Billboard 200 - 9/17/11 - Lil Wayne 964,000

[Verisimilitude]

*Phew* Not a million!

Lil Wayne's 'Carter IV' Debuts at No. 1 With 964,000 Sold

September 06, 2011

By Keith Caulfield (keith_caulfield), Los Angeles

It's official: Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV" has sold 964,000 in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan, easily enabling its No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart. It is his third No. 1 album following "Tha Carter III" and "I Am Not a Human Being."

"Carter IV" earns the biggest sales week for a hip-hop album (or any set by a male artist), since his own "Carter III" bowed with 1.01 million on the June 28, 2008 chart. "Carter IV" also marks 2011's second-biggest frame, behind Lady Gaga's 1.11 million debut with "Born This Way."

Of course, Gaga's first week was bolstered by two days' worth of 99-cent sale pricing from AmazonMP3's store. "Carter IV" managed to sell nearly a million without such tactics. It's estimated that AmazonMP3 sold upwards of 440,000 downloads of its 99-cent "Born This Way" album.

Speaking of downloads, "Carter IV" shifted 362,000 digital copies in its first week. That marks the second-largest digital sales week of all time for an album; again, behind "Born This Way," with 662,000 downloads.

However, while SoundScan does not disclose retailer-specific figures, sources say "Carter" easily broke the U.S. iTunes Store's single-week album sales record, with around 345,000 sold via iTunes.

Lil Wayne Beats 'Watch the Throne' -- 'Carter IV' Breaks iTunes Single-Week Album Sales Record

"Tha Carter IV" is off to a fast start courtesy of both a hot single and an eve-of-release performance by Wayne on the highly rated MTV Video Music Awards telecast (Aug. 28). His "How to Love" single is his first top 10 hit as a lead artist on the Pop Songs chart since 2008 when "Lollipop" ("Tha Carter III's" first single) went to No. 5. "Love" is in fact only his second top 10 on the Pop Songs tally, after "Lollipop."

Also, figure that the "Carter" name brand carries weight with fans, much in the same way the word "blueprint" makes Jay-Z aficionados take notice. He's had three "Blueprint" albums to date: All debuted at No. 1 with over 400,000 sold in their respective first weeks.

A full recap of the week's top 10 selling albums and digital songs will follow tomorrow morning.

[I Wish]

Sept 6, 2011 17:49:29 GMT -5 Verisimilitude said:

"Carter IV" earns the biggest sales week for a hip-hop album (or any set by a male artist), since his own "Carter III" bowed with 1.01 million on the June 28, 2008 chart. "Carter IV" also marks 2011's second-biggest frame, behind Lady Gaga's 1.11 million debut with "Born This Way."

Of course, Gaga's first week was bolstered by two days' worth of 99-cent sale pricing from AmazonMP3's store. "Carter IV" managed to sell nearly a million without such tactics. It's estimated that AmazonMP3 sold upwards of 440,000 downloads of its 99-cent "Born This Way"

Gotta love Keith.

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

Although I'm not a fan, I would've liked to seen him hit a milli again.

[DJ General]

Wow, what a bummer!

But still, great for the industry! He worked hard for that 964k!

[Deleted]

So I guess I'm supposed to believe Hits just made up that extra 36,000 in sales, huh.

I get that they're both just estimates and for certain reasons Billboard will always be seen as the de facto "legitimate" source, but I've never really been keen on the notion. I'm also quite surprised because for rap albums the Billboard numbers usually trend upward from HDD. Obviously 964k is still a great number though.

[Love Plastic Love]

Hits is an estimate. Close, but not an exact number or count by any means. It has nothing to do with "making up extra sales"

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2011 18:16:34 GMT -5 Love Plastic Love said:

Hits is an estimate. Close, but not an exact number or count by any means. It has nothing to do with "making up extra sales"

They are both estimates

Neither are exact

One is held in higher regard than the other however

[badrobot]

Looks like Gaga is never gonna live down that Amazon sale.

[Music Fan]

Sept 6, 2011 18:46:02 GMT -5 badrobot said:

Looks like Gaga is never gonna live down that Amazon sale.

And she shouldn't. She really did cheat her way to the million mark. But as long as she/her label accomplished what they wanted, I don't really think they care.

[badrobot]

^except it was not her or her label's doing, it was Amazon's. Oh well.

[Deleted]

Tha Carter IV is the 18th biggest sales week in soundscan history, coming in just ahead on Kanye's Graduation Day in 2007 (956K)

As we all know: #17 is 'Tha Carter III'

[Love Plastic Love]

Sept 6, 2011 18:43:53 GMT -5 @2m said:

Sept 6, 2011 18:16:34 GMT -5 Love Plastic Love said:

Hits is an estimate. Close, but not an exact number or count by any means. It has nothing to do with "making up extra sales"

They are both estimates

Neither are exact

One is held in higher regard than the other however

I suppose that is true, but Hits itself is the one placing their site below soundscan in some ways. They have openly stated that they are not exact numbers, not an exact science, and official numbers will vary.


People will forget about Amazon deciding to sell her album cheaper soon. Everyone who is close to this stuff always thinks memories last forever and they never do. Like, does anyone remember or still harp on when Mariah Carey used free downloads to get a #1 quicker than she would have with WBT? Or when JLo caused the change in remix rules? I am sure some here do, but I doubt anyone would say they are "still desperately trying to live it down". I know someone will shoot back with "those weren't a big deal!!!!!!" but if you had been here when they happened they were and just as many "cheating" accusations were being thrown around. Come back in five years and let me know if she is living in shame from it.

[Arabella21]

When was the last time there was such a big gap between HDD and BB? Of course a 4% difference is tens of thousands of copies when you have an opening week that high. HDD has probably projected 4-5 percent higher than BB on a lot of albums, it's just not a big deal for albums in the 15-20K range.

[Rodze]

Here we go again. Gaga didn't do anything. Amazon did.

Lil Wayne's sales are really impressive. I absolutely never will understand his appeal, but he's the reigning king there.

Last week's R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart:

1 1 16 I'm On One, DJ Khaled Featuring Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne
2 2 24 Motivation, Kelly Rowland Featuring Lil Wayne
3 4 14 How To Love, Lil Wayne

14 17 3 She Will, Lil Wayne Featuring Drake
38 33 33 Look At Me Now, Chris Brown Featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes
42 34 23 John, Lil Wayne Featuring Rick Ross
54 63 4 Dedication To My Ex (Miss That), Lloyd Featuring Andre 3000, Narrated By Lil Wayne
56 51 20 Ballin', Young Jeezy Featuring Lil Wayne

[Love Plastic Love]

I think it sucks he missed it by so close. I would be infuriated. I mean, it is still fabulous amazing numbers of course, but still a bit frustrating!
Still great for him and very impressive that he has such a fan base developed.

[HolidayGuy]

HITS calls reporters for sales, doesn't it? Whereas SoundScan has a built-in system that tracks the scan of barcodes. SS supposedly covers 90% or more of all sales, so it estimates the remaining percentage (back when it started in 1991, SS only tracked 50-55% of all sales).

Not sure why someone would say "phew," though, for it missing the 1m mark. The higher it is, the better for the industry. And, yes, the numbers are incredible as it is.

[Deleted]

Did anyone ever confirm the method HITS uses? For all we know, they have a "system" also, albeit a different one.

As a music consumer, I don't really care as much about what these numbers mean for the indusry, to me these numbers mean either lots of people like the album or, people don't like the album but bought it for the hype. (you figure out the latter in week 2 ;) )

[HolidayGuy]

^Not sure if HITS has discussed its method. You'd think it would have a "system" in place other than manually calling in, since sales in some weeks arr very close to SoundScan.

With those kinds of numbers, Lil Wayne's album should see an easy 75% second-week dip (if not slightly more). Some fans (whether mega or casual) could have bought the album without hearing it first- so no way to know if they didn't like it/bought it for the hype. while a good number do preview an album online before buying, there probably are some out there who still wait for an album release and then listen to it the ol'-fashioned way. :)

[Deleted]

If the second week drop is 80% or more, you'll have your hype answer

Poor word of mouth ould cause something like that. Poor word of mouth woud come from people who bought the album for the hype or some other reason other than "they knew they would like it"

Disclaimer: I have no idea what week 2 will be and am not offering predictions on the overall success or failure of this album

[Black Jesus]

Interesting....From HDD:

HIS WAYNE IS TRUE

Weezy's Tha Carter IV Tops a Million; Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Guetta, Jake Owen Bow

September 6, 2011

Lil Wayne is a Weezy rider.
The best-selling hip-hop icon’s new Cash Money/Universal Republic album, Tha Carter IV, debuts at #1 on the HITS sales chart with a total of 1 million plus, nearly matching the 1.005 million sold by the previous edition of the series in June, 2008.

Warner Bros. veteran funk-rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers’ I’m With You is #2 with a total of 232k, a little more than half of its previous release, Stadium Arcadium’s 443k in May ’06.

Astralwerks/Capitol/EMI dance music ruler David Guetta’s Nothing but the Beat (#5) and RCA Nashville country star Jake Owens’ Barefoot Blue Jean Night (#6) are the other Top 10 newcomers in a chart dominated by sharp rises from MTV VMA performers.

The indomitable Adele tops that last, up a whopping 88% for her XL/Columbia best-seller 21, now #3 with another 155k added to its 3 million-plus total, ahead of fellow VMA performers Jay Z and Kanye West, whose Roc-a-Fella/Roc Nation release, Watch the Throne, solidifies at #4, down just 9%.

Expectant Columbia chanteuse Beyonce has more than a pregnancy bump to celebrate, too, with 4 up 85% at #7.

Interscope’s Game (#8), Columbia’s Barbra Streisand (#9) and Capitol/EMI’s Now 39 round out the leader board.

Other new chart entries go to Roadrunner’s Lenny Kravitz (#17), Fueled by Ramen’s Cobra Starship (#30), Hidden Beach’s Jill Scott From the Vault (#34), Surfdog’s Glen Campbell (#40) and Roadrunner’s Young the Giant, which cracks the Top 50, thanks to its searing VMA performance, which included lead singer Sameer Gadhia flying head-first into a mosh pit.

XL/Beggars Banquet’s Tyler, the Creator (#49) and Interscope’s LMFAO (#50) also re-entered.

The week’s biggest double-digit gainers all benefited from VMA exposure. In addition to Adele (whose 19 also moves #24-16, +57%) and Beyonce, that includes Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Republic’s Nicki Minaj (#38-26, +32%), Jive/JLG’s Chris Brown (#47-41, +32%), New Elektra’s Bruno Mars (#36-27, +29%) and Startime/Columbia’s Foster the People (#11, +26%). Universal Republic’s Kelly Rowland (#50-46, +37%) is the other big mover.

Hitting retail this week are MCA Nashville’s George Strait and Mind Kit/Fontana’s Lindsey Buckingham.

[Deleted]

Wonder if it'll drop lower than Gaga's second week (percentage wise)

[Push The Button]

Interesting. HDD's numbers for Tha Carter III:

1 LIL WAYNE UNIVERSAL MOTOWN 969,235 --
THA CARTER III

It ended up over a million through Soundscan. Now it's the opposite situation.

[Push The Button]

This album is not likely to drop as huge as BTW, but Tha Carter III dipped 72% second week. I'm sure the new one will drop harder.

[DJ General]

either way, it is still very exciting! The fact he could do it in 2008 and basically again in 2011 is very impressive.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

Sept 6, 2011 18:53:13 GMT -5 Music Fan said:

Sept 6, 2011 18:46:02 GMT -5 badrobot said:

Looks like Gaga is never gonna live down that Amazon sale.

And she shouldn't. She really did cheat her way to the million mark. But as long as she/her label accomplished what they wanted, I don't really think they care.

Stop with the misinformation.

[Adonis the DemiGod!]

Sept 6, 2011 19:38:23 GMT -5 @2m said:

Did anyone ever confirm the method HITS uses? For all we know, they have a "system" also, albeit a different one.

As a music consumer, I don't really care as much about what these numbers mean for the indusry, to me these numbers mean either lots of people like the album or, people don't like the album but bought it for the hype. (you figure out the latter in week 2 ;) )

It's hard enough getting people to spend a 1 dollar on a song they like. Why would they spend $10 simply for the hype for an album they can get for free?

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2011 20:51:25 GMT -5 Adonis the DemiGod! said:

Sept 6, 2011 19:38:23 GMT -5 @2m said:

Did anyone ever confirm the method HITS uses? For all we know, they have a "system" also, albeit a different one.

As a music consumer, I don't really care as much about what these numbers mean for the industry, to me these numbers mean either lots of people like the album or, people don't like the album but bought it for the hype. (you figure out the latter in week 2 ;) )

It's hard enough getting people to spend a 1 dollar on a song they like. Why would they spend $10 simply for the hype for an album they can get for free?

Judging by the numbers, itunes or some other retail outlet is the source, where people pay a fee to hear the whole album (not just snippets)

"Everyone" illegally downloads music here but, that doesn't mean it happens that way universally across the globe.

[Black Jesus]

Sept 6, 2011 18:53:13 GMT -5 Music Fan said:

Sept 6, 2011 18:46:02 GMT -5 badrobot said:

Looks like Gaga is never gonna live down that Amazon sale.

And she shouldn't. She really did cheat her way to the million mark. But as long as she/her label accomplished what they wanted, I don't really think they care.

Lol BTW is still gonna sell more in the long run than TC4 even without the Amazon promotion. You mad?

[Deleted]

Top 20 - one week sales - soundscan era

1 4/8/2000 No Strings Attached 'N Sync 2,415,859
2 8/11/2001 Celebrity 'N Sync 1,879,955
3 6/10/2000 The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem 1,760,049
4 12/9/2000 Black & Blue Backstreet Boys 1,591,191
5 6/15/2002 The Eminem Show Eminem 1,321,799
6 6/3/2000 Oops...I Did It Again Britney Spears 1,319,193
7 1/6/2001 1 The Beatles 1,258,667
8 3/19/2005 The Massacre 50 Cent 1,140,638
9 6/5/1999 Millennium Backstreet Boys 1,133,505
10 6/11/2011 Born This Way Lady Gaga 1,108,403
11 4/10/2004 Confessions Usher 1,096,213
12 12/5/1998 Double Live Garth Brooks 1,085,373
13 1/9/1993 The Bodyguard Soundtrack 1,061,000
14 11/4/2000 Chocolate Starfish Limp Bizkit 1,054,511
15 11/13/2010 Speak Now Taylor Swift 1,046,718
16 2/28/2004 Feels Like Home Norah Jones 1,022,149
17 6/28/2008 Tha Carter III Lil' Wayne 1,005,545
18 9/17/2011 Tha Carter IV Lil' Wayne 964,000
19 9/29/2007 Graduation Day Kanye West 956,936
20 11/6/1993 Vs. Pearl Jam 950,377

[forg]

I don't like Lil Wayne but I gotta commend his impressive sales prowess. To almost match The Carter III's first week sales is very impressive