HITS 6/7: Gaga #1 - Final #s pg. 6
Jun 8, 2011 22:45:09 GMT -5
Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Jun 8, 2011 22:45:09 GMT -5
Article on Yahoo homepage right now reads "Disastrous Sales for Gaga". Good read with some crazy stats...[glow=red,2,300]94%[/glow] decline in digital sales!!!!!! :o
I guess this is the 'flip-side' of the aggressive marketing mix implemented to support her debut week. It's kind of dangerous to be so front loaded and obsessed with first week sales, it takes away from the big picture.
new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/74373/week-ending-june-5-2011-albums-gagas-record-drop-off/
I think this is a case where basic numbers can be taken out of a certain context for the purpose of drawing readers. It seems like there are two camps of people. Major fans and people that actually hate GaGa so a headline will either go to one extreme or another to fuel some sort of passion on the part of the reader.
But stepping back from all of that, anyone that didn't expect a huge drop off was fooling themselves. While I don't follow album sales numbers as much as some people here, I thought a prediction of 200k or more was a bit generous. Granted, an 84% drop or whatever does look pretty steep but 174k sounds about right when taking into account the huge pre-album promo and Amazon deal. I think if the first week numbers were 650k instead (or minus whatever the Amazon sale made), then the second week would still be around what it is now, meaning it would have been less of a drop.
I think after a few weeks, the album will probably maintain its sales numbers from week-to-week though not as good as what Adele's have been. Though at some point, Adele will have to relinquish her top-of-the-chart position but of course by then there will be other new releases out. I think GaGa can end the year with 3 million though, if the success of Edge of Glory is any indication. So despite what the press is saying now about the album, it's not so much the journey that the album sales take as much as the destination it has once its over.