do well on iTunes and become a hit, buit it will have to have HUGE DL, and it's longevity isn't always there.

[juhn]

Depends on type of album. Soundtracks are driven by the popularity of the movie. Greatest Hits are driven by tours.

But if you're looking at regular albums, I think the basic and most important component has always been radio airplay. This is why labels spend so much money payolaing and promoting songs on radio. If radio airplay wasn't a major factor for most cases (I'm not saying *all* cases, before certain people jump down my throat) then record labels wouldn't spend so much on it. For current examples just look at Carrie Underwood and Nickelback.

[when the pawn...]

HIT SINGLES. A normal mainstream album will not sell if there isn't a catchy popular single to headline it. ESPECIALLY a debut album.

[babyboylrtm]

Depends. You have albums like Britney that were sold basically with just huge promotion and a tour or others like.... Emancipation Of Mimi that even though had good promo it would've gone nowhere without airplay. It depends...

[Bri.I.Am]

i think iTunes is a HUGE factor that some bands/artists are taking advantage of and are being rewarded......

but artists also need a major single to help drve the album....
for example Pharrell kept posponing his album bcuz he couldnt find a good kick off single
another example is clay aiken this yr....he released an album w/out a real single.......FLOP!

[John77]

erfrank said:

HIT SINGLES. A normal mainstream album will not sell if there isn't a catchy popular single to headline it. ESPECIALLY a debut album.

Radio airplay is still #1... you also have to be out promoting via TV appearances, magazine covers and other such as CMT and VH1... touring helps too...

Look at Nickelback, Carrie Underwood and the Fray... those albums are still going strong a year or so after their release, mainly due to the fact they all currently have strong radio singles. They also all are out on tour and getting lots of media exposure by the traditional means.

In contrast, look at the dixie chicks.  VERY strong early sales... and now not even in the top 100 anymore a scant 4 1/2 months after their release. No airplay, the tour had lots of cancelled dates and it's only real exposure has been in the media (mostly negative) and on VH1. Janet Jackson is another one... Her first single barely went top 40 and now the album is floundering...

[Bunifa Latifah Jackson]

That's a hard question because I think a lot of factors are involved to make an album sale.
Airplay is a key element but it's not a 'done formula' cause you have Cassie, Amerie, Christina Milian, who had hit singles and yet hardly Gold selling albums.

So in my opinion, promotion is actually a really really important thing. TV promo, exposure. That can def shift some copies if you do a great live performance on a Tv show, one way or another that will sell some great copies for an artist - still its not always 'THE' key

So... the best way to sell and album is having a HIT single, a song that no matter what, with or without promo, WILL be a HIT and WILL sell an album. And the song alone can make the album sell A LOT.

[Jennifer]

Oprah

[spooky21]

Albums

[Wavey✨️]

migu said:

That's a hard question because I think a lot of factors are involved to make an album sale.
Airplay is a key element but it's not a 'done formula' cause you have Cassie, Amerie, Christina Milian, who had hit singles and yet hardly Gold selling albums.

So in my opinion, promotion is actually a really really important thing. TV promo, exposure. That can def shift some copies if you do a great live performance on a Tv show, one way or another that will sell some great copies for an artist - still its not always 'THE' key

So... the best way to sell and album is having a HIT single, a song that no matter what, with or without promo, WILL be a HIT and WILL sell an album. And the song alone can make the album sell A LOT.

Agreed.

Also i think you shoudn't do a new formula everytime u make a new CD.
I.E:Christina Millian.
Stick with you best one.

[when the pawn...]

I agree on all of the promotion stuff but I still think hit singles/airplay is #1. Obviously for an established artist, big opening sales are a no-brainer but without radio support, it's gonna be an uphill climb (a la Dixie Chicks).

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

It's not really any one thing but a combination of factors and how a label or artist goes about it is really an individual thing because it's not just one way that works.

It seems that for consistant longterm album sales, it's touring that gets your name out there. A radio hit helps as long as it's not a huge hit but something that's there.
Although the biggest selling albums have had 3 or 4 huge radio hits so it would seem that those are the biggest factors, even if they aren't gauranteed.
Then you have classic albums that continue to sell, but mostly because of the name of the band and the music they do and not necessarily because the songs are hits. Those are the types of sales that are legendary!

[Pink Champagne Ricochet]

Hands down, radio. Radio play doesn't guarantee a huge selling album, but it's very rare to have one without it, which is why it's usually seen as a shock when an album manages to do well without hit single(s). TV promo appearances can boost sales, but it's virtually impossible to keep a steady level of appearances booked every week to keep sales steady. Having a song in an advertising campaign or a TV series (which can keep airing and airing without extra effort from the artist) can work too. Grey's Anatomy has worked wonders with The Fray...then again, they're also being played on the radio, even if it was the TV exposure that got them on there.

[jaxxalude]

Not to spoil the discussion, but asking this question at a time when album sales must be at an all-time low is kind of ironic, don't you think? ;)

[John77]

migu said:

That's a hard question because I think a lot of factors are involved to make an album sale.
Airplay is a key element but it's not a 'done formula' cause you have Cassie, Amerie, Christina Milian, who had hit singles and yet hardly Gold selling albums.

So in my opinion, promotion is actually a really really important thing. TV promo, exposure. That can def shift some copies if you do a great live performance on a Tv show, one way or another that will sell some great copies for an artist - still its not always 'THE' key

So... the best way to sell and album is having a HIT single, a song that no matter what, with or without promo, WILL be a HIT and WILL sell an album. And the song alone can make the album sell A LOT.

Very well put... and good examples there with Christina Milian, Cassie and Amerie... I'll also throw the new Mario Vazquez into the mix and also one of my all-time favorite bands, Blessid Union of Souls - lots of radio hits, but sales always lagged (mostly due to the fact that large market radio stations avoided them like the plague).

One VERY important caveat regarding the airplay that hasn't been brought up yet... what is driving the airplay? Is it requests, or is it the record company or some combination thereof??? I think that if a song is getting a good deal of airplay due to requests, it's probably going to sell a lot more albums than if the airplay is driven by the record label...

[Bri.I.Am]

PROMOTION

i completly forgot...look at the songs featured on TV. Whether its more "soundtrack-y" or an actual performance from the artist.

[John77]

antsinyourpants said:

PROMOTION

i completly forgot...look at the songs featured on TV.  Whether its more "soundtrack-y" or an actual performance from the artist.

That has definitely helped the Fray's new one... and Daniel Powter of course...

[Deleted]

jaxxalude said:

Not to spoil the discussion, but asking this question at a time when album sales must be at an all-time low is kind of ironic, don't you think? ;)

Album sales is not at an all-time low but,

it is just significantly down from the all-time high

[Deleted]

splitchick59 said:

Hands down, radio. Radio play doesn't guarantee a huge selling album, but it's very rare to have one without it, which is why it's usually seen as a shock when an album manages to do well without hit single(s). TV promo appearances can boost sales, but it's virtually impossible to keep a steady level of appearances booked every week to keep sales steady. Having a song in an advertising campaign or a TV series (which can keep airing and airing without extra effort from the artist) can work too. Grey's Anatomy has worked wonders with The Fray...then again, they're also being played on the radio, even if it was the TV exposure that got them on there.

Radio, not so much anymore.

TV #1 (Movies, commercials, awrds shows, Oprah)
itunes #2

Songs from the biggest selling album of the year did not get any radio exposure outside of radio disney.

[Love Plastic Love]

Obviously a lot of things go into it, but I think one of the most important things is the undefinable one.
Its getting a large group of people to recognize an artist and like them enough to buy the entire album and that is much more difficult than just having airplay or sticking the artist on Tv to perform.

[Pulse]

Videoplay seems to be important too (especially with the VH1 You Oughta Know Artists). And on the MTV front, Mario Vasquez and Frankie J arent getting any play and have really bad singles sales (compared to their airplay) and bad album sales for Mario too..and maybe for Frankie when he comes out.

[slowmo]

I don't think having a hit single really drives album sales anymore, it drives sales for that one song. There needs to be a couple hit songs to drive album sales. Add the couple hit songs, key TV promotion (shows or events that are actually watched), touring and word of mouth (most important, in my opinion) together and the odds that an allbum will continue to sell are greater.

Oh yeah, the album has to be good. Not just a bunch of subpar songs with a hit or two on it.

[SAY IT RIGHT]

A combination of radio play, promotion and public interest in the artist, are the 3 factors that drive album sales.  Point Blank.

[John77]

2m said:

Songs from the biggest selling album of the year did not get any radio exposure outside of radio disney.

I'm assuming you're talking about the 2006 Calendar Year... kids do help drive album sales too, like it or not.

[Wavey✨️]

thepulse said:

Videoplay seems to be important too (especially with the VH1 You Oughta Know Artists). And on the MTV front, Mario Vasquez and Frankie J arent getting any play and have really bad singles sales (compared to their airplay) and bad album sales for Mario too..and maybe for Frankie when he comes out.

I agree on the You Oughta Know..most of them went Gold or Platnium

[fatalthirteen]

I can't believe their hasn't been a single post claiming that actual TALENT and ORIGINALITY have something to do with it. You know, just maybe?! I will present my arguement with two examples:

Here are two artists chart runs on the Hot 100:

No Talent and Orginality (and the help of the best writers, producers, and many big names being featured on their tracks)
Pussy Cat Dolls:
"Don't Cha": #2
"Stickwitu" #5
"Beep" #13
"Buttons"#5
"I Don't Need a Man" International
"Wait a Minute" Pending

US Sales: 2 Million
Wordwide Sales: 5 million

Talent and Originality
Evanescence (Even if you don't like them don't deny it)
"Bring Me to Life: #6
"Going Under": Didn't chart
My Immortal: #5
Everybody's Fool: Didn't Chart

US Sales: 6.5 Million
Worldwide Sales: 14.5 Million

Note: When 'Going Under' didn't even chart on the Hot 100 "Fallen NEVER left the top 20 of the Billboard 200 and was in the top 10 nearly every week while the single completely flopped on pop.
I rest my case.

[Pulse]

First of all, talent and originality is in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I think Nicole Scherzinger's powerful voice blows Amy Lee's ghostly voice out of the water.

Second, even if we were to say that some people are talented and not, people dont buy albums based on that. They buy based on what they like. No one is going to say, "Hey, I love that new Cassie song, but she is untalented, I refuse to buy it!" or "That Mariah song sucks ass, but she is talented, therefore I'm buying it"

Third, thats the lamest analogy I've ever seen. (And trust me, Ive seen a lot of lame ones this week ;)) You know the sales market from then and now are totally different. Not to mention the bizarre notion of comparing two totally different artists with very different markets LOL. If you want to compare them, how about we compare Evanescence's current album to the PCD album? ;)

The bigger problem is that you're implying that more sales=more talent. There will be no consensus on that, unless you can admit that you think Britney Spears is more talented than Evanescence since she has sold more :)

[monuda89]

promotions , hit songs, a bit of talent, etc

[Minimalism]

Winning multiple grammies sometimes helps, too (like Norah Jones)